Nov 16^th FALL TOWN MEETING

Vote YES on ARTICLE 4

Abuts 138+ acres of town land (Steele Farm/Community Gardens)

You can make a difference! The residents of Boxborough have an opportunity to preserve an 18.5-acre historic property that has been in agriculture for food and forestry for over 100 years. If the Town does not acquire the property, the historic barn and house will be torn down for the development of a subdivision with up to 7 houses.  The owners have given the Town the opportunity to match the current Intent to Purchase by a developer for $1.8 million. 

Due to the timing of this opportunity for the Town, and the value this property brings to the residents of Boxborough, the Boxborough Conservation Trust (BCTrust) and our partners, the Sudbury Valley Trustees (SVT) are working together to raise a significant amount of money to reduce the cost to the town.  The BCTrust’s goal is to contribute at least $300,000, with $100,000 already committed and an additional $200,000 to be raised preferably by Town Meeting and definitely by December 31, 2026.  If successful, our combined effort with SVT should reduce the cost to the Town by $800,000. An additional $300,000 of Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds may be added, pending a vote of the CPC at their public hearing on November 5^th.

Background:

• In the 2022-2027 Town’s Open Space and Recreation Plan the Planning Board, the Agricultural Commission, the Board of Health and the Conservation Commission selected this property as valuable for preservation as it protects water resources; provides for habitat, biodiversity and carbon storage in the woodlands; creates options for income-generating agricultural use; and provides public passive recreation.
• Since 2015 Town Meeting has voted over $1.8 million of Community Preservation Act (CPA) Funds to various worthwhile Boxborough projects, and this will be only the second one for land preservation, one of the principal reasons the CPA was adopted.
• One of Boxborough 2030 Master Plan goals is to “Protect and/or acquire additional lands for conservation, water resources protection, wildlife habitat, agricultural land preservation, recreation, trails, and wildlife corridors.”

Preservation Benefits and Value:

• Agricultural Activity: As an Agricultural Commission property, provides a Town income potential through active agriculture on the frontage acreage and sustainable forestry on the wooded upland.
• Outdoor Recreation: Allows the continued use of the trails on the property which abut and link to the trails on Boxborough’s Steele Farm and Community Garden properties.
• Water Resource Protection: Captures and filters rain water and recharges the nearby aquifer.
• Wildlife Conservation: Protects existing wildlife habitat and maintains a wildlife corridor. This 18.5 acres plus an additional 66.7 acres of town land will be put in a Conservation Restriction (CR) to be held by SVT for permanent protection (over 85 acres total).
• Climate and Environmental Resiliency: Designated by the Commonwealth of MA and The Nature Conservancy (See BioMap here) as a Local Landscape valued for preservation because of this land’s importance for habitat and ecosystems as it sequesters carbon, mitigates noise and air pollution from the nearby state and federal highways and promotes continued biodiversity for both vegetation and wildlife. 
• Landscape Preservation: Maintains the rural landscape viewshed approaching the Richardson House coming from the north on Middle Road, a scenic road, designated by Town Meeting vote in 1975.

Historic Benefits and Value:

• The house (c. 1866) and the barn are on the Commonwealth’s Historic Register known as the Augustus Winslow (A.W.) Wetherbee House.  The property is in close proximity to both Steele Farm and the Boxborough Old Town Center Historic District, both of which are on the National Register of Historic Places.
• A.W. Wetherbee was a Civil War Veteran, State Representative and very involved in the Town.
• Preserving and restoring the house and barn to use would provide the Town (through the Agricultural Commission) a lease opportunity for agricultural use.

Vote YES on ARTICLE 4

PLEASE DONATE TO THE BCTRUST FOR THIS PROJECT

www.bctrust.org/join