Unfortunately, the dedication of this land was not recorded in land evidence, and subsequently was violated by the town when we installed the wind turbine.”

Lea Hitchen, Portsmouth town planner

PORTSMOUTH — When the Town of Portsmouth used a Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant in 1968 to purchase nearly five acres of property just west of Portsmouth High School and south of Butts Hill Fort, the stipulation was that the land be used for public outdoor recreation in perpetuity.

Football practice aside, however, that apparently never happened. More than 40 years after the sale, in 2009, the town built a wind turbine on the land after voters approved a $3 million bond issue. After that turbine failed, the town entered into a long-term lease of the property to a developer who built a larger turbine for commercial use. The turbine is a contentious issue for some nearby residents who complain of noise and shadow flicker produced by the machine.

Town Planner Lea Hitchen, who wasn’t alive in 1968, said she learned of the error earlier this year, when the R.I. Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) sent her a “bad boy” letter, she told the Town Council last week. 

The town had been awarded the original LWCF grant through RIDEM, which informed Hitchen the land — known as the “Menzi property,” was to be dedicated to public outdoor recreation.

“It was purposely for the informal play areas and for 4-H horse shows. It is still basically open space; maybe the football team practices there,” she said. “Unfortunately, the dedication of this land was not recorded in land evidence, and subsequently was violated by the town when we installed the wind turbine.”

According to RIDEM, Portsmouth isn’t the only municipality in the state that ran afoul of the grant’s stipulations. The town is one of 10 that does not have a conforming LWCF property.

Hitchen said she has been working with RIDEM to figure out how to rectify the problem, and there are basically three options:

• Reestablish the Menzi property by taking down the wind turbine, “which is probably not a good idea,” she said.

• Purchase a parcel somewhere else in town that would be of comparable size to the Menzi property — about five acres. “That wouldn’t be financially possible,” Hitchen said. (Council member Dave Gleason brought up the possibility of using the town-owned “3-S” property off Sandy Point Avenue, but Hitchen said that land is already being targeted for future creational use.)

3) See if RIDEM would consider the town using town-owned Butts Hill Fort, just to the north, as an LWCF property.

RIDEM, she said, is “absolutely entertaining” that last option. “Technically, it’s just paperwork. Nothing will change, nothing on the ground will look different,” Hitchen said, adding the transfer also wouldn’t impact any restoration efforts at Butts Hill Fort.

An appraiser is inspecting the Menzi and Butts Hill Fort properties to see if they’re comparable in size and value. “There are very few (other) options. Fort Butts seemed to be the natural go-to,” she said.

Under RIDEM’s requirements, Hitchen said she needed to bring the matter up at a public council meeting so members of the public could speak either for or against the proposal, including any comments on “environmental justice” issues. No residents spoke on the agenda item last week, however.

The council voted unanimously to approve Hitchen’s plan of working with RIDEM to transfer the LWCF status to Butts Hill Fort.

What about barn?

During discussion the the Menzi property, the status of the old barn that sits further south on the school property was brought up.

The issue with the barn, said Town Administrator Richard Rainer, Jr., is the asbestos. 

“The minute we try to do something there, we’re into all kind of environmental issues,” Rainer said, while adding a solution “is on our radar.”

Council member Charles Levesque, who attended PHS, recalls all the colorful “messages” students would paint on the barn that were visible from the school’s “B” wing.

One of the most infamous messages from the early ’80s, “Flood Sucks,” targeted a former administrator at the school.