A potential land purchase is in further discussion by the Washington County Conservation Board.

The board held a closed session with the property owner at their September meeting for a possible acquisition of approximately 100 acres that is adjacent to one of the conservation board’s properties. The location of the property and the price have not been disclosed to the public as to not cause an increase in the selling price.

Conservation Executive Director Steve Anderson comments on the property, “I mean it’s a great opportunity for the Washington County Conservation Board and the taxpayers of Washington County. We look forward to it, and in all honesty [what] all of us are trying to do is represent the taxpayers of Washington County and find the balance to land acquisition and price and that’s what’s really going on here. If we can get to the point of having a purchase agreement then obviously from then on we’ll be more than thrilled to tell everybody where it is, what it is, but in the meantime again, because of it having the potential of impacting the price, confidentiality is kind of necessary.”

A proposal to sell the land to the board at its assessed value was rebuffed by the board at their March meeting as being too high of a price and Anderson was advised to tell the owners the board was interested in negotiations. After the recent closed session, Anderson has been directed to get an appraisal of the land.