Bristol Council approves $380,000 purchase to add 6 acres to Hoppers/Birch Pond Preserve

Bristol’s city council voted unanimously to buy a privately owned 6‑acre parcel adjacent to the Hoppers/Birch Pond Preserve for $380,000, a move the mayor said will expand protected open space without increasing taxes.

Mayor Ellen Sapo Sasu told the council the parcel — identified as Map 60, Lot 15 — can be purchased from existing land capital reserve funds so the acquisition would not affect the city’s mill rate. “We have worked, internally and with the owner of this lot for several weeks, and we are now at the point where we can, in fact, say that we are going to purchase this acreage,” the mayor said before the vote.

The mayor made the motion to bring the matter to the floor and the council approved the purchase and referral to the Board of Finance for appropriation. The mayor described the 6‑acre parcel as a “cutout” that will help preserve contiguous open space and noted proceeds from prior city property sales fund the reserve account used for land acquisitions.

Friends of the Hoppers Preserve and nearby residents had urged the city to act. A representative said the group supports legal conservation protections for parcels in the Hoppers Preserve and raised concerns about unmapped wetlands and recent local changes that allow greater tree removal by property owners. “These parcels should receive legal conservation protection,” a speaker for the group said during public comment.

The council’s motion approved acquisition and referred the appropriation to the Board of Finance. The next procedural step is the Board of Finance’s appropriation review; the mayor and councilors said they expect the board to consider the funding at its upcoming meeting.

The council recorded the purchase as a non‑tax impact use of the Land Capital Reserve Fund. No appraisal or closing date was specified at the meeting; the council referred final appropriation and execution of documents to the Board of Finance and corporation counsel.