Town considers privatization of Stevens Estate

NORTH ANDOVER — The town's days of hosting weddings could be numbered.

Selectmen are considering allowing a private company to take over the town-owned Stevens Estate — an 1886 mansion with a carriage house and lush gardens and trails — because the town has lost money running it in the last couple of years.

"We can't allow this to continue," Selectman Richard Nardella said at a recent meeting. "We need to find ways to make the estate pay for itself."

The estate closed fiscal 2008, which ended June 30, $180,000 in the red, he said.

The town purchased the 150-acre estate on Lake Cochichewick in 2004 for $4.9 million after Boston University sold it to a developer who planned to put houses around the lake.

Since then, Nardella said, the town has done more than $1 million worth of repairs and maintenance at the estate.

— Drake Lucas

Elusive Blanding's turtle leaves Boxford a little shell-shocked

BOXFORD — The threatened Blanding's turtles don't seem to be much of a threat: They're just 8 inches long, slow and can take 20 years before they start a family.

Yet the little turtles are adding another complication to Boxford's plans to develop the Haynes property into athletic fields and affordable housing, projects it kicked off last fall with the $3.3 million purchase of the land behind East Boxford village.

Selectman Stephen Davis said the town had no way to know the Blanding's turtles lived in the area, and none has yet been spotted on the 75-acre Haynes property. Efforts to trap the turtles didn't pan out. But the property's presence on a state list of potential Blanding's habitats could force the town to scale back its plan, or at least step more carefully.

"Given that no turtles have been seen yet, what would you expect anyone to do?" Davis said. "I suppose we could also check it out for dinosaurs, but none of them have been seen yet either."

Lori Erb, a turtle conservation biologist with MassWildlife, said the state keeps secret the known locations of Blanding's turtles to keep them from poachers. The state tracks about 50 suspected habitats for the animal, which can travel three miles from its nest.

"Everything's been a challenge," said Haynes Land Advisory Committee member Howie Emmons, who said that besides threatened turtles, the committee is also looking for answers with conservation setbacks and wetlands restrictions. A Planning Board map shows two stretches of wetlands cutting across the 75-acre property, which is roughly L-shaped.

Davis said the town bought the land wanting at least three big athletic fields but hoped for two additional smaller athletic fields, knowing it would face an array of surveys, soil testing and government reviews. The turtles are another complication, he said.

"It appears we're getting the three (fields) we wanted. It doesn't coincide with the best-case scenario, but that's all right," Davis said.

Davis said the town was right to purchase the land, which opens onto 180 feet of Middleton Road but generally lies behind Main Street, Georgetown and Herrick roads, and Hickory Lane.

Erb said the state has worked with soccer associations and other groups to minimize risks to the turtles.

"What typically happens is we work with the project proponent to come up with some solutions so they're able to do their project, but we're still able to protect the habitat," Erb said. "It's pretty unusual to say they can't do any form of their project."

— Mike Stucka

Middleton, Boxford and Topsfield seeking committee volunteers

MIDDLETON — The Tri-Town governments still need more help.

Of the at least 25 committee vacancies in the area, the most prominent opening is on Middleton's Elementary School Committee, which drew no formal or write-in candidates during the last election. Selectmen and other school board members hope to fill the post in a joint July 29 meeting but so far have drawn only two applications in nearly two months of searching. The appointee will help establish school budgets, lay the groundwork for a new school and set the school system's goals.

"Serving on school committee, serving on any of the boards, is a very rewarding experience, and it's important for the community," said Teresa Buono, chairwoman of Middleton's Elementary School Committee. Buono said the biggest qualification for any of the posts is simply an interest in serving.

Most positions require only town residency and U.S. citizenship, officials said. Others require being a registered voters, and some committees are seeking people with particular backgrounds, such as in engineering. Generally, people interested in the posts should call their town's selectmen's office and inquire, or write a letter of interest to selectmen. Topsfield and Boxford are listing some vacancies on their Web sites.

Middleton is also seeking to fill vacancies in its Board of Health and Housing Authority.

Topsfield selectmen have spent much of their time debating how to fill vacancies on the Conservation Commission, including a post that has been vacant more than two years. While Topsfield selectmen think they've got enough candidates for that board, the town needs to fill spots on eight other boards. Vacancies range alphabetically from the Affordable Housing Committee to the Surface & Ground Water Study Committee.

Boxford has the largest number of vacancies in the Tri-Town area — including, ironically, two positions on its Personnel Committee.

— Mike Stucka