Condensed from approved minutes

The Conservation Commission, along with Jeff Dickinson of the Water District, met to discuss the two town-owned properties on Bradley Lake and how we should proceed on these properties. The Town acquired the properties for back taxes and the idea of putting them into conservation was brought up at a late-1990s Town Meeting in which a Warrant Article, placing them into conservation was passed.

Three issues have underscored the Conservation Commission’s desire to protect the land:

1. Protecting these properties from development is essential for maintaining the quality of the water in Bradley Lake as the source of Andover’s drinking water.
2. The Town’s recent attempt to sell the land is in conflict with the Town Meeting vote to protect the land.
3. The discrepancies between the actual lot lines involving several properties on Bradley Lake Road and  the ”understood” lot lines as reflected in the location of property owners’ homes need to be resolved.

The Conservation Committee will look into having both lots surveyed to make sure the lot lines are accurate and recognized by the town and by abutters. We will also look into the possibility of working with the Select Board and Town Counsel to determine the best way to protect this land: including the possibilities of a conservation easement, placing a covenant on the land, or transferring the land to the Water District, which already owns parcels of land in the area.

For more detailed information on this meeting, please see the minutes on the Town website and on the Conservation Commission website, mcintyreal.wixsite.com/andoverconsrvcomssn.