By Chris Paul
The town of Londonderry is looking for someone to show some interest in farming the land that was recently purchased behind the Grange #44 at 114 Pillsbury Road.
At the end of last year, on Dec, 29, the town posted an advertisement on their website soliciting interest for the lease of Town Property.
The ad read, “The Town of Londonderry is soliciting interest for a lease of the Town’s property at 114 Pillsbury Road. The property was previously owned by Mack’s Apple’s and was sold to the Town in 2021. The Town is looking for a lessee who will maintain the property as an apple orchard and make other permitted agricultural use of the property. All revenue generated from the property will be the lessee’s. Nominal rent of $1/year is anticipated, in exchange for maintaining the orchard.”
A link to a questionnaire was given on the page for those interested to fill out. It also included the Conservation Easement Deed, which contained applicable use restrictions.
Those interested were asked to submit the completed questionnaire, and direct questions, to the Assistant Town Solicitor Mike Malaguti at mmalaguti@londonderrynh.org.
The applications are being accepted through Jan. 31, 2022.
Questions on application include:
• Please summarize your community involvement, past, present, and future.
• Please summarize your intended use of the property.
• Please state whether you intend to permit public access to some or all of the property, and how, generally, you plan to regulate such access.
• Do you carry general liability insurance? If so, what are the policy limits for: 1) Liability; and 2) property damge?
• Do you propose to store equipment on-site? If so, do you propose to erect a structure on the property?
According to Malaguti, as of press time, a number of inquiries have been received by the town so far.
Malagutli responded, “The Town put the lease of this parcel out for all interested members of the public to apply. The parcel was leased to Mack’s Apples last year without a public process because Mack’s was already farming it, and any mid-season interruption in the maintenance of the orchard would have been harmful to the apple trees. The Town believes it is important that an opportunity of this significance be opened up to the public as part of a transparent selection process.”
He added, “We have received about half a dozen applications, including from Mack’s, and a number of general inquiries as well. The deadline is Jan. 31. I anticipate the Town Council will review the applications on Feb. 7, and the Conservation Commission will do so at their February meeting.”