The Great Works Regional Land Trust must make a new request to the town if it wants financial support for its 71-acre project along the Salmon Falls River, Town Manager Tim Pellerin told the Town Council last week after the town attorney stated money approved by voters for land purchase can be used only for that purpose.
South Berwick voters in November 2022 approved a contribution of $250,000 toward the land trust’s Salmon Falls Tidal Waters Project off Old Fields Road that is conserving 71 acres of uplands, salt marsh and a quarter mile of river frontage.
After the trust raised $1.6 million to buy 58 acres of the parcel, the town’s contribution was tagged for purchase of the adjoining 13-acre parcel. But when the owners of the smaller parcel decided to donate it to the land trust, the money was no longer needed for the purchase, according to Tin Smith, vice president of the land trust board.
At the Jan. 23 council meeting, Smith asked if the funds already approved could be reallocated toward stewardship of the 71-acre property, including trail building, gravel excavation and parking lots. That request prompted Pellerin to seek legal advice regarding any reallocation.
The money earmarked for the project will now go back into the general fund, Pellerin said at the Feb. 13 council meeting, and the land trust will have to submit a new application with descriptions and costs of projects for which it seeks town funding. A new request could go before voters at the Annual Town Meeting in May, he said. Councilors expressed continued interest in supporting the Great Works Regional Land Trust, but agreed that a new funding proposal with specific details should be presented for voters’ consideration.
