Town Council approves ‘Mercy Woods’ land buy
Cumberland will make 229-acre land purchase from Sisters of Mercy
CUMBERLAND – You could say it was a slam dunk by the Town Council when the panel voted unanimously on Wednesday to move forward with the town’s proposed acquisition of 229acres of land owned by the Sisters of Mercy Northeast off Wrentham Road.
The town will have to contribute $405,000 in local open space funding for the purchase but will also see several additional contributions for the $1.5 million total asking price come from the Cumberland Land Trust, the Pawtucket Water Supply Board, a Champlin Foundation grant and hopefully an award of $400,000 in state open space funding from the R.I. Department of Environmental Management.
For all of that, the town would secure from future residential or commercial development, a parcel of open fields, quiet woodlands, wetlands and watershed land, and create new options for passive recreation like nature trail walks and organized youth sports fields.
Mayor William Murray’s administration worked out the final purchase proposal with representatives of the Sister of Mercy and the other participating principals but needed the Council’s ok on Wednesday to move forward with the signing of a purchase and sales agreement as well as approval of a strategic plan for the property’s future use and the submission of a DEM grant application, all completed by unanimous votes by the seven-member panel.
“This is probably one of the biggest things to happen to this town since the Monastery purchase,” Murray told the council while offering he was “thrilled” to be able to present such a proposal to the panel. The town acquired 270 acres of the former Our Lady of the Valley Monastery initially in 1968 and eventually increased that holding off Diamond Hill Road to a 533acre natural preserve that also hosts the town’s library and senior center.
The new acquisition of the open space parcel to be known as Mercy Woods, is slightly different from the Monastery in that the town is earmarking 17.5 acres of the total parcel specifically for town recreational field use, Murray noted. That part of the agreement was worked out by the Sisters of Mercy attorney, Scott Partington, and Assistant Town Solicitor Christopher Alger and is included in the purchase and sales agreement for the property, Murray noted.
The overall acquisition plan, including the strategic plan for the parcel’s future use, was completed with the assistance of Jonathan Stevens, Town Planning Director, and members of the Cumberland Land Trust. The Land Trust will be raising funds for a $100,000 share of the acquisition and also applying to the Champlin Foundation for another $295,000.
“I can’t say enough about my team on this and especially Jonathan Stevens who has worked on this day and night,” Murray said.
The purchase will add to land already preserved by the town with the help of organizations like the Cumberland Land Trust and the DEM, and represents a “new gem for the town,” in natural and recreational resources, according to Murray.
Alger said that the town initially will be limited to the development of one recreational field on the 17.5 acres so that the Sisters of Mercy can see how that impacts their continued occupation of their headquarters and ancillary buildings at the property. After five years, however, the town would be free to develop the rest of the 17.5 acres as recreational fields and would also hold a first refusal option for purchase of the Sisters’ buildings if they choose to sell them, according to Alger.
Randy Tuomisto, president of the Land Trust, told the council members the town would be getting “a tremendous piece of property,” through the acquisition deal.
The town and the Land Trust have been working with the Sisters of Mercy for three years to come up with a way of preserving the important available parcel of the open space land and the agreement before the council accomplishes all of the parties’ goals, he noted.
The Land Trust has sought to acquire parcels of open space in the town that are contiguous to another parcel of open space and in total allow for a connected system of nature trails and passive recreational uses over a preserved corridor, he noted.
“That work is not done and we need to continue this as a town as the community grows,” Tuomisto said of the land preservation efforts.
Chris Collins of the Pawtucket Water Supply Board said his organization would be considering its own contribution to the land’s acquisition at a board meeting next week, but noted it has been a goal of the Pawtucket water supply panel to preserve as much land protecting its water resources as possible.
The land owned by the Sisters of Mercy includes part of the watershed for Diamond Hill Reservoir, located just downhill from it, and the acquisition represents a significant opportunity to protect those resources, he noted.
Partington said the Sisters of Mercy had a similar goal for preservation of the land and noted that the proposal was “obviously of great importance to them.”
When the council took up authorizing Mayor Murray to move forward with the signing of the agreement, Councilman Scott Schmitt noted it was “rare” to see so many parties working together toward one goal like the preservation of the land and thanked them for their work.
Even the council had a unified view of its merits, according to Schmitt. “I was going to move for passage but Councilman Shaw got so excited by the opportunity to preserve this land he beat me to it,” Schmitt said.
Shaw in turned noted the end result of the negotiations between the town and Sisters of Mercy shows that “you have to have a little patience and then some things fall into your lap.”
After the council voted unanimously to approve the acquisition, Councilwoman Lisa Beaulieu noted her aunt had been a member of the Sisters of Mercy and that made her “very proud” that the Sisters came forward with the opportunity for the town to preserve the land.
State Rep. James McLaughlin, D-Dist. 57, Cumberland and Central Falls, who had listened to the panel’s discussion and details of the acquisition plan, said he viewed Wednesday “as a great day for the Town of Cumberland.”
McLaughlin praised Murray and the council for their work to preserve 229 acres of conservation and recreational land and said he hoped the town would manage the new open space parcel in a manner similar to the preservation of the town’s Cumberland Monastery property.