OGUNQUIT — The majority of the Ogunquit Select Board recently approved the purchase of an additional 40 acres of conservation land on Vinton Road, near the town’s dog park and transfer station. The land is currently undeveloped, forested farmland owned by the Basset family.

This November, voters will decide whether or not to expend $300,000 to purchase two adjacent parcels of land, totaling nearly 40 acres.

According to the chairman of the Ogunquit Conservation Commission, the purchase of the property aligns with the commission’s ongoing mission to acquire green space for preservation and public enjoyment. The town already owns a parcel of property near the area, which is dedicated to trails and recreational use.

According to the purchase and sale agreement, if approved by voters, the property would be deeded to the Town of Ogunquit, with the intention to protect it from commercial or residential use.

The question goes before voters with the endorsement of the majority of the Select Board. The town would pay for the purchase with $200,000 from a conservation land fund dedicated specifically to the acquisition of open or green space. The remaining $100,000 would come from the town’s undesignated fund balance.

“The purchase of these properties will not impact the mill rate. [The] undesignated fund is at a healthy $3 million ”“ the highest it has been in a decade. The Land Conservation Fund has been accruing for many years now. Several town budgets in the past have funded it at $25,000 increments. The balance is $200,000,” said Town Manager Thomas Fortier.

The agreement was seven years in the making, according to Conservation Commission Chairman Mike Horn.

“The Basset family has long wanted to donate the land to the town for preservation,” said Horn, “and this is the second time the property has come before the Ogunquit Select Board this year.”

In January, conservation members and representatives of the Great Works Regional Land Trust negotiated the original agreement between the Bassets and the trust, but the agreement failed to gain approval from the Select Board.

Part of the challenge, said Horn, was the appraisal value of the property, which consists of two parcels of land, each measuring approximately 20 acres.

“The Great Works Regional Land Trust originally assessed the property at $560,000, nearly equaling the town’s own assessed tax value of $672,000,” he said.

The Great Works Regional Land Trust holds property and conservation easements in trust, protecting, managing and enforcing easements for the towns of Eliot, South Berwick, Berwick, North Berwick, Wells and Ogunquit.

According to Horn, the Bassets then offered to sell the land at $400,000, with the town and land trust splitting the cost of the purchase equally.

“Town officials decreed $200,000 was not acceptable, so we looked again at comparable real estate appraisals. Over the summer, it was re-appraised for $300,000, and we reached an agreed sale price with the land being deeded solely to the town,” said Horn. “Great Works Regional Land Trust will most likely still be tasked with managing and maintaining the land.”

— This article appeared previously in Making It At Home. Tracey Collins can be reached via the Journal Tribune at rburnham@journaltribune.com.