Land purchase hearing slated

Amherst selectmen will again take input on the potential purchase of 104 acres of open space that straddles the town line with Bedford. The public hearing will be held Monday at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.

The board discussed purchasing the land on Fellows Farm Road during the first of two public hearings Nov. 17. The town’s Open Space Advisory Committee is recommending the town buy the land from resident Gertrude W. Martin for $1.89 million, which was the land’s market value as of Sept. 1. Martin wants to sell the property because she is moving. Sixty-seven acres are in Amherst and the other 37 are in Bedford.

If the land in Bedford and the house are sold off at market value, the committee estimates town’s cost for the remaining land would be about $440,000.