Greetings!!
The Town, Trust for Public Land, and the Ethel Walker School met
last week to continue to work toward the goal
of preserving the land.
A new arrangement has been hammered out that will help with the town
finance the purchase. Read about it
here.
The Board of Selectman passed this unanimously. It is now going
on to
the Board of Finance, soon. We need to get this deal finalized
ASAP so
we can fundraise and work toward the referendum!
Summary (of our understanding) of the arrangement:
The total price ($13.85M) and the acreage remain the same.
There are two main changes:
1. By March 31st, EWS will receive $10.75M.
$9.75M is for the
majority of the land, and $1M as a non-refundable deposit toward the
remainder of the land. The town will pay the additional $3.1M
over the
next 5-7 years ($2M within 5 years and the final $1.1M within 7 years).
2. Instead of selling the development rights to the town,
the
school will keep a perpetual conservation easement on the land.
The
legal terminology differs, but the ultimate outcome of preserving the
land and retaining the land for all school uses remains exactly the
same.
Advantages:
1. The extended timeline for a portion of the town
monies opens
access to federal, state and private grant sources that are not
available within the current short timeline.
2. Monies in the 6-year capital budget for open space can
be applied to the purchase as they come up in the next
few years
(rather than bonded up front and added to our debt service).
3. The preservation outcome is the same.
We are on an extremely tight timeline to get this on the regular
November ballot. We need to get this signed, sealed and delivered
ASAP
so we can focus on getting the money!!
Community meeting this week: 7 PM Flamig Farm
Easy but CRITICAL database assignments and other small jobs
and
events - we need everyone on this for the next 10 weeks. Be there
for
a short meeting and get your assignment!
Coverage needed for upcoming events:
Septemberfest - Sept 8,9,10
Tariffville Village Association Festival - September 23
At last check we especially need people on Friday night and part
of the day on Sunday at Septemberfest. But we would also
love to add
more to our Saturday crew! If you can volunteer at Septemberfest
or
Tariffville, please email Jan Beatty (
emmajbeatty@aol.com).
Finally, we are starting to talk to voters and
identifying those
who are committed to voting YES for preservation. Are you?
If you
live in Simsbury and are committed to VOTING
YES, email back with your name and address
and we will add you to the list. Our goal is 5300!!