March 18, 2004

To Members of the Lands and Buildings Committee:

This letter concerns the Committee's current review of the Hackett Hill master plan. In February, the Merrimack Valley Sierra Club submitted information pertinent to this issue to each committee member. One of the items submitted was a portion of a study paid for by the Manchester Conservation Commission (MCC) (see "Wetlands Inventory Report for Manchester, NH," prepared by West Environmental Inc., February 2004.) The goal of the study was to determine which wetlands in Manchester should be designated as "prime wetlands."

The portion of the West report submitted by the Sierra Club to the Lands and Buildings Committee members was the only portion that has so far been made available to the public. In several places in this document the consultants placed great importance on the preservation of the Hackett Hill wetlands. However, a great deal of additional information is included in the complete report submitted by West to the MCC. In it, detailed field data that concern the Hackett Hill wetlands (and 47 of Manchester's other wetlands) are coordinated with aerial photographs. The cost of the entire study was $16,000.

One of the West consultants (Bobbie Jean Weiler) made a preliminary presentation of the study at a recent meeting of the MCC. Since West Environmental Inc. is located in Lee, NH, a considerable distance from Manchester, the consultant was not very familiar with The Nature Conservancy's Preserve. Also, although she was aware of the infrastructure (roads and parking lots) on the former UNH property, she did not know that the City wants to build a corporate/industrial park here.

When the consultant was informed of the development possibility, she immediately suggested that the land slated for development instead be protected by a conservation easement.

The MCC intends to present information contained in the West report to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and/or the Planning Board in the near future. Perhaps there will be an opportunity for you to question the consultants about the Hackett Hill portion of their study. Hopefully, members of the Lands and Buildings Committee will consider the West report carefully before making a recommendation on the corporate/industrial park master plan.

The Sierra Club believes that the hiring of an unbiased wetlands consultant by the MCC was an excellent undertaking. We feel that the City should take a similar approach with respect to the impact of a corporate/industrial park on the cost of city services. We specifically recommend that the City hire Eben Fodor, the author of the book, "Better, Not Bigger" * (or one of his associates), to perform this study.

We are confident aht the committee members will find the objectivity provided by outside consultants to be extremely helpful in making a decision on the Hackett Hill master plan. It should also be helpful in explaining your decision to other members of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and in justifying your decision to your constituents.

Sincerely,

Priscilla Mattson, Ph.D.

Representative, Merrimack Valley Sierra Club

*Better not Bigger. How to Take Control of Urban Growth and Improve Your Community. Eben Fodor, New Society Publishers, Stony Creek, CT, 1999.