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Council to vote
on bioreserve plan
Approved petition would set
in motion complex environmental, business deal
(Herald News
- James Finlaw Reporter-6/17/02)
It's been almost two
years since the city and state announced plans to collaborate
on a unique, multi-million-dollar land deal designed to meet
the economic and environmental needs of both parties. In June
2000, Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. and state Secretary of Environmental
Affairs Robert Durand signed a memorandum of understanding outlining
their interest in establishing a vast conservation area in the
Watuppa Reservation, which they dubbed the Southeastern Massachusetts
Bioreserve. Per the deal's terms, the city and state would engage
in a series of land swaps that would lead to the creation of
the bioreserve, a nearly 15,000 acre conservation area that would
be permanently closed to development and opened to passive recreational
use. The plan also called for the state to allow the city to
establish an industrial park on 300 acres of land now within
the Fall River-Freetown State Forest.
Now after two years
of meetings between the parties to determine how the bioreserve
should be put together and managed, the City Council is set to
take a crucial step forward in the plan. Tonight, the council
will hold a special meeting to vote on a home rule petition,
which the city must send to the Statehouse to get the bioreserve
plan rolling. The petition asks the Legislature to grant the
city the 300 acres of state park land in exchange for $2.45 million
from the city's redevelopment authority. The state would then
use the money to purchase a 3,800 acre chunk of land in the reservation
that belongs to the Acushnet Saw Mills, which is owned by the
Hawes family. The petition also asks the Legislature to allow
the city to grant the state a "conservation restriction"
on 4,300 acres of city-owned land within the reservation. The
restriction would prevent the land from ever being developed.
The city and state lands
would then be combined with an additional 508 acres of the Hawes'
property, which will be purchased by the Trustees of Reservations,
a non-profit environmental group. The Trustees of Reservations
is set to buy the land for $2 million in August. The newly purchased
land would be coupled with the 6,000 acres to create a nearly
15,000 acre bioreserve.
City Council President
William Whitty said the petition has the council's support."It's
the first and probably most important step we are going to take
regarding the bioreserve," said Whitty."I think (councilors)
are on top of what the bioreserve is and what it means to the
city. I think we'll deal with it very deliberately...and ship
it up to the state,"he said. Whitty said he finds the plan
attractive because it not only protects and preserves the reservation,
but also gives the city the opportunity to procure land for industrial
expansion, a scarce commodity in Fall River."It allows us
to create a business park that will create jobs and increase
our tax base,"he said.
Lambert has been touting
the benefits of the bioreserve plan since he and Durand began
working on it two years ago. Beyond the boost the plan would
give the city's economy by enabling the city to create a new
business park, he said creation of the conservation area has
a lasting benefit that will be felt many years down the road."On
the environmental end, I think the current perception of what
we are doing is being underestimated. In generations, people
will look back at this area preserved in perpetuity...I think
it is going to put Fall River on the map in terms of uniqueness,"said
Lambert."You're giving people in an urban setting the opportunity
to enjoy something very few cities can afford residents,"he
said. Lambert said the petition shouldn't face much opposition
at the Statehouse because several state entities are firmly behind
the plan. The Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, the
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and the Department of Environmental
Management are all involved in the deal and will have a hand
in managing the land."I think it's a win-win (situation)
for the state and the city, and a win-win for economic development
and the environment,"said Lambert.
While the passage of
the petition will authorize the state and city to move forward
with the transactions needed to create the bioreserve and business
park, Lambert acknowledged that it does not set the plan in stone.
The memorandum of understanding he and Durand signed allows for
the deal to be nixed by Jan.1, 2007, if either party is unsatisfied
with the project's progress. In the event that it is halted,
the conservation restriction will be lifted, and the lands will
go back to their original owners.
One of the plan's most
significant items is the need for the state to construct ramps
on Route 24 leading to the business park. Last August, acting
Gov. Jane Swift pledged to spend $25 million to design and construct
the ramps. If that promise falls through in the future, Lambert
said the city will back out of the deal. Whitty said he is also
concerned about whether or not the ramps will get built."I'm
hoping that everything works out, and there is funding for the
ramps. But you always have to think now about the times we're
in."he said.
While the plans are
set for how the bioreserve lands will be acquired, it remains
to be seen exactly how they will be managed. As several state
and city entities, environmental groups and the Trustees of Reservations
will be managing the bioreserve, it is essential that a unified
management plan be created. The parties are still hashing out
the specifics of that plan, but it seems certain it will allow
for a variety of "passive recreation" uses in the protected
area, including hunting, fishing and hiking.
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