12/14/2020
It has been over a year since the City of Stamford, in violation of its agreement with the volunteers, unilaterally rendered half the Preserve unfit for most wildlife, severely impacting the viability of the entire Preserve, and leaving the volunteers, sadly, with no option but to cease work, after 10 years. What was the Preserve is now slowly deteriorating.
The volunteers donated 17,500+ hours to the City with a conservative value of around $500,000. The neighborhood, the environment and the wildlife all greatly benefitted from the volunteers' work, which for the most part was unfunded by the City. We received only positive feedback on the work from the City. The first hint of any differing view was when we showed up for work on a Saturday to find half the Preserve in ruins.
Why the will of a few was allowed to override the community good -- without notice or an opportunity to be heard -- has never been explained. During this time, the responsible officials were: Mayor D. Martin; Director of Operations M. McGrath; Parks Manager K. Murray; and Parks Commission Interim Chair A. Brown.
This page is now no longer active except for public information announcements. If you have something to share with the ex-volunteers about the river, or a question that you think we can answer, contact [email protected].
