Commission votes to buy Gilson land for $550,000

Conservation Commission · Meeting of October 13, 2026

Groton's Conservation Commission voted to buy two Gilson-owned parcels for $550,000 under a right-of-first-refusal option. Member Peter A. Morrison said he was torn on the price but argued "they're not making any more open space, and every time we lose open space to development, it's gone forever." Member Olin Lathrop called the land ecologically significant despite heavy prior disturbance and warned that restoring it "would be a ton of time, a ton of money." The commission also approved a negative determination for a Groton DPW sidewalk along Lubbers Lane and Sandy Pond Road, authorized member Bruce Easom to use his tractor to set 13 granite survey bounds at Marshall's Memorial Grove, and renamed the Hayes Woods Conservation Area the Maple Avenue Conservation Area.

Members also discussed a conservation-area gate left open for roughly a week past when turtle monitors were expected, noting "a misunderstanding about when turtle monitors are required and when they're not." A roughly $4.39 million Cow Pond Brook article passed at October's Town Meeting, easing pressure on the commission's pending $400,000 Community Preservation Act request.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 4,221 words

Source: the Conservation Commission meeting of October 13, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.