By Keith Regan, Contributing Writer
Northborough – The Board of Selectmen voted Nov. 10 to accept the donation of a five-acre parcel of land off Smith Road that will help the town and two of its neighbors move closer to an ambitious regional conservation goal.
Town Planner Kathy Joubert said the property donated to the town by Berlin resident Barry W. Eager, while difficult to access from Northborough by roadway, is part of an extensive network of trails in the area, which is the focus of the Tri-Town Landscape Protection Program.
That program aims to conserve 500 acres of open space within a nine-square-mile area, with a target date of July of 2015.
Joubert said Berlin, Boylston and Northborough are working together with the Sudbury Valley Trustees and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation to foster conservation in the area where the three towns’ borders converge, using a variety of tools.
“This is the simplest way to add to that, through donation,” she said.
Selectman Jeff Amberson noted that the parcel is contiguous with other protected open space. “It meets all the criteria and you can’t beat the cost,” he said.
According to the Sudbury Valley Trustees, some 28 properties totaling 460 acres have already been protected by either outright purchase, donation or permanent conservation restriction. The Eager parcel will be placed under the control of the town’s Conservation Commission, Joubert said.
