Dear Editor:

In Our Own Defense

There is some controversy over our decision to make two acres of Land Trust Open Space available to the Town of Killingworth for recreational purposes. The site on Bethke Road was a gravel pit and stump dump. It is severely disturbed land which has been filled in and seems to be a logical place for Eric Auer to locate one of several playing fields he volunteered to build for the town.

Our Land Trust Certificate of Incorporation states we should "use all property held or controlled by the corporation and the net earnings thereof for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the Town of Killingworth and exclusively for the conservational, recreational, educational, scientific, and historic purposes for which the corporation is formed." Our By-Laws specify that "The Board of Directors shall have the sole authority to approve or reject the acquisition or transfer of any interest or rights in real property..."

Killingworth Subdivision Regulations specify permitted uses of Dedicated Open Space including the goal to "enhance public recreation opportunities by providing parks, playgrounds, hiking trails, bicycle trails".

We are committed to preserving land in its natural state. However, the approximately two acre former dump site on Bethke road cannot be preserved in its natural state since it was a gravel pit for more than a decade before becoming a bulky waste disposal site in the mid 1970s. In fact we had significant reservations about accepting the former stump dump as Dedicated Open Space (offered to us as a set-aside from the Jacob Lane subdivision). It was only after lengthy debate and site walks that we reluctantly agreed to accept the site, largely due to the value of the seven acres of wetlands and woodlands surrounding the stump dump site, which will continue to be protected. Unfortunately, newcomers never saw the gaping hole when it was a gravel pit or all the building materials and stumps which eventually filled the hole.

Our Land Trust has always had an excellent working relationship with our Town officials and government. The original incorporators of our Trust were Gus Carlson, Marion Platt, Lester Grace, Ray Griswold and Josephine Goldsmith, some of the most prominent and respected citizens of Killingworth thirty years ago. Our Board of Directors continues to include town officials and respected citizens and continues to work to serve the Town as was originally intended.

This is a very unique situation. We are totally committed to preserving and protecting the 740 acres of our land which is in a natural state. But 7 of our 747 acres have been excavated or otherwise severely altered. If the Town ultimately decides it would like to have a small playing field on two of those seven altered acres, and this use is approved by our Planning & Zoning Commission and Board of Selectmen, we plan to cooperate with the Town "for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the Town of Killingworth".

Bruce Dodson
President Killingworth Land Conservation Trust