The Watch Hill Conservancy

“Line 28 - some members of the conservancy's board are members of one bay street center from which the conservancy leases its office space. Some members of the conservancy's board are trustees of the roberts foundation from which the conservancy requets grant funding for various programs.”

“The organizations members have the power to elect or appoint one or more members of the governing body.”

“The organizations members have the power to elect or appoint one or more members of the governing body.”

“The 990 is reviewed by the president, treasurer, and executive director. Subsequent to their review, the 990 is provided to the board of directors for their review and approval prior to filing with the irs.”

“Directors and key employees are expected to disclose any potential conflicts of interest on an annual basis. The executive director and attorney regularly monitor foundation relationships and are responsible for raising conflict of interest issues.”

“The compensation for the executive director is determined by recommendation of the executive committee to the board of directors. Compensation is based on an agreed upon annual amount.”

“The compensation for consultants and independent contractors is determined by recommendation of the executive committee to the board of directors. Compensation is based on an agreed upon amount. Officers and directors do not receive compensation for their services as such.”

“990 may be available on the guidestar website. In addition, governing documents are available to the public upon request.”

“The watch hill conservancy was incorporated in 1999 to promote the preservation of the natural and built environments of watch hill, ri; to conserve, maintain and enhance the scenic, open space and historical values and the character of watch hill and support the continued vitality and sustainability of the community; to educate the public concerning the same; and to acquire and preserve interests in real property; and any other purposes incidental to the aforesaid purposes, whether accomplished within the watch hill fire district or in nearby areas of the town of westerly, ri or stonington, ct.”

“Conservation efforts - 2020 was the fifteenth year of the conservancy's involvement in napatree point conservation area programming, and the fifth year that the conservancy was lead steward of napatree, assuming this role from the watch hill fire district in 2016. The conservancy conducts a variety of conservation and environmental education programs in the conservation area and supports environmental conservation studies and ecological preservation efforts as well. Due to the covid19 pandemic, we had to cancel our popular, in-person, children's program, the napatree investigators this year. Nonetheless, we have received considerable community support for our conservation efforts and youth education programs. Our conservation activities include the stewardship of properties currently owned by the whfd and the conservancy within the conservation area as well as exploring the acquisition of other remaining out-parcels of natural significance on napatree point. Napatree point is the most pristine barrier beach ecosystem in the region and is highly valued by the public who visit the conservation area year-round. Conservation activities also include the maintenance of the other properties currently owned by the conservancy which are outside of the napatree point conservation area.”

“Preserving community character - the watch hill fire district is a national parks service registered historic district with many contributing buildings and features. A significant focus of the conservancy's mission is to preserve, enhance, and maintain both the scenic and historic values of watch hill. In 2020, the conservancy was very involved in the town of westerly's 2020-2040 comprehensive plan and town zoning code amendment processes discussing with town staff and submitting significant comments on the proposed changes. The conservancy also monitors and responds to proposed development activity that would result in significant change to the community character or have negative impacts to the historic district designation. The organization's efforts in this arena were time consuming and substantial in 2020.”

“Informing the community - the conservancy successfully completed the third year of its lanphear live speaker series, held in the chaplin b. Barnes reading room at the lanphear livery. Due to the pandemic, in 2020 this program was taken to a virtual platform. Free to attend, lanphear live, hosted during the summer months, is designed to inform the community of important issues in science, history, nature, and technology. Additionally, the conservancy is leading a community-wide initiative to educate participants on sea level rise and storm surge impacts impacting watch hill. The 2020 planning for a resilient future work focused on identifying possible mitigation plans to reduce climate change impacts on bay street and the napatree point conservation area for a 3-5' sea level rise scenario.”

“Bay street infrastructure and streetlight project - 2019 marked significant progress on the conservancy's multi-year underground infrastructure project in the village of watch hill. The project began with a two-year engineering study and years of construction, allowing for the undergrounding of wires and the relocation of transformers. The portion of the project involving the installation of an underground duct bank on bay street began in late 2011, in conjunction with the town of westerly's installation of the decorative street lighting portion of the project, which was combined into a larger municipal "tip" project, concerning a multitude of bay street road improvements such as new curbing, crosswalks, sidewalks and paving, managed primarily by the town of westerly.”

“Consulting 3,250 3,250 3,250 consulting 8,250 0 0 consulting 19,500 0 0 strategic planning 0 10,001 0 payroll service fees 845 0 0 payroll service fees 111 121 44 payroll service fees 111 0 0 total 32,067 13,372 3,294”