A Green Gift for
the Community
this Holiday Season
Thanks to the generosity of the local
businesspeople behind Sweet Flag Partners, the Aquidneck Island
community received a lovely green gift this holiday season.
Today, Wednesday, December 20th, Sweet
Flag Partners donated a perpetual Conservation Easement to the
Aquidneck Land Trust on an important 4.53-acre open space parcel off
of Haymaker Road in Middletown that Sweet Flag Partners has owned
since 1986. Immediately thereafter, Sweet Flag Partners transferred
ownership of the newly conserved land to the Town of Middletown.
The property at issue has many important
conservation values that have now been secured so that it will benefit
the community for years and years to come. It is contiguous with and
buffers Bailey's Brook which feeds a public drinking water reservoir,
Green End/Easton Pond, a short distance away. The parcel also
contains natural community types important to wildlife including
upland shrub/brush land and scrub-shrub wetland and is known to
support a number of species: Downy Woodpecker; Mallard Duck; White
Tailed Deer; Raccoon; Blue Jay; etc. Furthermore, the land is
contiguous with the 45.80-acre Kempenaar Valley property that the Town
of Middletown and the Aquidneck Land Trust conserved with their other
partners in 2004. It is envisioned that the public walking trail
system to be built on the Kempenaar Valley property will be expanded
on to a portion of the 4.53-acre parcel conserved today so as to
increase the outdoor recreation and education opportunities for the
community. The 4.53-acre property also affords scenic vistas to
people living in the Haymaker Road area and will provide a scenic
backdrop for the future users of the Kempenaar Valley area.
"The Sweet Flag Partnership is pleased to be able
to support the efforts of the Aquidneck Land Trust and the Town of
Middletown by donating this parcel of land. A major consideration was
the recognition of how this land compliments further expansion of the
Town Center and the proposed public walking trail," said John Nunes,
Managing Partner of Sweet Flag Partners.
Regarding the gift, Ted Clement, Executive
Director for the Aquidneck Land Trust, stated, "On behalf of the Land
Trust, I thank Brian Bardorf, John Nunes, George Lewis, Mary Nunes,
Michael Pinto, James Studders, Austin White, and Thomas Baker of Sweet
Flag Partners for the generosity and long-term vision demonstrated by
their green gift to the community. I also thank our wonderful
partner, the Town of Middletown, for working with us on yet another
conservation project. Much good has come from our collaborations and
I know that the Town and the Land Trust hope to conserve even more
land together in the near future and in the New Year."
Paul Rodrigues, President of the Middletown Town
Council noted, "On behalf of the Town of Middletown, I would like to
thank the Sweet Flag Partners for their generosity, the Aquidneck Land
Trust for their strong working collaborations and guidance, and my
fellow council members for their vision and for making this
preservation possible. This land preservation provides layered
protection to the quality of our drinking water and puts us one step
closer to the vision of future recreation use and quality of life
issues for all of our residents."
"Middletown is clearly committed to continually
improving the quality of life for all its residents. This transaction
nicely compliments the adjacent Town Center in the Valley project. A
sincere heart-felt THANKS goes to the Sweet Flag Partners for their
generosity. With this project, Middletown continues its collaborative
partnership with the Aquidneck Land Trust, a group widely respected
for its leadership in conserving special Island places." said Lou
DiPalma, a Middletown Town Council Member who worked closely on the
project.
The Aquidneck Land
Trust's mission is to preserve Aquidneck Island's open spaces and
natural character for the lasting benefit of our community. The Land
Trust has conserved a total of 1,865 acres on Aquidneck Island.
This year alone, the Land Trust has already conserved over 577 acres,
the most acres ever conserved by the Land Trust in a single year since
its inception about sixteen years ago. The Land Trust is a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization. For more information, visit
www.AquidneckLandTrust.org
or call (401) 849-2799.
This email update has
been sent to the entire Aquidneck Land Trust email list. Please let
us know if you do not wish to receive these email updates by
replying to this message. If you have any questions or comments,
please call 401/849-2799 x19 or email
mandersen@ailt.org
