First Selectman Mark Lyon announced at the October 1 Board of Selectmen meeting that the outstanding environmental issues on the property will be resolved and the town will proceed with the purchase of the property.

Mr. Lyon said at a September board meeting that it appeared the deal had fallen through, because the sellers were unhappy with the length of time negotiations were taking.

Town residents approved an expenditure of $500,000 for the property from the town's Open Space Fund at a meeting in April, subject to a successful environmental study.

Based on that requirement, the town commissioned a Phase One study by LFR Inc., of Sandy Hook.

The study, performed for LFR by Russ Dirienzo of Roxbury, who is also the chairman of Roxbury's Inland Wetlands Commission, found some issues, according to Mr. Lyon.

"There was some debris, but no environmental or health hazards on the property," he said. "However, to satisfy the resolution passed at the town meeting, a limited Phase Two study was recommended."

As a result of those findings, said Mr. Lyon, the Board of Selectmen believed some remediation was required before the town would complete the purchase. It was at this point the deal stalled.

Mr. Lyon said at the October meeting that he met with Mr. Dirienzo and Ron Winkler of Washington Partners, LLC, the New York-based developers who have owned the property since 2005 when it was purchased from the Moore family for $550,000.

Mr. Winkler, after consulting with a construction remediation firm, agreed to perform the work needed on the property to eliminate the waste material found there, according to Mr. Lyon.

"The contract is signed and the deposit is back in," he said. "Once the documents are in hand they will proceed with the clean-up, supervised by Russ Dirienzo and the construction company.

"So the contingency of purchasing the property in an environmentally clean state will be met and the purchase will go forward."

Mr. Lyon told the selectmen in July that the Phase One study revealed no hazardous waste on the property, but only "junk, scrap metal and old tires," adding that the material found was all above ground, and that several underground areas were checked where some buried steel was found, "but nothing hazardous."

Mr. Lyon ordered the Phase Two study later in July at the recommendation of Mr. Dirienzo on a limited area of the property on which it appeared there was some unnatural fill.

The town hopes to use the property for passive recreation and plans to consider using the existing aquifer as a subterranean septic system if needed in the future, or a water supply source for New Preston village.