Above: An announcement from the Conservation Commission included an updated version detailing a trail closure on Breakneck Hill, along with an explanation. (image cropped from contributed map)
The Town’s Conservation Agent asked me to share news from the commission about the updated status of Breakneck Hill Conservation Land and cleanup of the old Farm Dump.
While I’m at it, I’ll also share questions recently raised by an abutter about another section of the property.
The Commission announced that cleanup from the Farm Dump is complete, but a section of trails is still blocked off while area impacted by the cleanup efforts is in its “new phase of recovery”. Still most of the property that was accessible, remains accessible.
A new map highlights key areas of the property, including the trails, meadows, community garden, beecology garden, and parking.
The announcement also highlighted that the project came in under budget, as previously announced.
I checked in for an updated figure. According to Conservation Agent Melissa Danza, it’s currently around $900K under budget. But the commission will wait until restoration work is complete (to make sure they have an accurate figure) before bringing an Article back to Town Meeting to rescind the extra borrowing authority.1
As for the questions raised by an abutter, scroll down below the Town’s announcement for those details.
Now, here is the Town’s announcement:
‘Farm Dump’ Update
Status & Compliance
The Conservation Commission is pleased to present an update regarding the solid waste removal of the Farm Dump at Breakneck Hill Conservation Land. While the area remains closed off so that the grass and cover crops may grow, we are happy to update that the cleanup portion of the work is complete!In conjunction with TRC, the Town’s environmental engineer and professionals for this project, and Strategic Environmental Services (SES), the contractor, we were able to fully comply with the Administrative Consent Order (ACO) issued by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and in compliance with all solid waste and asbestos regulations. In total, the contractor removed and recycled 11.57 tons of scrap metal, 3.69 tons of rubber tires, and disposed of over 8,000 tons of soil comingled with solid waste and asbestos containing materials (ACMs).
Please note that while remediation is complete, restoration work is ongoing.
Trails
The trail leading into the property from the Community Gardens remains closed until it is successfully restored and grass is fully grown in. This trail was planted with grass suitable for heavy foot traffic once established. Due to higher temperatures and minimal rainfall, the areas are still germinating and waiting for growth.Please abide by all signage on the property regarding trail closures and stay out of fenced areas. Abiding by these signs will allow for a successful return of the trail system.
All other trails remain open. Visitors may enter through the main trailhead parking area near the Kiosk. The Community Garden and parking lot is open, along with the roadside trail that starts by the shed and leads to the Kiosk Lot Trailhead. The trail system is on the Art Map at the kiosk.
Take a walk up to the summit and enjoy the views, watch for birds in the grasslands, enjoy the buzz within the meadow, and take it all in! Check out the two new benches recently installed.
The Farm Dump Area
Given the removal of tons of waste and soil and associated regrading, the dump area is in a new phase of recovery. It will require careful management and time to become a future asset and habitat. It is now seeded with a cover crop to help manage invasive and other non-native plants. It will take multiple seasons for the plants to become established so take care to note closed off areas or updated information regarding access.Beecology Research Meadow
Future work will be ongoing along the closed trail section to restore portions of the Beecology Research Meadow that were impacted by the installation of the access road. Even when the trail reopens, portions of this project may still be ongoing so be sure to pay attention to roped off areas and signage and follow the Conservation Commission newsflash to stay up to date on happenings around town and Conservation news. You can sign up here.Other Information
With a total of over $4.3M approved at Town Meeting, the project will be coming in under budget. The largest cost was the disposal rate for the comingled soil and waste, but thankfully the contractor was able to secure disposal of the waste at a facility with a lower rate per ton.A large thank you is extended to Stewardship Committee for their ongoing diligence in overseeing the property, Taylor Bevenour and his team from TRC for their oversight and management of the project, and Ryan Gadboury, Bob Maddock, and their crew from Strategic Environmental Services, Inc. for their excellent implementation and flexibility of a difficult project. And as always, thank you to the residents for supporting this project! The removal of the farm dump provides a great benefit to the property and complements our goals of providing habitat and natural resource protection.
Visiting Breakneck Hill Conservation Land? Let us know what you see! Snap a photo and log it on iNaturalist.
Since I’m sharing an update on Breakneck Hill, I can’t ignore related questions that an abutter shared with me last month.
Mary Hamaker copied me on an August 16th letter she submitted to the Stewardship Committee Chair about a section of the Conservation Land designated for wildflowers. She described an area “running alongside Breakneck Hill” that was once beautiful and populated with wildflowers before it was killed by mowing and spraying.
Hamaker wrote that a sign, with the Stewardship Committee’s name, was installed in 2022 to mark the area as a wildflower meadow. Since then, the area has continued to be mowed, plowed, and sprayed with herbicide.
I looked up on Google Maps, and found the images below showing a difference between what it looked like in August 2011 and last month, followed by a more recent photo contributed by Hamaker:
Hamaker’s letter lamented:
In August this land was mowed again and appears to have been sprayed
again with herbicide because all the plants are brown and dead.Beyond the boundary of this plowed ground in the Breakneck Hill Conservation land, New England wildflowers bloom in abundance. But this scarred land is dead.
She had several questions about the chemicals being used, the future plans for that strip, and the past and future cost to taxpayers. Chair Joyce Greenleaf responded that the committee would work to pull together answers, hopefully by sometime next week.
In the meantime, she shared Stewardship’s most recent Annual Report summarizing their oversight of the property and the challenges they face. The report includes multiple references to efforts to “eradicate” problematic “invasive plants” on the property (which may explain why the mowing and spraying that took place).
Once the committee has responded more fully to Hamaker’s questions, I’ll share that explanation.
Going back to Conservation’s announcement. . .
I was curious about their invitation to log pics into inNaturalist. According to the app’s website, it allows the public to “Contribute to Science”:
Every observation can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed. We share your findings with scientific data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to help scientists find and use your data. All you have to do is observe.
Updated (9/5/25 3:48 pm): After I posted the story, Hamaker contacted me to let me know that the Google Maps photo from last month appeared to be prior to the spraying. She sent me a more recent photo, which I inserted.
- Last April, Annual Town Meeting voters were asked to rescind over $625K. Voters raised questions about the status of spending on ongoing restoration that couldn’t be answered, since Danza was on Maternity Leave. The Article was indefinitely postponed.
