PROCTOR — Back in 1929 when this town was about to acquire a 1,600-acre watershed outside its borders in nearby Chittenden, taxpayers wondered why they should buy it.
Ninety years later, the community has received a private offer to purchase the parcel for $1.5 million. Now residents are asking why they should sell it.
This Rutland County town, population 1,668, once put the state on the map as home of the Vermont Marble Company, one of the largest U.S. corporations at the turn of the 20th century and supplier of stone for such national landmarks as the U.S. Supreme Court and the Jefferson Memorial.
During that time, Proctor drew its public water supply from land that reached past neighboring Pittsford into the next town over, Chittenden. To protect it, the municipality purchased the property from the Champlain Realty Company for an unknown sum, according to a handwritten deed.
“That used to be the best water,” one resident said recently at the town offices, “until the state said it wasn’t.”
Since then, Proctor has moved to tapping a well, leaving the land to loggers and leisure time enthusiasts who work their way around its maple and yellow birch trees.
Enter Florida businessman John Gerlach, who grew up on a Rutland Town farm and owns 600 acres of Chittenden property abutting the watershed. A frequent Vermont visitor, he made an offer this fall to buy Proctor’s 1,600 acres to add to his view.
“We really like the property,” he said in a phone interview. “Right from the beginning, it was my intent to expand my holdings. That’s why I’m pursuing this piece.”
But that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from speculating about the possibility of everything from wind turbines to widespread development.
“The things that have been suggested are absurd,” says Gerlach, who dismisses them all.
A recent letter to the editor aimed to tamp down the conjecture.
“I was not aware that the purchase and sale of real estate in Vermont required a trial in the court of public opinion,” Chittenden resident Raymond Page wrote the Rutland Herald. “This is, in my estimation, neither a high crime nor a misdemeanor.”
Even so, local leaders are facing questions — from how much does Proctor pay Chittenden for property taxes (about $4,000 a year) to how much does the town profit through periodic logging (an estimated $40,000 a year if one divides up a decade’s worth of harvests).
The property offers other payoffs, as it hosts cross-country skiers, snowmobilers and hikers coming off the nearby 272-mile Long Trail from the Massachusetts-Vermont state line to the Canadian border.
“I’m an avid outdoorsman — I’ve been on that property dozens of times,” resident Matthew Trombley told the Selectboard at a recent meeting. “Obviously I understand the tax burden and the difficulty you folks have in trying to keep the roads and schools and everything going. But I also question the value of the offer in comparison to timber and water values and public enjoyment.”
Hearing a dozen other people reiterate the same points, local leaders have decided to explore a vote on the issue on Town Meeting Day in March. One draft article would ask if the municipality should sell the watershed for no less than $1.5 million, while a second would inquire if a sale should be contingent on keeping the land preserved and open for public use.
Gerlach, noting most of Chittenden is owned by the federal government — either as part of the Green Mountain National Forest or a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hatchery — says a private purchase could help taxpayers in both communities.
“I really believe this is a benefit for me and the town of Proctor,” the businessman said.
The Montpelier-based Trust for Public Land says acquisition by the National Forest remains a possibility. The organization has helped protect more than 46,500 Vermont acres, including a nearby 7,500-acre parcel in Chittenden, Killington and Pittsfield purchased from the Stanley Tool Co. in 2001 for $3.3 million.
Kate Wanner, a project manager for the Trust, applauded the Proctor Selectboard for holding a vote on the matter. “I really think it is important to understand what the citizens of Proctor want,” Wanner said.
