One parcel at a time

I love The 300 Committee.

Setting aside land as open space is a wonderful concept, but for the most part, it is best done by private land trusts instead of government.

At first glance, it may not seem to make a difference; after all, whether it is government or a private trust that owns the property, the land is still off the tax rolls. However, open space parcels - as opposed to recreational parcels like beaches or parks - require more labor intensive maintenance. For example, it's easy enough to use an industrial-sized mower to cut the grass in a park on a main street, but it takes a significant amount of planning and labor to cut a trail in, or eradicate invasive plants from, a remote parcel. Organizations like The 300 Committee are better suited to the latter than the former.

Moreover, there is also the financial aspect. With a tight town budget, having a private land trust to do the acquisition of open space leaves taxpayer money available for those things that only municipalities can provide, like roads and sewers.

So, it was with great joy that I learned of The 300 Committee's latest purchase - the 10-acre River Bend Farm, a dog kennel on Sandwich Road that includes riverfront and abandoned cranberry bogs along the Coonamessett River. This purchase used no public funds and yet this land will be accessible to the public sometime in the next five years. It's a win-win for Falmouth.

The next best thing to having a private land trust purchase land is a public-private partnership, like the one for the Haddad property, 1.9 acres that abut Menauhant Beach. This purchase will expand one of our public beaches, but Falmouth isn't going to pay the full price of $685,000. We were able to get $290,000 in Community Preservation Act funds, and $110,000 from The 300 Committee. In the end, only $300,000 - just 44 percent - of the money will come from an override.

Preserving open space helps preserve the character of our community, and organizations like The 300 Committee help to keep the burden of financing and maintaining that open space off the backs of the taxpayers. Kudos - and thanks - to them for stepping up to the plate.