Finance Committee backs Town Forest acquisition with price conditions
Finance Committee unanimously recommends school fields transfer, Town Forest land purchase. Town Manager Michael Herbert's proposal to return school field management to the Ashland schools using the Stabilization Fund as a bridge loan won committee approval (Article 2), as did Article 4 covering
Finance Committee · Meeting of April 28, 2026
ASHLAND — Finance Committee unanimously recommends school fields transfer, Town Forest land purchase. Town Manager Michael Herbert's proposal to return school field management to the Ashland schools using the Stabilization Fund as a bridge loan won committee approval (Article 2), as did Article 4 covering enterprise fund updates, with stormwater funding increasing approximately 10 percent for NPDES culvert work. For Article 8, the committee conditionally recommended an $845,000 acquisition of land bordering the Town Forest, provided final purchase price aligns with a $700,000 appraisal; the landowner indicated reluctance, saying he received a higher offer from an Ashland resident.
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Source: the Finance Committee meeting of April 28, 2026, compiled from the official minutes.
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