Grantham 2019 Annual Report Update by Sheridan Brown
Thanks to the generosity of Grantham residents, private donors, and funding from two state grant programs, the 385-acre Sawyer Brook Headwaters Property will be permanently protected. While Grantham is keeping its promise to preserve the Town’s natural and recreational resources, this project’s partners are also keeping their promise to Grantham’s taxpayers.
When Town Meeting voters voted overwhelmingly to appropriate three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000) toward the purchase of the Property last March, the Selectmen and project partners promised to leverage Town funds to the greatest extent possible. As promised, we are not returning to ask for more money. In fact, we are returning at least fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) of the funds appropriated at last year’s Town Meeting to taxpayers due to our successful fundraising efforts.
Our Town’s commitment to conservation impressed agencies, organizations, foundations and individuals. It enabled us to secure the help of The Conservation Fund – a national nonprofit – who quickly acquired the Sawyer Brook Headwaters Property with the Town while additional funds were raised. This prevented a large-scale timber harvest and possible development planned by the Property’s prior owner.
The Town’s amazing contribution, along with tireless fundraising efforts by Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust (“ASLPT”), resulted in large grants including: two hundred fifteen thousand dollars ($215,000) from the State’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (“LCHIP”), twenty-four thousand dollars ($24,000) from the State’s conservation license plate (“Moose Plate”) grant program, twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation, and seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) from the Eastman Charitable Foundation (the largest grant in their history).
Meanwhile, the list of generous donors from Grantham and beyond is too long to fit here but can be found in the Winter 2020 “Chatter” newsletter from ASLPT. If you didn’t get it in your mailbox, you can read it at:
https://ausbonsargent.org/newsletters/winter-2020
In the coming weeks, partners will execute the last of the documents to transfer ownership of the entire Property to Grantham and a conservation easement to ASLPT that permanently protects it from development. Thank you, Grantham! This project was a tremendous partnership from start to finish, and we should all be proud of our community. Please get out to enjoy this special place, and join us for a celebratory event this spring (to be announced soon).
Ausbon Sargent and Town of Grantham representatives at the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP) Awards Ceremony, where Grantham received a $215,000 grant for the purchase of the Sawyer Brook Headwaters Property. L to R: Deborah Stanley, Executive Director, Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust; Connie Jones, Grantham Board of Selectmen; Governor Chris Sununu; Amanda Merrill, LCHIP Board Chair; Andrew Deegan, ASLPT; Dijit Taylor, LCHIP Executive Director; Warren Kimball, Grantham Board of Selectmen; Melissa White, Grantham Town Administrator; Attorney Sheridan Brown, Grantham; Peter Garland, Grantham Board of Selectmen.
Full Town Report available at: