Town Yard Project Estimated at $18.3 million

Andover town officials discussed some of the final details on the $18.3 million Town Yard replacement project Monday night. Selectmen chairman Brian Major said that the town has two weeks to iron out all remaining details before taking the fund request to spring Town Meeting on Monday, April 30.

The Town Yard Task Force, meeting with the selectmen and Finance Committee Monday night, has recommended moving the current Town Yard on Lewis Street to a new site off Campanelli road that should be able to service the town for the next 50 years.

The project involves purchasing a 16-acre lot of land off at 5 Campanelli Drive, 7 acres of which would be used for the new Town Yard. Officials say the purchase will also provide community access to the Merrimack River as well as provide more conservation land for the town.

Town officials and residents spoke about the pros and cons of different locations, including a site off of Dascomb Road, rebuilding the current facility, or finding a different location in downtown.

Major said that the selectmen will most likely close the Town Meeting warrant by March 28 at the latest and said town regulatory boards should have made recommendations on the project’s warrant article by then.

Included in the 18.3 million price tag for a Town Yard at Campanelli Drive would be the purchase of a 16-acre plot of land for $3.5 million, more than a half million dollars under the town’s assessed value of the land at $4.2 million. Multiple individuals at the meeting noted that land in downtown is worth roughly $1 million an acre.