By Stuart Foster, Contributing Writer
MARLBOROUGH – Marlborough may soon purchase more than 33 acres of land to enlarge the Callahan State Park, which straddles the city and its neighbor, Framingham.
That’s according to a letter from Mayor Arthur Vigeant to the Marlborough City Council asking their approval for a $150,000 transfer funding the purchase.
The transfer, if approved, would come from the city’s Stabilization-Open Space account to purchase the parcel. Located off of Parmenter Road, the land currently abuts the State Park on two sides.
The $150,000 payment from the city of Marlborough would represent part of a $1.5 million purchase price, with $500,000 contributed by the Department of Conservation & Reservation (DCR), $750,000 from a Land and Water Fund Grant secured by the DCR and $100,000 raised as contributions by the Sudbury Valley Trustees regional land trust.
“Although I am hesitant to submit this request as it is the third attempt by the City to purchase this land, we are hopeful that the owners will follow through with the sale to the City enabling us to preserve it as conservation land,” Vigeant wrote.
Vigeant wrote that, because the closing is expected to occur around June 30, he is asking for a suspension of City Council rules so that the vote can occur in one evening to make sure the transaction goes through without any problems.
