The select board, in April of 2007, passed on to the land trust, which handled the land donation for the town and the donor, a request from Waitsfield's Conservation Commission. That request, according to an April 20, 2007, town memorandum, read: The Commission feels the town should retain the ability to use the parcels for future uses or needs for the community's benefit (possible examples might include wind power, telecommunications, water supply, etc.)."
LETTER OF INTENT
A letter of intent between the town and the land trust, drafted by Liza Walker for the land trust later in 2007, includes the following paragraphs:
"In addition, the town has stated its desire to maintain some flexibility to use the donated parcels for future uses or improvements deemed to be in the community's interest. Vermont Land Trust's conservation easements routinely include a clause to address the evolution of technologies or land uses and to allow for such future uses on conserved lands, so long as they are consistent with the purposes of the conservation easement.
"Vermont Land Trust will work with the town to consider the inclusion of additional special language to articulate the circumstances in which future alternative energy uses, such as wind power, could be permitted on the conserved property in the future. The parameters may include the town's ability to demonstrate community need for the use or improvement, the suitability of the site and the compatibility of the use with the protection of the property's silvicultural, recreational and ecological resources. Vermont Land Trust will maintain the sole discretion to determine whether such uses which may be proposed in the future are in accordance with the purposes of the easement and parameters developed by Vermont Land Trust and the town."
UNIFIED EASEMENTS
That land donation and the hammering out of the details and easements worked its way through the process until July 2009 when the particulars were finalized. As part of the process, the land trust and the town created unified easements for the entirety of the Scrag Municipal Forest so that the various parcels were all similarly covenanted.
A July 1, 2009, letter to the town from John Roe, vice president for land conservation for the Vermont Land Trust, spells out the particulars of this easement providing the town with future flexibility.
In that letter, Roe notes that the town has expressed interest in possible town forest uses such as renewable energy production, improved telecommunications systems or a municipal water system.
ENERGY PRODUCTION
Roe notes that a section of the easement includes a clause allowing the land trust to approve, at its discretion, land uses or technologies that may evolve in the future. Roe explains that standard land trust easement language was amended for this Waitsfield project, to read, "Due to the municipal ownership of the protected property, grantee [Vermont Land Trust] may, in its sole discretion, approve future municipal uses of the protected property such as energy production, telecommunications improvements or public water supply."
He points out that the land trust, in 2009, did not have standards for considering renewable energy projects on conserved lands but added that the land trust would likely be included to support a renewable energy project proposed by the town as long as such projects did not violate other easements on the property, prohibit permitted uses or cause environmental issues.
"The scale of the proposed use, particularly for wind turbines, would be a critical factor in deciding whether the use was appropriately balanced with the other conservation purposes of the easement," Roe wrote.
He also noted that demonstrated public support for such a project would also be important.
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