Dean’s Hill, with its sweeping views and antique apple trees, will not become part of Harvard’s protected conservation land—at least not anytime soon. At their Oct. 5 meeting, members of the Conservation Commission heard from Conservation Agent Liz Allard that the owners of the 24-acre parcel, which is on the market for $999,999, are not willing to consider the $800,000 offer that the commission was trying to put together in cooperation with the Harvard Conservation Trust and an abutter.
“They [the owners] are not interested in anything that starts with an eight,” Allard told the commission. The $800,000 figure comes from an appraisal the commission requested before seeking funds from the town’s Capital Planning and Investment Committee and Community Preservation Committee. The Conservation Commission was hoping those committees would each recommend $100,000 toward the project, with the remainder coming from the trust and the abutter.
After hearing Allard’s report, commission members voted unanimously to drop their funding request, which was to have been on the warrant at next month’s Special Town Meeting.
