36 acres bought to aid conservation

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, September 22, 2006

BY JOHN CASTELLUCCI
Journal Staff Writer

PAWTUCKET -- A wooded area east of Diamond Hill Reservoir has been purchased to protect the region's drinking water and preserve open space.

The Pawtucket Water Supply Board and the Town of Cumberland joined forces to make the purchase, with Cumberland kicking in $725,000 and the Water Supply Board $475,000 toward the $1.2-million price.

Allen Champagne, source water manager for the Water Supply Board, said the deal will prevent housing development near the reservoir, one of three in the region that the board relies on for drinking water.

Merrick Cook, Cumberland planning director, said the town has compiled a long list of prohibited uses on the 36-acre property, included hunting and trapping. About the only thing that the town's conservation easement plan will allow there will be hiking, he said.

The 36 acres are among the roughly 400 acres that the Water Supply board has bought to protect the watershed.

Negotiations to acquire the property dragged on about 2 1/2 years, Champagne said, and the 36 acres finally changed hands last month, with the Water Supply Board buying the development rights and Cumberland buying the land.

Cumberland is paying for the land with $75,000 in state open space bond money, a $150,000 grant from the Nature Conservancy and a $500,000 promissory note.

The $500,000 promissory note has a 2 1/2 percent interest rate, Cook said, and payment term of 5 years.

The Water Supply Board is financing the acquisition with $475,000 from the State Water Resources Board. The $475,000 is part of $1.7 million in bond money that the Water Resources Board is providing to replace pipes and buy land where development would endanger reservoirs.

On Tuesday, Governor Carcieri showed up at Water Supply Board headquarters to present a ceremonial check.

"Not only will these funds enable the City of Pawtucket to further its ongoing efforts in ensuring the quality and safety of the drinking- water supply, but it will also enable them to build upon the momentum they've gained in protecting the watershed," Carcieri said in a written statement before the ceremony.

"It is imperative that we work together to keep our drinking- water safe."

The 36 acres lie between Diamond Hill Reservoir and Torrey and Burnt Swamp roads. The land was purchased from Ronald and Janet Pratt, a married couple who live on Reservoir Road and bought the land more than 20 years ago as a retirement investment.

The deal was about to be consummated a year ago, when the Nature Conservancy found that a March 2004 appraisal set $875,000 as the value of the property and asked the town to obtain an update.

The updated appraisal set the value of the property at $2 million -- $800,000 less than was paid.

Pratt said that, although he believes the property is worth more than $1.2 million, he is happy with the deal, because it will prevent the land's development.

"Building's so rampant in Cumberland, we're glad some land can be preserved as open space."