GEORGETOWN – The town’s Conservation Commission (ConCom) narrowly approved Alan Aulson’s plan to use his goats, volunteers armed with weed wackers and metal detectors and Essex County inmates to clean up the overgrown Community Gardens.
Aulson, who owns the Great Rock Farm and Goats to Go, is providing the manpower and equipment, including plows, to restore the area for gardening next spring. Aulson pledged to “do this at no cost to the town.”
He said the gardens have so much plastic, wire and overgrowth that by comparison, G. Mello Disposal Corp’s old transfer station was “10 times better.”
Aulson wrote earlier, “The place has deteriorated – for whatever reason – over many, many years to the point where it needs a massive effort to restore it to its gardening purpose.” The current state of the gardens, he said, is “no longer usable by many newcomers and seniors, as the equipment required to restore even one small plot to garden usage is daunting.”
About 14 gardens out of 76 are currently in cultivation.
The ConCom, which owns the gardens, approved a permit last week for the cleanup on a vote of three to two with one member, Aaron Needleman, unable to vote on the Zoom broadcast because of technical difficulties with his phone. A three-to-three vote would have killed Aulson’s permit.
Aulson had urged the ConCom to approve the permit because the goats will not clear the brush after a few more weeks in September. In a couple of weeks, “the goats will not cooperate,” he said.
The ConCom could add conditions to the permit after its members, some of whom had not seen the gardens, meet again this month for a tour.
Prior to securing the ConCom’s approval, Aulson had begun the clean-up. Earlier this month, he presented his plan for clearing the gardens to the SelectBoard, which accepted his donation, but does not have the authority to approve the clean-up.
His proposal was also on the ConCom agenda at its previous meeting, but it could not act for lack of a quorum.
ConCom member Ida Wye, who said she and another ConCom member Amy Smith are taking a lead in planning the gardens’ future, expressed her concern that Aulson and the volunteers “correctly” clear the brush.
Wye also called the application for renting a garden “an embarrassment,” but did not elaborate.
The ConCom owns the gardens because it is a part of the Lufkins Brook Conservation Area, a protected natural space featuring a scenic 1.5-mile walking trail and a pond that feeds the town’s water well.
Lufkins Brook, about 180 acres, was purchased in the early 1970s with state funds. It also received taxpayer funded grants from the town’s Community Preservation Commission. The CPC money is matched by state grants.
ConCom chair Daryle LaMonica called the gardens clean-up a “huge benefit to the town.”
Last week, the American Legion Georgetown chapter gave Aulson a check for $500 to buy winter rye seeds for the gardens. Other civic groups, including the Kiwanis Club and Knights of Columbus, have pledged funds.
Aulson has scheduled a week of clearing starting Sept. 26 by volunteers.
If interested in volunteering, including bringing a metal detector or small four-wheeler, or to donate money, contact Aulson at 508-451-1987. ♦
