The Shelburne and Colrain selectboards have voiced support for the state Department of Fish and Game’s plans to buy 50 acres and 277 acres in their respective towns.
The Shelburne Selectboard voted unanimously on Monday to sign a letter supporting the department’s efforts to purchase a 50-acre property on Brook Road. Selectboard Chair Rick LaPierre said the town’s support would allow the state department to cut through red tape and purchase the property more quickly.
“This land was previously owned by a couple, through a trust, from Greenfield on Brook Road. They sold it for about half of market rate to the Audubon Society. Then the Department of Fish and Game asked us to support their purchase from Audubon,” LaPierre said. “If the town sends a letter of support for their acquisition, they can proceed and go ahead and do it. If we don’t, then they would possibly have to go through eight months or more of waiting for public notices.”
The Massachusetts Audubon Society, also called Mass Audubon, purchased the property from Lori and Gary Roy for $100,000 this past July. LaPierre told board members that the Department of Fish and Game had asked Mass Audubon to buy the property and hold onto it while the department works through the legal steps and procedures to obtain it.
LaPierre said the property is “not developable,” but the town can bring in some revenue if the state owns it and includes it in a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement.
“It’s on vertical land and on the other side of the brook, so it’s really not developable,” LaPierre said.
“We’re going to get something out of a PILOT, so we might as well move in that direction and facilitate their efforts,” Shelburne Selectboard member Andrew Baker added.
In Colrain, the Selectboard also voted unanimously on Tuesday to sign a similar letter of support, backing the Department of Fish and Game’s plans to purchase 277 acres on Thompson Road, also owned by Mass Audubon.
Colrain Town Administrator Diana Parsons said the department plans to use the property for open space and recreation purposes, and will open the property up to the public.
“This is land that Doug MacLeay actually sold to Mass Audubon, and now I think the Department of Fish and Game wants to take ownership stake of it,” Parsons said. “They’re going to open it up for passive recreation, some public use.”
Mass Audubon bought the property this past August for $750,000.
A representative for the Department of Fish and Game said she could not comment on pending land acquisitions.