Politics & Government
83 Acres Of Farmland To Be Preserved In East Concord
City councilors approved $224,500 on Monday, half the purchase price, so the Potter Family Farm Trust can be put into conservation.
CONCORD, NH — Nearly a quarter of a million dollars in conservation funds will be used to preserve about 83 acres of farmland in the eastern part of the city.
The Concord City Council voted to approve $224,500 in conservation funds on Monday, paying half the cost of the Potter Farm Family Trust and placing it in an easement. About 56 acres of the parcel to the north are forest and used for maple sugaring and timber; the other 27 acres, which abuts Turtle Pond, are open fields and land used to grow vegetables and produce.
The family will use another 5.5 acres of the land as its homestead.
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The other half of the cost of the property will be paid for by the Five Rivers Conservation Trust and via grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Merrimack Conservation partnership, and the state of New Hampshire moose plate grant program.
The family began discussions with the city and others about two years ago. An appraisal was made for the property, and the city’s conservation commission approved the purchase in June. The preservation will join another 200 acres in the area that have also been preserved, including land already owned by the city.
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James Owers, the vice chairman of the city’s conservation commission, said Five Rivers would be “the primary monitor of the easement.” He said, during the appraisal process, the appraiser noted the only other suitable use would be a “state lot” for housing, but the land was “way beyond” the urban compact zone, with no access to city water or sewer.
Nathan Fennessey, an at-large city councilor, asked if there were utilities in the area, and Mayor Jim Bouley said there were. When he was the ward city councilor many years ago, Bouley said, there was an issue with a utility pole being nicked by vehicles, and that was how he met the Potter family.
Jeffrey Evans, the director of conservation for Five Rivers, also spoke on behalf of the easement.
The vote of the council was unanimous.
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