I am happy to announce that the Select Board voted this morning to recommend that Town Meeting authorize spending from the Open Space set-aside fund to secure a permanent Conservation Restriction on the land between Main Street, Brook Street, and Post Office Square.
After all the paperwork is complete, the ownership of the land will be transferred from the Conant family to the Acton Water District; and the Town of Acton and the Sudbury Valley Trustees will hold a Conservation Restriction (CR) on the land. The CR will allow people to walk on this section of the historic Isaac Davis trail year round, and will require the maintenance of the meadow at the corner of Brook Street and Main Street. Most importantly, the CR will protect wildlife and the uplands and wetlands habitats in perpetuity.
This wouldn’t have been possible without extensive work and support from the family of Brewster Conant, who have owned and stewarded this land for many decades; the Acton Water District, which has been looking to develop water supply wells here; members of the Town Open Space Committee; members of our local and regional land trusts, the Acton Conservation Trust and the Sudbury Valley Trustees; voters who put the Community Preservation Committee in business by agreeing to 1.5% surcharge on annual tax bills; and the Open Space Committee, which has kept recommending that money be placed in the Open Space set-aside fund, so that we could be ready to take advantage of opportunities like this.
This parcel has held the number one spot on the Prioritized Parcel List of multiple Open Space and Recreation Plans. I’ve been thrilled to be on the Select Board in the year we finally landed this one. Please look for and support the Conservation Restriction article at this year’s Town Meeting, which will start on May 1.