A joint purchase last month by the town of Tisbury and the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank completes a decades-old aquifer protection plan around the Manter well.
The town and the land bank paid $400,000 for 9.5 acres off Old Holmes Hole Road, with the town putting in $300,000 and the land bank $100,000. The transaction took place on August 24.
One of the listed sellers was Ron Monterosso, acting as a trustee for Redmont Realty Trust, which owned a fractional interest in the property. The sale was handled through a trustee appointed by the Dukes County Probate Court.
The first discussions about protecting the Manter well in fact began in the 1970s in Tisbury. At an annual town meeting in 1991, voters approved $300,000 to put toward a land purchase. The money sat in town coffers until last month when the transaction was finally completed.
The town and the land bank will own the property jointly, with the town holding a 75 per cent interest and the land bank holding a 25 per cent interest.
Land bank executive director James Lengyel said the goals of the purchase are aquifer protection and conservation, both priority criteria on the land bank checklist. The property lies roughly due east of the land bank’s Tisbury Meadow Preserve. Mr. Lengyel said a management plan will be written for the property when the Tisbury Meadow plan is next updated.
The Manter well is an active municipal well.
“This is an example of a long-running project involving both the town and the land bank that started in the 1990s, and we’re glad to see it wrapped up,” Mr. Lengyel said.
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