Town Hall Garden Dedicated To Ms. Valiela

     The garden in front of Falmouth Town Hall, a “xeriscaping” project that does not require water or fertilizer, was considered by some to be a radical idea when it was first floated. Others called it forward-thinking.
     Last night, before an enthusiastic crowd of friends and colleagues, that garden, a resplendent blend of colors and textures, was dedicated to Virginia Valiela, the longtime selectman who many agreed championed numerous forward-thinking ideas in Falmouth, from recycling to water quality protection to wastewater management.
     Ms. Valiela of Old Main Road, North Falmouth, retired from the board of selectmen last year after serving for 21 years. Prior to that, she served as a commissioner for the town’s Department of Public Works for five years.
     Having a garden that is an example of water conservation dedicated to her, Ms. Valiela said, was very appropriate.
     “I have always been connected with water” in town projects, she said, citing her years working with the town’s former utilities manager Richard T. Witt on water supply issues and her early work setting up water protection zones, which were later approved by Town Meeting and then established by the state as “zones of contribution” for wellheads.
     That work “very quickly led to issues of water contamination,” having to do with the Massachusetts Military Reservation. Ms. Valiela still serves on the Senior Management Board at the MMR, which oversees the cleanup of water pollution from the base.
     Continuing on the water theme, Ms. Valiela served on the board of DPW commissioners as issues of the town’s sewer were front and center. She acknowledged that wastewater issues “will be with us for a long time.”
     Most recently, Ms. Valiela headed up the Coonamessett River Restoration Working Group, the committee formed by selectmen to gather consensus on a plan to restore the Coonamessett River while keeping some cranberry growing activity along the river.
     “That was a very difficult issue and it is still an ongoing issue with the town,” Ms. Valiela said.
     Ms. Valiela said she will continue to stay active. “I will always care about this town and will always be involved in some way,” she said. She thanked the people of Falmouth who returned her to office numerous times and also thanked her colleagues over the years.
     “We haven’t always agreed but we had respect for our differences,” she said.
     State Representative Matthew C. Patrick was on hand to give Ms. Valiela a citation and plaque from the State House, honoring her for her years of contributions to the town.
     Mr. Patrick said he was privileged to serve with Ms. Valiela on the board of selectmen and said, “She outworked all of us.”
     Falmouth Parks Superintendent Brian J. Dale was in charge of setting up the town hall xeriscaping, working with landscape designer D. Paul Miskovsky, whose work on the garden made national news.
     When the garden was first put in, many people had strong feelings about it, Mr. Dale said.
     “Either you loved it or you hated it. There was no in-between,” Mr. Dale said. He credited Ms. Valiela for being an early supporter of the effort.
     Ms. Valiela said of the garden, “It’s a beautiful place.”
     Among Ms. Valiela’s colleagues from her early years of town service who attended the gathering was Nathan Snow Ellis III of Owl’s Nest Road, East Falmouth, whose grandfather was honored with the naming of the Nathan Ellis Highway/Route 151.
     Mr. Ellis, who served as a DPW manager, a DPW commissioner and then, a selectman with Ms. Valiela, noted her “stamina and calm demeanor,” particularly in “standing up to” a number of conservative thinkers on the board.
     “She stayed strongest in a very difficult situation and I’m proud to have worked with her,” Mr. Ellis said.
     Ms. Valiela noted that it was very unusual at that time, 25 years ago, to have a woman be a commissioner of public works, especially one with a baby, but she said her colleagues treated her as an equal.
     She said she was also only the second woman elected as a selectman in Falmouth. Now, she said, having a woman as selectman is no longer unusual.
     Edward L. Marks Jr. of Perch Pond Circle, Teaticket, said he served with Ms. Valiela the longest, over 22 years, first as a DPW commissioner, and then on the Falmouth Finance Committee when she was a selectman, and later as a fellow selectman.
     Mr. Marks said Ms. Valiela “had the town at her heart always.” He called her “very fair,” and referring to her intellect, said, “she never talked down to people. She used layman’s language so you could understand her.”
     Mr. Marks added of the dedication, coming 14 months after Ms. Valiela left office, “This is long overdue.”
     Troy B.G. Clarkson of North Hill Road, North Falmouth, also claimed the title of Ms. Valiela’s longest serving colleague, having served for 12 years with her on the board of selectmen.
     Mr. Clarkson said he was elected as a very young man, at age 23, and learned a lot from Ms. Valiela.
     “There was never any doubt she was bringing her convictions including her desire to do what was right for the town” with her to the meetings, Mr. Clarkson said.
     “I always respected her for that and I still do today,” he added.
     John S. Elliott of Scranton Avenue, Falmouth, who followed Ms. Valiela as a DPW commissioner and served with her for one term on the board of selectmen, said Ms. Valiela “always did things so thoroughly.”
     He echoed the others when he said, “It was a pleasure serving with her.”