NEWBURY, Vt. — In a three-part article at Town Meeting this year, voters first will be asked whether or not they want to accept a gift of 127 acres of land neighboring Tucker Mountain Town Forest.
If approved, they would be asked to authorize the Selectboard to transfer a conservation easement from the town-owned Ski Tow property, a 24-acre plot of land on Halls Lake Road.
Thirdly, they would be asked to allow the Selectboard to sell the Ski Tow property.
“I think this is kind of a balancing act, which is why we made it a three-part article,” Selectboard Chairwoman Susan Culp said. “We really want to support conservation and recreational opportunities for the community. At the same time we’re very mindful right now of the impact on taxpayers.”
By accepting the land gift from the nonprofit Friends of Tucker Mountain, which is proposing to buy the property from a private land owner, and at the same time releasing the Ski Tow Property and selling it “… in the end the town is not made financially worse off by taking land off the tax rolls,” said Culp, a former member of the Friends group, who resigned from the nonprofit board after she was elected to the Selectboard.
Town officials were not actively looking to adding land to the town forest, but the opportunity presented itself after landowner Bob Bailey told Tucker Mountain Town Forest Management Committee members he was looking to sell the 127 acres bordering the forest that he purchased more than 25 years ago.
“When I first bought it I thought maybe when I retire I’ll build a house up there and move up there,” Bailey, a Hanover Center resident who is a direct descendant of Gen. Jacob Bayley, who founded Newbury, Vt., in 1763. The spelling of the family’s last name was later changed to Bailey.
Over the years, Bailey’s plans for the property changed and within the last year he decided to sell the land for $265,000. He reached out to the forest committee because he approved of the work it and volunteers had done since the 636-acre forest was established in 2018.
“I just thought it was a good use of the property,” said Bailey, owner of the longtime Lebanon-based real estate and construction management company Bayley Associates.
Snowmobile trails maintained by the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers go through the property. Tucker Mountain Town Forest also allows for snowmobiling, as well as a variety of recreational activities including hiking, hunting, hunting, horseback riding, mountain biking and skiing.
If voters approve Bailey’s gift, the Friends of Tucker Mountain, a nonprofit organization that raises funds to support the forest, would purchase the land. The organization would use a mix of grant funding and private donations, including $30,000 from Bailey, said Tom Kidder, who chairs the Tucker Mountain Town Forest Management Committee, and is also chair of Friends of Tucker Mountain.
After the purchase is completed, the nonprofit would transfer the land to the town and add it to the forest.
“We are not asking the town to pay anything,” Kidder said. “We’re more of the attitude that someone is offering this to the town of Newbury and it’s up to the voters whether or not they choose to accept the gift.”
At first, members of the Selectboard were reluctant to accept it, in part because members were reluctant to remove any property from the tax rolls, Culp said.
Newbury is 42,216 acres and of that, 5,169 acres are protected by conservation easements held by variety of organizations, meaning 12% of all land in Newbury has been conserved, according to data provided by Niels Rinehart, lands administrator and historic resources coordinator, at the Agency of Natural Resources, which is part of the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation.
Taxes for the Bailey property were $994 in 2025, said Kidder, who has spent extensive time researching the finances of the proposed land gift.
For the town to consider accepting the land, “we need to remove other lands that have no compelling public purpose for the town to continue to own,” she said.
The town purchased the Ski Tow property in 1979 for $18,400, according to town property records. It is now valued at $76,900, according to town property records.
The town used federal funds designated for recreation for the initial purchase and as a condition of the funding, a conservation easement was placed on the land, Culp said.
While it was used as a ski tow for a few years, Culp said it has been unused for more than three decades and “has been sort of a lingering issue in need of a resolution for a long time.”
If voters pass all three parts of Article Five at Town Meeting, the Selectboard would start to take steps to list the land for sale, Culp said.
Though the land is in a “marshy wet area” and does not have any utility connections at this time, she said she could see it being used to construct about three houses. Alternatively, she said, someone could also purchase the land to preserve it.
Newbury’s Town Meeting informational session is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Newbury Village Hall/Newbury Elementary School gymnasium at 214 Pulaski St. The informational meeting can also be streamed via newburyvt.org. Town Meeting is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 3, at the same location.