Pirie Purchase to Go Before Town Meeting Voters

Voters will head to a Special Town Meeting in Hamilton next month to decide whether the town government should buy an 85-acre horse farm.

The meeting will happen on June 11 after a 3-2 vote by the Hamilton Board of Selectmen on Thursday evening.

The purchase for the so-called Pirie property, or Aquila Farm, will go before Special Town Meeting voters.

Chairman Marc Johnson and Selectmen Scott Maddern and Jennifer Scuteri voted to put the purchase before voters and Selectmen Jeff Hubbard and David Neill voted against it.

Some of the possible uses for the property including selling a portion of it to a developer, which would build a cottage-style housing development, plus use a portion of it for an athletic field and keep much of it as open space for hiking, cross-country skiing and other activities.

The town has the first right of refusal on the property because of a state program that has allow a discounted tax bill for about the past 40 years, allowing the tax bill to be lowered in exchange for a promise it stays as open space under a program known as Chapter 61.

A town committee has spent recent weeks considering the possible purchase and how the town could use the property.

There's an agreement to sell the property for $3.9 million and the town would be required to buy it for the same price if voters back the purchase.