The Cambridge Chronicle reported on the policy order we adopted on Feb. 5 to support an EPA Targeted Brownfield Assessment to determine the level of contamination at Jerry’s Pond. The Friends of Jerry’s Pond are championing the area’s cleanup and restoration as a public park. The article quotes my remarks during the Council meeting discussion:
Vice Mayor Jan Devereux said she “enthusiastically” supported the proposal, and remembers when a bunch of trees and brush were cleared out of the site two summers ago and some people were “aghast” that “so much of the habitat was destroyed.” [I was one of the people who expressed concerns about the clearing.]
“I think somebody referred to it as ‘the great reveal,’” Devereux said.
She said local advocates have “opened our eyes to the asset that’s been sitting there sort of staring us in the face.”
“I really hope that even though this is just asking for an EPA grant to do an assessment, and it’s still a really long road to get it to the kind of recreational amenity that we’re all envisioning, I hope this starts us down that road, because I’m really excited about the opportunity it presents,” Devereux said.