Town officials in Barnet say they’re close to selling a contaminated piece of town property that has been off the tax rolls for nearly a decade.
In 2002, Barnet purchased the land where the old Passumpsic Village Store once stood.
The plot had been a gas station, and the town later found that underground storage tanks contaminated the property.
Contamination levels remained so high that for years the state wouldn’t issue a certification to sell it.
But Town Clerk Ben Heisholt says those levels have gradually decreased. Barnet now has a number of potential buyers, and he says the sale of the land is long overdue.
(Heisholt) "It’s really no benefit to the town to have possession of it. The most important reason would be just to get it back on to the tax rolls. It’s not generating any tax revenue at the moment."
Ahead of any sale, Barnet is waiting on an opinion from the town’s attorney to determine whether the town may have future obligations to clean up the site.
You can read select board minutes from Barnet and more than 50 other Vermont cities and towns at VPR’s Public Post.