1-12-09

Walpole Hearing on Town Land Purchase

By Chuck Bingaman, Contributing Writer

            What does the public think about the Walpole Conservation Commission’s recommendation to spend $270,000 of trust funds on 21.45 acres of land along Rt. 12 to add to the Fanny Mason Forest?

            That’s the question to be addressed Friday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m.at a Town Hall hearing required by law and presided over by Commission Chair Marcia Galloway.

            The land is owned by John Hodgkins who purchased it, according to town records, for $190,000 on July 3, 2006.  Hodgkins said last Friday that he originally purchased the land “to make a homestead for my family” but that he had recently decided to purchase a nearby house and piece of land instead.  Now he is seeking to have the Conservation purchase the plot for $270,000.

            Commission Chair Galloway says that the land is adjacent to the Fanny Mason Forest that was given to the town by the Fanny P. Mason Trust along with funds to maintain it in 1949.  Over the years the maintenance funds have grown significantly and now total between $500,000 and $600,000.  The Fanny Mason Forest is on both sides of Rt. 12.

            The town has not sought a current appraisal of the land.

            “Having this additional 21.45 acres would benefit the town,” according to Galloway, “by giving us good access to trails in the forest, more conservation land in the town, and a very good staging area for future logging in the forest. And no town or tax money would be involved.”

            Galloway notes that there will not be a vote at the hearing and that the town will not have a vote in the matter.  Rather, the Selectmen have final approval on the spending of the trust funds as recommended by the Conservation Commission.

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