Governor Dale Farm Conservation Hits 'Bump In the Road'

It will likely take another few months to finalize the conservation of North Hampton's historic Governor Dale Farm, as the work's appraisal report has been rejected.

Town Administrator Paul Apple told selectmen on Monday that the closing day for the easement has been pushed to roughly "mid-April" due to the rejection, which he said was made by the national appraiser.

Due to this, the Southeast Land Trust has been forced to hire a new appraiser, a man with whom Selectman Phil Wilson said North Hampton has worked before after the national appraiser rejected three different appraisals for a past conservation project.

That project, one of "several scars" Wilson said he has on his "back" due to dealing with the national appraiser, ultimately was approved. 

In addition to its eventual approval, that project's final appraisal came in $75,000 higher, much to the benefit of the land owner. Wilson used that experience to illustrate that the process, while lengthy, can lead to positive results.

"This row is never an easy one to hoe," said Wilson.

Apple said the delay has already benefitted the town in one way, as the money used to cover the closing costs has been sitting in an interest-bearing account. When the town wires that money over on the closing date, North Hampton will "have the advantage of a quarter's worth of interest," he said.

Governor Dale Farm is a 53-acre Post Road lot with a historic barn and 24 acres of surrounding fields. 

Roughly $150,000 in private donations was raised for the easement, which was also secured using $150,000 in town meeting funds appropriated last March, $350,000 from the North Hampton Conservation Fund, and $1.161 million from a U.S. Farm and Ranchland Protection Program grant.