By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Mayor Liz Lempert agreed to pay to have the grass cut on municipally owned property located across the street from her house on Meadowbrook Drive.
The town said this week that she had donated the services of her landscaper to tend the front part of land that the town bought last year for $625,000 and cleared of a house that often flooded. She did not return phone calls seeking comment on Wednesday.
Another resident in that part of town, Barbara F. Wenitsky, of Leabrook Lane, agreed to have her landscaper tend the rear portion of the land.
The town said Ms. Wenitsky initially approached municipal engineer Robert V. Kiser last fall about the donation for the rear portion of the land. When Mayor Lempert got wind of it, she stepped forward to have the other part taken care, Mr. Kiser said Wednesday.
The council voted Monday to accept the donations from both women. Documents they signed are silent about any deadlines for when their donation would expire.
Mr. Kiser said the town could have cut the grass itself, but that the mowing would be less frequent than neighbors there want. He said the town’s resources are “somewhat limited.”
Councilwoman Jo S. Butler on Wednesday expressed concern about the impression the arrangement might create. She said that on one hand, the town did not buy the property to benefit the mayor.
“But now that she’s paying for the landscaping, someone could interpret that it was somehow done to benefit her, benefit her enough to have the grass mowed,” Ms. Butler said.
She said she thinks the town should be responsible for mowing the lawn.
According to municipal records, the .75 acre property is bisected by Harry’s Brook. The town finally bought the flood-prone property from the owners for $625,000 through mostly federal money and had the house razed. The land will remain open space, the town has said.
