This letter from Peggy and Ryan really says it all.  No need for explanation here. – Lil

“Save Hooper” signs, which dotted lawns in Walpole, meant something different to everyone who planted them. However, the majority agreed that saving Hooper meant saving the land from development. For two years a committee appointed by the select board – who are also the trustees of the Hooper Trust – worked to find a solution that could “Save Hooper” while simultaneously fulfilling the fiduciary obligation of the trustees. That solution is pending approval by the New Hampshire Probate Court.

A licensed appraiser appraised the property for its highest and best use, which was found to be the current use – a golf course. The fair market value of the property as determined by the appraiser is $1,188,000. In other words, if it were put up for sale today, that is the price one could expect from the open market of potential buyers. Of this total, the appraiser determined the value of a conservation easement on the property – in effect, the development rights alone – as $450,500. The balance, $737,500, is the estimated market value of the property after the conservation easement is put in place.

What is not indicated in the January 29 Keene Sentinel article about Mr. Stephen J. Varone’s objection to the Hooper plan is that the plan calls for two steps:1) Through the sale of a conservation easement at fair market value, the Hooper Trust is increased by $450,000. 2) When the property – the golf course, historic mansion, cottage and other outbuildings as well as the surrounding timberland – is then sold, that sale price may not be lower than $737,500, which will also be added to the Hooper Trust.

In the end, the Hooper Trust, established for the education of Walpole’s youth, will grow by at least $1,188,000 – the total unencumbered value of the property – which will more than double the liquid value of the Trust, and which can be put to use for a greater rate of investment return for the Trust’s educational purposes. The overall return is different from selling the property without a conservation easement in only one way: the property, which the residents of Walpole love as open space, could never be developed further.

Peggy L. Pschirrer, Chair
Hooper Study Committee
11 Old North Main Street
Walpole, NH 03608
756‐4138
Ryan Owens, Executive Director
The Monadnock Conservancy
PO Box 337
Keene, NH 03431
357‐0600 ext. 103