Grantham
In a news release this week, town officials said the offer of $415,000, “which is the independently-appraised fair market value of the property,” was turned down by Dillon Investments.
The town was planning to vote on spending $300,000 toward the purchase with additional funding from the Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, or LCHIP, and private sources.
“Although this project did not end in a deal, the town gained much,” Selectboard member Warren Kimball said in the release. “The town put together a proposal that was reasonable, provided maximum value to taxpayers and strengthened relationships with partners that will benefit future conservation efforts in Grantham.”
Dillon bought the property for $385,000 in April of this year and was asking $475,000, the town said.
Attorney Sheridan Brown, who represented the town in the matter, said on Friday it is unlikely at this point the town would be able to move forward with the purchase.
“It doesn’t come back to life unless he takes a reasonable price for it,” Brown said, explaining that land trusts have rules against paying above fair market value.
At a Selectboard meeting in May, Ted Tichy of North Country Forest Management, which is owned by Dillon, of Anson, Maine, presented a plan for a timber harvest later this year and into 2019. A number of residents living near the property opposed the harvest, saying it would damage roads, create too much noise and have other adverse impacts. The plan did not require town approval but Tichy said he wanted to explain the work to residents.
The harvest was put on hold over the summer, presumably because Gov. Chris Sununu vetoed a bill that would have provided subsidies to biomass plants. The veto recently was overridden by the Legislature, but it is unclear if that means the harvest will go forward. Efforts to reach Tichy were unsuccessful.
Brown said a harvest in 2013-14 removed many of the mature trees so what is left does not have a high value and would be better suited for biomass use.
Under the planned purchase, the town would have worked with The Conservation Fund and Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust to acquire and permanently protect the property. Though the town was seeking residents’ approval for $300,000, that share might have been lower, officials said.
“Whereas accredited land trusts are bound by rules that prevent them from paying more than fair market value, any deal at a price over $415,000 was impossible via a collaborative approach that would allow for the quick closing sought by Dillon and reduce the financial burden on town taxpayers,” the town said.
“It is disappointing that we couldn’t reach a deal, but the public policy reason for not paying above fair market value is very sound,” Brown said in the news release. “Paying a higher price drives the cost of conservation up for everyone unreasonably.”
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
