PETERSHAM – Around two dozen people offered ideas for potential uses for Rice’s Roots Farm on East Street during a meeting on Sunday.

University of the Wild founder Larry Buell and local grower Andre Pierre are trying to put together a plan to purchase the 228-acre site, which is covered by a conservation restriction, and use the property for community-supported agricultural purposes. Buell said he has put together about $200,000 in funding toward the $500,000 purchase price, with the hope of signing a purchase and sales agreement by the end of December.

First, however, Buell, Pierre and other supporters of the proposal feel they need to put together a strategy for using the farm before the purchase. Those in attendance at Sunday’s meeting offered a variety of ideas.

“I’m interested in this project,” said resident and Petersham School Committee member Lynne Feldman, “because I think land use is something particularly important to Petersham as climate change continues to take effect. I think investing in our local resources and local food is a great way to spend your time and money.”

South Main Street resident David Mazeika said he was interested in the farm as a potential educational resource for local students. Mazeika said there is a similar program in Hadley, the Farm Camp at the Hartsbrook School, which offers an agricultural learning program for children ages 4-15.

Rose Stanley said, “I’m here because of food security…To have a community based agricultural program to provide food for our residents is very high on my list.”

Stanley was co-organizer of an April meeting where working toward a positive future for Petersham residents, including food security, was discussed.

“The issue is we have to preserve the land,” said John Root Jr., a resident of East Street. “You don’t get food security until you’ve secured the land. Unless you’ve bought the land, as a community, you have no security.”

One local farmer, David Locksmith, who serves on the town’s Conservation Commission, said, “I’m very concerned about what’s going to happen to Rice’s Root Farm because there’s critical habitat there. I think maybe we need to preserve that farm alone, without human presence.”

Locksmith added that included on the farm is habitat for bobolink, a species of bird which has declined significantly in recent decades due mainly to loss of nesting habitat.

Other attendees cited the need for food security, especially in light of the impact of the COVID pandemic, while others expressed concern the land could end up with a housing development. In response, Buell said the conservation restriction on the property prohibits any kind of residential development.

Asked what they hoped to learn from Sunday’s meeting, Buell and Pierre gave similar answers.

“To see if there is interest in the town,” Buell said. “I’ve talked to individuals, and everybody said, ‘Oh, we’d love to have a farm like that in town.’ But boots on the ground is a different thing. One thing I was hoping to see is somebody who says, ‘This could be a good idea. How can I help in the interim to make it work?’”

“I kind of agree with that,” Pierre added. “I wanted to see what the interest is and then, if there is significant interest, then maybe form a working group to take the next concrete steps; to decide what kind of entity would be needed to hold (the property) and then step up fundraising once we know that critical piece of information. Then we try to purchase it.”

Buell said the next step will be to recruit some people from among those who attended Sunday’s meeting. He said there are others who could not attend Sunday’s meeting and wanted to be involved in some manner. Buell told the Athol Daily News on Monday that because the property must be purchased by Dec. 28 and they are exploring a short-term ownership through a newly-formed reality trust that would hold the property until a community land trust could be set up to meet the needs of local growers, farmers, and conservationists.

“This is a challenge,” Buell said. “This is a challenge for our community. Let’s put it out there and see where it goes.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.