By Theresa Knapp

At its meeting on May 15, the Ashland Select Board voted unanimously to approve the purchase of 8.55 acres of land at 12-16 Union Street for $1,550,000, and to authorize the board chair and vice chair to sign documents associated with the sale.  

“This is something that Michael [Herbert] and the board’s been working on for quite a while and I’m very happy we can take this vote before I leave the board,” said Select Board Chair Robert Scherer, at his last meeting before the town election in which he did not run for re-election. 

Town Manager Michael Herbert explained the $1.55 million purchase price will be taken from various funds currently available to the town. Taxes will not be raised to fund the purchase.  

Herbert said, “This is the parcel that essentially surrounds the public safety building, and it’s been identified as a key parcel for a number of different reasons; the two main things, I would say, are parking and then as part of the route for the Upper Charles Trail, and it also has some potential ancillary uses as well.” 

“It’s one of those parcels that we identified many years ago that would be beneficial to have for our community, so it’s nice that we’ve been able to work this out and move this forward for our community,” said Select Board member Yolanda Greaves. 

Scherer said, “This is one of those flexible and proactive things that we’re doing…and I think it will be an important segment of the Upper Charles Trail and gives us some flexibility for a number of reasons, so thank you for that.”