The Northern Pass project today notified the Neil Tillotson Trust that it is willing to purchase the conservation easement over much of the property of “The Balsams,” if a sale of the easement to The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests (SPNHF) doesn’t occur.

The SPNHF recently said it will not pursue the easement if it cannot also obtain the rights to a utility right-of-way easement across the property as well. In light of SPNHF’s position, and because Northern Pass is committed to the conservation of the Balsams property, we have extended an offer to purchase the conservation easement in addition to the utility easement.

In a letter to the chair of the Trust, Northern Pass said it will purchase the easement for $850,000. The offer also includes provisions of the initial offer from Northern Pass to the Trust to purchase the utility right-of-way for $2 million and provide a $200,000 payment to support medical services at the Colebrook Hospital. In total, the offer will provide more than $3 million to the Tillotson Trust for charitable purposes. If the offer is accepted, Northern Pass would then look to find an appropriate partner committed to conserving the Balsams to hold the conservation easement over the more than 5,600 acres of land.

We believe that the project’s purchase of the utility right-of-way easement can co-exist with a conservation easement over the surrounding land, and together maximize revenue to the Tillotson Trust that can be redistributed to the residents and communities in the area for essential health, social and economic services—in keeping with the Trust’s objectives.

This offer and the project’s previous request to the Attorney General regarding the sale of the utility right of way on the Balsams property to SPNHF has no impact on the completed sale of the Balsams Resort and more than 7,000 acres of land. Northern Pass is pleased that the future of the Balsams Resort is secure and that the new owners are committed to maintaining the 300 jobs and tremendous economic value the resort brings to the North Country. We look forward to working with them in the future, and wish them well in their efforts to renovate and re-open the resort.

This week we asked the Attorney General’s office to reject a portion of a proposed agreement between the Neil Tillotson Trust and the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.

Specifically, while we wholeheartedly support the proposed conservation easement on about 5,800 acres of land that the Trust recently sold to two area businessmen, we asked the AG to reject that portion of the proposal that grants to the Forest Society an interest in a 300 foot right of way that has been identified for possible use as a corridor for a power line.

We pointed out to the AG that the project provided to the Trust a Letter of Intent to pay the Trust $2.2 million for the right of way.

We believe that the Trust would achieve a much better deal if it granted the conservation easement and accepted our proposal that concerns only the use of the right of way.

We also pointed out that the Trust itself has reserved a permanent easement for the possible construction of transmission lines anywhere on the property, in order to connect to wind farm parcels that are owned by the Trust. (See page 2, Nr. 4. of the Deed.) These parcels are in areas that are much more visible to the public, compared to the right of way Northern Pass is interested in, and would likely have a far greater impact.