Open Space Stewards and Cons Comm Terminate Agreement

Some of Chelmsford’s nature trails and open space will see a change in who will be maintaining them after the Conservation Commission unanimously terminated an agreement with the Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship on Tuesday night.

The Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship, also known as COSS, is a volunteer group has worked toward the protection and cleaning of many trails, community gardens and other natural spaces in town since 2006.

While the Conservation Commission praised the thousands of hours spent by COSS, the notice of a discussion on the termination over maintenance of Conservation Commission properties was set in late May following a discussion regarding tensions between the two groups during a meeting in April, which the In-Town Report indicated was not available to the public until Monday.

In those minutes, Chelmsford Conservation Agent Alison LeFlore indicated that issues with COSS interfered with the land management aspect of her position, requesting the use of equipment purchased with Conservation Commission funds for use on Conservation Commission protected properties that were being held by COSS.

Members of COSS were not present at the meeting, and members of the Commission had no significant issues with a termination of the agreement.

“If they want out, that’s okay with me,” said Conservation Commission member Robert Greenwood. “It’s a volunteer job, and if they want out, let them out.”

The only concerns came from David McLachlan, who issued another motion asking the board to inform the Board of Selectmen and Town Manager of the termination, which had been strongly recommended by LeFlore.

However, that motion also noted a thank you to COSS for the work they had done in the past.

“I know the board has said this over the years, but I appreciate the thousands of hours given by the COSS organization. I wish them the best of luck,” said Conservation Commission chairman Chris Garrahan.

COSS spokesperson Joanne Stanway also saw the decision in a positive light, noting that COSS will still continue its work, but now moving its focus away from Conservation Commission owned land.

“This is a natural phase of our growth, and it's great the Conservation Commission has based their reservation management subcommittee on the work COSS has done throughout town over the past seven years,” said Stanway. “This will free our resources to focus on several other projects, but I think there will still be opportunities to work together down the line as needed."

Later in the meeting, members of the board volunteered to help with maintenance of various open space properties in the town such as the Crooked Spring Reservation, the Wright Reservation, Red Wing Farm and the Thanksgiving Ground Forest.

The meeting also held a presentation from representatives of the group developing the old Stop & Shop Plaza, informing the board of a request to clean up the brook between Stop & Shop, Harrington’s and Fishbones as well as potentially building a bridge over the brook at some point in the future.