Voters to decide on land bond
By David Harry
Staff Writer
Supporters of the $1 million municipal bond on the Nov. 3 ballot are hoping to turn $1 into $3 or $4.
The 20-year bond will be used to buy land for conservation and recreation in town, and will be “the cornerstone and leverage” to get additional money in grants and donations, said Town Manager Tom Hall.
If passed, the bond will be the third approved by voters since 2000, Hall said, and $2.4 million is now on hand to buy land in town.
But Hall said that money could be spent quickly because there are about a half dozen areas under consideration to buy.
If voters pass the bond question, the Maine Community Foundation will make a matching grant of $200,000, funded through an anonymous foundation donor, said Scarborough Land Conservation Trust President Jack Anderson.
According to its Web site, The Maine Community Foundation Web site was established in 1983 to provide grants in support of education, the environment, arts and humanities and social and community causes.
The bond, which carries an interest rate estimated at 4.5 percent, will be spent on purchases approved by the town council and may go for separate acquisitions.
Recommendations on potential purchases are made by the seven-member Parks and Conservation Land Board, which Hall said was created in 2000 after voters approved an initial $1.5 million bond to buy land. Paul Austin, the chairman of the board, is also the land trust vice president.
“We’ve been good stewards with the money,” Hall said.
Anderson heads a land trust established in 1977 that now oversees more than 1,000 acres, according to the trust Web site.
Money from the bonds has helped the trust buy the Meserve Farm on Broadturn Road, which the trust leases to John Bliss and Stacy Brenner. The couple operates Broadturn Farm at the site.
Anderson said the bond money has also helped buy Gervais Farm on Manson Libby Road. The farm sits at the edge of the Scarborough Marsh and has become part of the state-operated Scarborough Wildlife Management Area.
Anderson and Hall said one area of interest is the 126-acre farm on Pleasant Hill Road owned by heirs of the Benjamin family.
“It’s no secret the trust has been interested for a long time,” Anderson said of the property. “We are talking with the heirs.”
Hall said there is also interest in buying land used for parking at Higgins Beach.
Anderson said the additional $200,000 offered is an inducement to pass the bond, and told councilors last month that each dollar of town money spent can lead to grants and donations of $3 or $4.
“It is an indispensable part of fundraising.”
Hall said strong support residents have given to prior bonds is unique and he hopes the support will not waver now.
“It is time sensitive and the matching grant is competitive, so we are asking now before other towns do,” Hall said.
Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219
Staff Writer
Supporters of the $1 million municipal bond on the Nov. 3 ballot are hoping to turn $1 into $3 or $4.
The 20-year bond will be used to buy land for conservation and recreation in town, and will be “the cornerstone and leverage” to get additional money in grants and donations, said Town Manager Tom Hall.
If passed, the bond will be the third approved by voters since 2000, Hall said, and $2.4 million is now on hand to buy land in town.
But Hall said that money could be spent quickly because there are about a half dozen areas under consideration to buy.
If voters pass the bond question, the Maine Community Foundation will make a matching grant of $200,000, funded through an anonymous foundation donor, said Scarborough Land Conservation Trust President Jack Anderson.
According to its Web site, The Maine Community Foundation Web site was established in 1983 to provide grants in support of education, the environment, arts and humanities and social and community causes.
The bond, which carries an interest rate estimated at 4.5 percent, will be spent on purchases approved by the town council and may go for separate acquisitions.
Recommendations on potential purchases are made by the seven-member Parks and Conservation Land Board, which Hall said was created in 2000 after voters approved an initial $1.5 million bond to buy land. Paul Austin, the chairman of the board, is also the land trust vice president.
“We’ve been good stewards with the money,” Hall said.
Anderson heads a land trust established in 1977 that now oversees more than 1,000 acres, according to the trust Web site.
Money from the bonds has helped the trust buy the Meserve Farm on Broadturn Road, which the trust leases to John Bliss and Stacy Brenner. The couple operates Broadturn Farm at the site.
Anderson said the bond money has also helped buy Gervais Farm on Manson Libby Road. The farm sits at the edge of the Scarborough Marsh and has become part of the state-operated Scarborough Wildlife Management Area.
Anderson and Hall said one area of interest is the 126-acre farm on Pleasant Hill Road owned by heirs of the Benjamin family.
“It’s no secret the trust has been interested for a long time,” Anderson said of the property. “We are talking with the heirs.”
Hall said there is also interest in buying land used for parking at Higgins Beach.
Anderson said the additional $200,000 offered is an inducement to pass the bond, and told councilors last month that each dollar of town money spent can lead to grants and donations of $3 or $4.
“It is an indispensable part of fundraising.”
Hall said strong support residents have given to prior bonds is unique and he hopes the support will not waver now.
“It is time sensitive and the matching grant is competitive, so we are asking now before other towns do,” Hall said.
Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219
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