City conservation planners requested $55,009.50 in CPA funding to acquire a 7.7‑acre parcel known as Brooks Dairy Farm for permanent conservation, with the City holding fee ownership and granting a conservation restriction to the Greater Worcester Land Trust.

Eric Flint, conservation planner for the city's Division of Planning and Regulatory Services, said the CPC funding would cover 15.5% of project costs; the city expects the remainder from an Environmental and Energy Affairs (EEA) Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity (LAND) grant. Flint said adjacent landowners have signed a conditional letter of intent to donate a conservation restriction on nearby Bald Hill property contingent on the Brooks Dairy Farm protection, creating roughly 28 acres of contiguous protected open space.

Flint noted the parcel has been a top open‑space acquisition priority since 1996 and would provide passive recreation, wildlife habitat protection, carbon sequestration benefits and connection opportunities for Nelson Place Elementary School, whose students draw from environmental‑justice neighborhoods. The city proposed creating hiking trails on the parcel and said paved pedestrian access from Bridal Road to the school parking lot already exists.

Committee members asked about contingency if the EEA grant is not awarded; city staff said they would need to find alternative funding and remained optimistic given Worcester’s recent success in that grant program. The CPC will score this application and others ahead of a June 17 recommendation to City Council.