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Town manager proposes $1.9M land purchase and bond options to site safety complex and athletic fields
Summary
Town staff presented a $1.9 million purchase-and-sale for about 61.4 acres with possible uses including a safety complex and athletic fields and outlined 5‑ and 10‑year bond repayment scenarios with modest estimated impacts on the average homeowner.
Town manager Paul presented the council with a proposed purchase of approximately 61.4 acres for $1.9 million and asked the council to consider putting bond language on the warrant to secure the parcel for future municipal uses.
Paul said the parcel could accommodate a safety complex (police and fire), multiple athletic fields and future town facilities. He noted the site abuts town‑owned property and that the town is pursuing rights of first refusal on two adjacent parcels that could expand the holding to more than 100 contiguous acres for trails and fields.
Two repayment scenarios were presented: a 10‑year schedule with an estimated average homeowner impact of about $147 over the life of the bond, and a 5‑year schedule with a slightly lower overall interest cost and an estimated $134 impact over five years for the average single‑family home (town sample household value used in the calculation was $424,650). Paul said the first‑year tax impact is minimal because $475,000 of the town’s land‑bank capital reserve was applied toward the purchase.
Councilors asked questions about alternatives, connectivity to current town parcels and trade‑offs between rehabilitating existing facilities and building new central facilities. Paul said the town’s architects have modeled possible layouts including a 10‑acre safety complex site and multiple athletic fields, and he said the council would see formal warrant language and tax‑impact estimates before any vote.
No formal action to place the bond on the warrant was taken at the Jan. 15 meeting. The town manager reminded the council of upcoming calendar dates for petition warrant articles and public hearings in the budget cycle.
