Town officials are one step closer to securing the funding necessary to facilitate their plans to purchase the Little Harbor Country Club following the Community Preservation Committee’s Jan. 26 vote to support a request for $2 million in Community Preservation Act funds.

After being the subject of scrutiny at the Community Preservation Committee’s Jan. 12 meeting, the committee once again discussed the town’s request for $2.3 million in Community Preservation Act funds to buy more than 50 acres of Little Harbor Country Club land during its Jan. 26 meeting. 

Overall, members of the committee seemed supportive of the request for funding, emphasizing that the project was a chance to maintain a well-loved town recreation site rather than risk seeing the property developed into something less desirable, such as a housing complex.

“I’d like to see the CPA’s name on this,” said committee member Sam Corbitt. “Because I think it’s one of the best things the town has done in a long time.” 

Committee member Sandy Slavin echoed similar sentiments of support for the project. 

“I am strongly in favor of CPA assistance to the purchase of this particular property,” she said. Slavin ultimately made the motion to approve the request for funds, contingent on the town meeting a handful of the committee’s requirements before town meeting on Feb. 22.

Slavin said she’d looked closely at the committee’s finances to decide the best way to move forward. 

“Financially I have looked at the numbers ... and I believe we can easily accommodate a million dollars from our unallocated funds,” she said. She pointed out that the CPC could “approve the possibility of a million-dollar bond.” She also noted that despite claims to the contrary, the committee “does not have $6 million available to us.”

Joan Kinniburgh, the committee’s chair, emphasized that the Community Preservation Act funds would only go to support the purchase of the land.

The committee unanimously approved the request for funding, but the approval is contingent upon the town meeting a few of the committee’s outstanding requirements such as providing an appraisal for the property. The committee supported providing $1 million from its undesignated cash reserves and to bond an additional $1 million. 

The funding request will need to be approved at Town Meeting on Feb. 22.