Selectmen Vote to Hold Special Town Meeting on HOPE, Land Acquisition on OldSaybrookNow.com

The Old Saybrook Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday to hold a special town meeting in February to decide three issues currently facing the town.

On Feb. 11, citizens will vote on whether to approve a lease agreement at 45 Ferry Road between the town and local nonprofit The HOPE Partnership.

HOPE plans to work with the town to build a 16-unit affordable housing facility on the Ferry Road property. The land is owned by the town, but under the agreement would lease the 3-acre plot to HOPE for a period of 75 years.

Also under consideration at the February town meeting will be two open space land acquisition matters, at Sherman Street and Bokum Road.

Residents will vote on whether to accept a private land donation of just over 2 acres at 26 Sherman Street; and on whether to use $15,000 from the town’s Open Space Fund to purchase 2 acres of land in the town’s Bokum Road district.

The Board of Selectmen recommends both land acquisition moves.

Residents will have the opportunity to learn more about both initiatives at the town meeting next month. Alternatively, the full lease agreement between HOPE and the town is on file at the Town Clerk’s office at 302 Main Street in Old Saybrook.

The town meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 11, at The Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, located at 300 Main Street in Old Saybrook.