OCT Closes on Twinings Pond Purchase!!
The view across Twinings Pond of a wooded hillside is a beautiful site any time of year. Thanks to many generous people, that view will not change.
The Orleans Conservation Trust successfully raised $480,000 over the past 18 months to buy a pondfront lot in order to prevent its development. Buying the 1.86-acre lot prevented a new house with a septic system and lawn and preserved the pond's still excellent water quality.
The purchase also preserves and extends a popular public walking trail for the public and neighbors and keeps alive the hope of securing the two remaining undeveloped lots on the pond in the future. The property adjoins 27 acres of already preserved open space around the pond and more than 100 acres between the pond and Little Pleasant Bay.
The closing on the property was June 28.
"We are so pleased and relieved to accomplish this seemingly impossible goal during these difficult economic times," OCT president Susan Milton said. "The property was so important that we had to at least try to save it. The broad local, regional and state support, along with contributions from private foundations, show that many people shared that opinion."
There were many turning points in the fund-raising. An $120,000 challenge grant from an anonymous donor was a great start. An $85,000 state grant from the Massachusetts Conservation Partnership program and several private donations boosted the project to the halfway mark.
The sellers are daughters of the late Ruth and Peter Fleck, who donated more than 20 acres of adjoining land to OCT in the 1990s. The Flecks not only offered the lot below market value to OCT, but also gave time for fund-raising and contributed in many ways to make sure the sale would happen.
Patricia Platten, president of the abutting Quanset Harbor Club, rallied association residents and came to our weekly fund-raising and strategizing sessions.
The property's importance is also revealed by the contributions - Quanset members contributed a third of the project's cost, with another 30 percent from people who live within walking and running distance.
Another key moment was the unanimous support of the town's Community Preservation Act Committee to allocate $60,000 for this project, as voted at the May town meeting. In exchange, the town will gain a conservation restriction across OCT land to confirm public access in perpetuity.
Surprisingly, the last $50,000 was the hardest to raise, "and I want to thank the many residents of Orleans and surrounding towns who sent in their contributions. They truly made a difference," Milton said. "Thanks to you all."