37 Testify To Packed House At Boesch Lease Hearing

The EG Land Trust, which usually operates in obscurity, was front and center last night - even as only two of its members took the helm in Council Chambers in front of a crowd of more than 100 people to hear testimony about people’s hopes and fears for the future of Boesch Farm and its new tenant, Patrick McNiff.

McNiff, who runs Pat’s Pastured, a grass-fed animal farming operation in Jamestown and North Kingstown, on South Road after the former tenant, Erik Eacker, in early June.

But when the Land Trust met on Aug. 9 to negotiate a two-month lease on the farmhouse only, who live on South Road or in that vicinity who expressed a variety of concerns they had with animals being brought to Boesch. In an effort to quell those concerns as well as to initiate the lease process, the so that experts could address some of the concerns and members of the public could tell the panel what they hope will be included in the lease.

Only two of the four Land Trust members attended last night's meeting, however: Steve Whitney and Kevin Fetzer. Doug Brown had a family emergency and Peter Swaszek was away.

Many of those who came two weeks ago spoke at Monday’s hearing.

“My concern is, why would we make a decision that potentially could add to the contamination to a very impaired water body,” said Donna Dyer of Narrow Lane. She was referring to the Hunt River aquifer, which provides water for East Greenwich and North Kingstown. Dyer was worried that runoff from land with manure on it would be detrimental to nearby Scrabbletown Brook, which empties into the Hunt River.

Eric Scherer, state resource conservationist for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, who spoke at the beginning of the hearing, spoke of the possibility of establishing a buffer zone for pastureland that’s close to water. Scherer said that his agency works for free with farmers to help them maintain healthy farming practices and that McNiff has been working with them.

Barry Martasian addressed the panel as president of the Hunt River Watershed, a group devoted to protecting the aquifer. “Our main goal is the protection of the natural environment and the drinking water,” he said. “We believe that farmers can be really good stewards of the land. They can be probably the best stewards of the land.”

When asked what type of pollutants are found in the waterways that flow into the Hunt, Martasian said wildlife and pigeon waste, as well as lawn chemicals.

“I’d much rather see a farm here than 200 residential houses because then we would have a real problem,” he said.

A few speakers who oppose animal farming at Boesch stressed that they were not against McNiff in particular or farming in particular. Rather, they told the panel, they just wanted the farm to be used to grow vegetables and fruits, as had been the practice under Eacker. Specifically, they expressed concerns that the property would not be as accessible as it has been since it was acquired by the Land Trust in 2003.

Reached on Tuesday, McNiff said that access to the property would remain the same as it had under Eacker.

“We are not going to block off pathways with animals,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been chosen if I wouldn’t allow access because that was part of the criteria” laid out by the Land Trust.

Donna Dyer also questioned the addition of guard dogs to the property. McNiff uses the dogs to protect his farm animals against predators such as hawks, foxes and coyotes. In last week, EG Patch saw the dogs in the pens with the animals. In addition, McNiff had two “guardian geese” in with the laying chickens. The dogs, he said, will kill those predators but are harmless to people.

“Our dogs are really nice and they won’t bite,” McNiff said during Monday night’s hearing. On Tuesday, McNiff elaborated. “It’s really about deterrence – deterring the predator from coming in the area. Hopefully our guardian dogs will help make family pets in the immediate area safer.”

Some questioned the Land Trust’s process, arguing that the panel had moved too quickly and had not done enough to reach out to neighbors. “I’d like to welcome him as a neighbor after I felt that the people entrusted had done their due diligence,” said resident Bob Bacon during the hearing.

“I feel the board is not prepared to answer the residents’ questions, said Bob Raissi after the hearing. Land Trust chairman Steve Whitney said he and colleague Kevin Fetzer had not planned a question-and-answer session. Rather, they wanted to hear from the public before they begin negotiations over a long-term lease at Boesch.

“I wanted to keep the tenor as friendly as possible,” he said.

More than 20 people spoke in support of the Land Trust’s decision to choose McNiff as tenant, including three people who identified themselves as living nearby the Boesch property.

“I am a neighbor, I do walk the farm, I’m very supportive of Pat’s proposal,” said Susan Aitcheson. “I was very pleased with his presentation,” noting that animals on the property would be a boon for children who, she said, have few opportunities to see farm animals.

The last person to testify was Farmer McNiff himself.

“I feel like my operation is in line with the heritage and history of this farm,” he said. “I really hope I’ll be able to earn your trust.”

A video from the hearing is available here. A second article about the hearing is .