How should Dexter Township handle a proposed conservation easement purchase?

Township of Dexter, Washtenaw County, Michigan Environmental Agriculture

Dexter Township’s May 19, 2026 Board of Trustees agenda includes a closed-session discussion of a Farmland and Open Space Preservation Board recommendation for purchase of a conservation easement, followed by an action item to consider approval of that recommendation. These purchases can protect farmland, open space, water quality, and rural character, but they also raise questions about price, transparency, long-term monitoring, and competing township needs. Preserving land can be worth public money, but the township should be able to explain the public benefit and the long-term responsibility.

Overall results

1

53% support · excluded by 10%

7

Families have to choose between priorities. The township should show how this purchase fits beside roads, public safety, and basic services.

2

52% support · excluded by 4%

6

The township should not use public money to pay private landowners to limit their own land.

3

49% support · excluded by 6%

7

The purpose of a preservation program is to act when good land is available. If the board’s standards are met, the township should follow through.

7

Open land is part of Dexter Township’s identity. Once it is developed, the township cannot buy that character back.

4

45% support · excluded by 14%

7

Residents do not need every negotiation detail, but they should see the cost, protected acreage, public benefit, and monitoring plan.

7

If taxpayers help buy development rights, taxpayers deserve a plain-language explanation of what they are getting.

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