A photo of the land in question, from the package shown to the council. Courtesy image
SCARBOROUGH — The Scarborough Town Council unanimously approved the expenditure of up to $140,000 from the Land Acquisition Reserve Fund to purchase the property located at 91 Burnham Road from private owners. If given final passage on Dec. 21, the town manager would be authorized to execute all documents necessary to protect the town’s interest. The purchase was recommended by the Parks and Conservation Land Board and the Scarborough Land Trust.
“The more land we can conserve in Scarborough, the better,” said Councilor Jean-Marie Caterina on Dec. 7 when the purchase was given preliminary approval. “We can talk all we want about wanting to make sure land is preserved, but unless we own it, there’s no guarantee it’s going to be preserved. So, it needs to be either under the land trust or (protected) in some other fashion because of private property rights.”
According to the board and the Scarborough Land Trust, there is a 10-year window, if that, to conserve land in Scarborough in light of growth and development.
“There is an urgency to protect the land in this town,” said Suzanne Foley-Ferguson, chair of the Parks and Conservation Land Board.
The trust negotiated to purchase the $230,000 property for $200,000. The private homeowners are donating $30,000 of land value to the project as a charitable contribution. Foley-Ferguson thanked the private landowners for the donation.
The recommended town contribution comes to 60 percent of the total project costs. Since the Scarborough Land Trust exceeded its fundraising goal, the recommended town contribution was reduced to $140,000 from $160,000.
The property is 7.8 acres of mostly forested land that borders the 220-acre Fuller Farm on two sides. A private trail system already existing within the parcel’s borders can easily be connected with the Fuller Farm trails, according to trust representatives. The property contains two small streams that feed into the wetlands that are shared with the larger property, as well as vernal pools with active wood frog populations. Vernal pools are also associated with rare and endangered species such as blue spotted and spotted salamanders and four-toed salamanders.
The land acquisition would also help the Scarborough Land Trust with its goal of connecting Fuller Farm to Broadturn Farm.
The vote does not close the purchase, but it is movement towards that goal. “And just to remind everybody, this isn’t the end of the process,” said Councilor John Cloutier. “There’s no guarantee that they’ll finally close on this parcel, this is a step in the process.”
However, Andrew Mackie, executive director of the Scarborough Land Trust, said he is confident of the outcome. “This project is definitely moving forward,” he said. “We are very close to closing in 2023, hopefully the first quarter.”
Council Chair Jonathan Anderson said he favored the purchase.
“I know as a council we keep talking about conservation, and I think hopefully next year this will become a bigger topic for us to explore,” Anderson said. “So whatever the (Parks and Conservation Board) and the Scarborough Land Trust would like to do to partner with us to figure out how we can expedite this a little more to get as much conservation as we can, I think that’s something that I would really like to see.”
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