Just before Thanksgiving, Liz Allard, Harvard’s land-use administrator and conservation agent, received a phone call with disappointing news. The state had rejected the Harvard Conservation Commission’s application for a grant to buy Horse Meadows Knoll.
The rejection undid nearly a year of planning by the commission and the Harvard Conservation Trust. Allard said the land matched all the state’s criteria, but there were simply too many applicants for the money available.
The commission had applied for a grant of $397,000 to buy the 50-acre property on Sherry Road. At this year’s Annual Town Meeting, voters approved an additional $200,000, half from Community Preservation funds and half from the Capital Planning and Investment Committee. Meanwhile, the Conservation Trust, a private nonprofit, had negotiated the sale agreement and committed funds for an assessment, legal costs, and a deposit, as well as setting aside money for part of the purchase price and other costs.
David Outman, executive director of the Conservation Trust, said the trust’s purchase-and-sale agreement with the land’s owner was contingent on getting the grant, although the deal is not automatically off without it. “This is a decision point,” Outman said.
The town funds were also contingent on receiving the grant, Outman explained. So even if a new source of money is found for the largest share of the purchase, the matter will have to go back to town boards and voters again.
The Conservation Trust’s Land Protection Committee is scheduled to meet Thursday, Dec. 8, to begin discussing the next steps, if any, on Horse Meadows Knoll. But any action would need the authorization of the full board of the trust, which is expected to meet Dec. 21 at the earliest, Outman said.
