DANBURY — Owners of a 102-year-old horse farm have offered to sell their property to the city for open space — a prospect that local officials say could allow for education opportunities or even expand nearby parks.
If approved, the deal would include a five-year lease-back plan that would allow Ed and Lucy Prybylski to keep running the Happy Trails Farm for another four to five years. The couple presented a “negotiable” asking price of $1.75 million.
“I feel strongly that this would be a great investment for the city,” Ed Prybylski said Thursday when an hod committee of the City Council discussed the proposal. “We have had realtors come to us with people who want to buy our farm. In our hearts we think it is important it to be in the hands of the city so we can be a part of it.”
“I’ve known Ed my whole life, I grew up on Mountainville Road,” Espositio said. “I played on their property as a kid. When Ed and Lucy approached me to have the city purchase the property, I thought it was a home run for us.”
The Prybylskis said they’ve been considering offering the property to the city the past year and believe this is the right time in their lives to get it done.
“I would volunteer to create programs for use of the property for the city,” Ed Prybylski said. “You could expand the Nature Center that is behind us or expand on Rogers Park. In the summer Rogers Park is packed and it needs room for expansion for our children, for the animals and outdoor activities. There are so many possibilities.”
Esposito and DiGilio called the land acquisition a win-win for the city.
“There is a lot of potential with this property,” Esposito said. “You take a short walk on the property and you think you are in upstate New York. You can keep it as a farm with the riding rink there and also use it for educational purposes. We shouldn’t hesitate starting negotiations on this property. We should take it to the next level and get some appraisals done and things like that to get this into our ownership.”
Ed Prybylski’s grandparents purchased the Mountainville Road farm in 1921 and grew vegetables. The couple has owned it for 37 years, purchasing it from Ed Prybylski’s parents and turning it into a 16-acre horse farm that has space to board as many as 42 horses. The couple teaches lessons to riders and trains horses.
Danbury Finance Director Dan Garrett said the city has funding in place to purchase the property. He said the first step would be to research potential state and federal grants to offset the cost.
Among the potential uses for the city suggested at the meeting were expanding the nearby parks, keeping the horse farm, holding educational programs for youth (farming, horticulture and forestry), and offering older educational usage by partnering with Western Connecticut State’s science department and vet-tech program.
DiGilio said the ad hoc committee’s report would be submitted to the full City Council at its next meeting. Once negotiations are done between the mayor’s office and the sellers and there is something tangible in place it will be presented to the full City Council.
“This property is a good fit for us,” DiGilio said. “We have alternatives and options when it comes to funding. This is good for the city and good for our residents.”
Source : News Times