OP/ED: Town Needs Public Support In Land Purchase

To the Citizens of Amherst,

For several years, the Board of Selectmen and the Recreation Commission have been discussing the inevitable need to secure and develop future recreational fields.  As we are all well aware, at the end of the 2014 playing season, the fields currently known as Cemetery Field’s, will no longer be available for use as recreational fields.

Aware of the town’s current situation, at the end of November the Selectmen received a letter from the State of NH offering to sell the town a parcel of State owned land for recreation purposes. The area located on Merrimack Rd at the Rt 101 overpass on the East side of 101 and the South side of Merrimack Road, is 6 plus acres of ideal land. After a comprehensive walking assessment of the land, the Selectmen notified the State that the town would be interested in discussing this land acquisition further. However, we advised the state that any proposal offered must be brought before the voters in March, to which they understood.

The land parcel available is ideal for recreation use and should be able to replace the three fields that we will be losing at Cemetery Fields. The Selectmen have also informed the State of our interest in seeing if they would consider possibly selling more of their set back land along Rt. 101 should future fields be needed. At this time, it is still under consideration by the State and it is our hope that at the Deliberative session in February that we will have a better understanding if this additional land would be available to be purchased by the town at a later date.

If the town doesn’t buy the land, the land will be sold either way by the State. When it is sold, there are several options that a developer could do with the land from single family homes to workforce housing. In either of these cases, the end result will cost the town more money and not resolve our certain need for playing fields.

It is the Selectmen’s hope, that we will be able to have some rendering drawings, showing the land as developed for playing fields in the near future. It is also our hope that by providing a significant amount of information including a full appraisal of the land and the total cost to build and maintain the fields, the voters will make an informed decision to support this purchase, so that we may be able to replace Cemetery Fields and start using the new fields, in the spring of 2015.

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Bruce Bowler, Chairman

Dwight Brew, Vice Chairman

George Infanti

Tom Grella

Brad Galinson