NASHUA — Months after city officials unsuccessfully attempted to purchase property on Concord Street and stall development there, Pennichuck Corp. has accepted a conservation easement on a portion of that land, which is now being developed into a large housing complex.

The 14-acre easement granted by North Concord Street Properties includes a bog that is located on the controversial site known as Parcel F, which is being converted into an 85-unit elderly housing complex called Hayden Green.

“The developer had no real use for it,” said John Patenaude, CEO of Pennichuck Corp. The board of directors for Pennichuck Corp. accepted the easement last week, and also approved up to $40,000 to promote the bog in the area of Concord Street and Old Harris Road for educational purposes.

In a cover memo sent to city officials by Mayor Donnalee Lozeau, who also serves on the Pennichuck board of directors, she mentions plans to build a boardwalk to the easement property so that the Nashua School District can take advantage of educational opportunities there.

Lozeau described the easement as a great outcome for conservation, education and preservation in the city.

Patenaude told aldermen on Thursday that Pennichuck is trying to get input from local science teachers who may be able to use the bog in their teaching.

“I think it is an interesting concept,” said Alderman-at-Large Barbara Pressly, saying she would like to learn more about the initiative and how the land will be protected.

Her fellow alderman, James Donchess, questioned why the conservation easement was granted to Pennichuck Corp. instead of the city of Nashua. Patenaude explained that his company has been in negotiations with the developer, Kevin Slattery, for several months.

“I do think this is a win-win,” said former alderman Fred Teeboom, who congratulated Lozeau for helping to make the easement possible.

At least one local resident, Geoff Daly, said it may not be enough to adequately protect the watershed and the water supply.

Daly, of Walden Pond Drive, has been advocating to preserve the land and the watershed on Concord Street for more than a year. He suggested that instead of the easement, Slattery should deed over the bog and nearby playing fields to the city.

“We fought for this land because we wanted to protect the watershed,” said Daly. “ … We've got to start preservation and continue preservation.”

Parcel F is a 33-acre parcel — the last piece of undeveloped Pennichuck property — that was previously bought for $2.2 million by North Concord Street Properties, a controversial land deal that was finalized just days before the city acquired Pennichuck Corp.

At the time, many aldermen were unaware that the property was not included in the acquisition of the water company, and the city then made unsuccessful attempts to purchase the land for nearly $5 million to derail the housing project being built on the site.

“Thank you for doing this,” Pressly told Patenaude on Thursday at a special meeting on the issue, describing the land deal as a “understandable oversight” during negotiations.
khoughton@newstote.com