This commentary is by Jeanie McIntyre, president of the Upper Valley Land Trust.
Recent media reports and social media claims about Vermont Technical College’s sale of surplus property, the situation of the Norwich Farm Creamery and the Upper Valley Land Trust compel me to correct the record so the public can better understand the situation and the land trust’s role.
This issue can be complicated, but it does boil down to a few indisputable facts.
First some background — in 2015, Vermont Technical College acquired via donation a 6-acre parcel with renovated dairy buildings with the intent of relocating its dairy education program there. The experiment was unsuccessful for a variety of reasons.
Now Vermont Technical College, facing a budget deficit of its own, needs to sell the property to recoup its investments. A tenant, Norwich Farm Creamery, has been processing milk and making cheese, using the equipment, facilities and residence located on the college’s property. The tenant would like to stay but cannot afford the college’s asking price.
Some Norwich residents have formed a nonprofit foundation, hoping to keep the creamery there.
How is Upper Valley Land Trust involved? An arrangement between the land trust and Vermont Technical College provided capital to outfit the site in 2015 and the land trust had an option to acquire the 6 acres if the college subsequently discontinued its academic programs there.
Vermont Technical College was unable to perform on that contract in 2018 and after two years the college and the land trust came to a settlement, whereby Upper Valley Land Trust relinquished its right to acquire the property and Vermont Technical College agreed to pay financial damages in two parts: one at the time the settlement was executed, the second at the time the college’s sale of the property is completed.
Some have asserted that the settlement is the reason that Vermont Technical College has not accepted below-market offers from the Norwich Farm Foundation. However, the truth is that Upper Valley Land Trust did not compel the sale of the property, does not have a “right to reject any offer” and has not been engaged in pricing, marketing or reviewing offers that Vermont Technical College may have received.
In addition to the hoped-for purchase of the Vermont Technical College property, the business plan and fundraising materials of the Norwich Farm Foundation and Norwich Farm Creamery describe activities planned for adjacent land that Upper Valley Land Trust owns — the 350-plus-acre Brookmead Conservation Area. But that land is not available for these purposes. Since Vermont Technical College abandoned its program four years ago, Upper Valley Land Trust has pursued other initiatives: leases for hay and grazing beef, revegetation of federally mapped wetlands, a garden dedicated to local food shelves, hiking, scientific research and other activities, and active relationships with farmers, ecologists, and others.
Some have asked what has changed since 2015 and why Upper Valley Land Trust does not favor another dairy operation like the one that Vermont Technical College tried. Well, quite simply, Vermont Technical College was a unique partner, an academic institution providing unmatched dairy education at scale. The Vermont Technical College experience showed that a dairy operation on the 6 acres was not financially viable without massive subsidies, despite the college’s million-dollar investment.
In addition, the past five years have brought several major storm events to the Blood Brook corridor, causing significant flooding and stormwater runoff. And recently, the state of Vermont has adopted a more rigorous agenda for protecting water quality, including nutrient management and compensating dairy farmers who stop farming in river corridors and flood hazard zones.
Upper Valley Land Trust is already engaged in other, more appropriate opportunities and commitments, including agriculture, for the land we own. These activities and plans are not affected or put at risk by Vermont Technical College’s sale. The land trust’s sole remaining interest with the 6 acres is the settlement stipulation that the balance of the compensation for the damage caused by Vermont Technical College’s contract default will occur upon the sale of the 6 acres.
The Upper Valley Land Trust wishes Vermont Technical College well in its attempt to sell the property and we wish others well in attempts to make a go of sustainable activities in the 6-acre parcel. We are not standing in the way. But we want to be clear that the 350 acres we steward in Norwich are independent of the 6-acre Vermont Technical College property and are not available for an intensive dairy operation.
