Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt announced a pending purchase by the city of approximately 135 acres of the Rousselot property.
The majority of the land the city plans to buy is occupied by the Meadow Golf Course. Bettencourt said that the primary objective of the acquisition is to preserve the parcel by zoning it as open-space recreational land.
“With Rousselot shutting down their operation and looking to sell, we thought this was a great opportunity for the city,” Bettencourt said. “The large majority of the acreage is the golf course. There is some additional acreage around that area that we want to preserve as open space near neighborhoods, lands that connect to the Welch School, land that connects to the Cedar Grove Cemetery.”
Bettencourt said his office and Rousselot agreed on a purchase price of $9 million, which is roughly $66,000 per acre. Bettencourt emphasized that he does not want the funds to come out of the city’s operational budget.
“We’re going to bond out this purchase like we do with other large items. It’s kind of like a mortgage, where we bond it out and pay a debt service over time,” Bettencourt said. “The golf course itself has been very profitable for the city. I’m intending that the purchase price and the debt service on that purchase will be paid out of golf-course proceeds.”
Bettencourt also mentioned Community Preservation Act funds as a potential source of capital.
This purchase marks the second of its kind this year, as the city also acquired 80 acres of land from the DiBiase family in April. The two parcels of land are connected.
The city additionally received a $75,000 state grant earlier this year to help develop a plan for the site as a whole.
The purchase will go before the Peabody City Council at its next meeting on Thursday for final approval. Bettencourt is confident that the majority of Peabody residents will support the purchase, and sees the potential for the city to acquire more Rousselot-owned property in the future.
“I think there’s going to be some great community support,” Bettencourt said. “I’ve gotten some tremendous comments from the neighborhoods surrounding that area and from a number of Peabody residents.”
