NEWBURY, Vt. — Voters approved a three-phase article, which indirectly swaps one piece of land under a conservation easement for another, at Town Meeting on Tuesday.
As a result, the town plans to accept 127 acres of land located on Tucker Mountain as a gift from the nonprofit Friends of Tucker Mountain.
The second step is to grant a conservation easement on that land to a qualified conservation organization and then to release an existing Land and Water Conservation Fund easement on the town’s 24-acre Ski Tow property at Halls Lake Road in Newbury.
Once the Ski Tow easement is released, the town intends to sell the property.
The voice vote from the floor showed a clear majority in favor of the article following a discussion that included participation by several attendees.
Conservation Commission Chairman Michael Thomas said there is no clear plan for anything that the town can do with the Ski Tow property other than leave it sitting there. He fully supported the land swap as proposed.
“Now, we have a golden opportunity to use that property, to leverage it to do good for the town,” Thomas said during Tuesday’s floor meeting held at Newbury Village Hall.
The proposal had some opposition, however.
Newbury resident Cindy Clemence said she opposed selling the Ski Tow property because it could open up the door for unwelcome development.
“I’m just wondering why you want to get rid of that chunk of land that goes down into the swamp and is a large parcel for uninterrupted animal movement,” said Clemence.
Based on participation in a counted vote to end the discussion period on this article during the meeting, there were 92 voters in attendance.
The land deal is not expected to cost taxpayers anything. The Friends of Tucker Mountain is raising funds for the purchase.
Bob Bailey decided to sell the 127-acre parcel for $265,000, and offered a contribution of $30,000 himself, bringing the price to the nonprofit to $235,000.
Friends of Tucker Mountain is seeking a grant from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, or VHCB, which would cover 66% of the price, or $155,100.
VHCB would cover half the cost of an appraisal, plus survey and GPS mapping if needed and would contribute a $25,000 stewardship endowment, according to town meeting materials.
A Newbury family also offered to contribute $50,000. The remaining amount and the other half of the assessment fee would come from other grants and funding sources.
The new property would be managed by Tucker Forest Town Management Committee.
The Town of Newbury purchased the Ski Tow property in 1979 for $18,400.
Its estimated value now is $76,900. The property cannot be sold unless the recreational easement that protects it is transferred to another recreational property.
On Tuesday, voters also approved a proposed general fund budget of $789,000, a $50,000 increase from last year, as well as a proposed highway budget of $915,000, a $5,000 increase from last year.
In uncontested races to be decided by ballot on Tuesday, Andrew Lee was running for a three-year Selectboard term and Shauna Prime was running for a two-year term on the board.
Also by ballot, voters were to decide whether to authorize the Selectboard to appoint a first and, if needed, second constable.