Even though two independent appraisals confirm the numbers, there has been talk that the

$9 million price tag on the Griswold property site is too high.

Consider, though, that for a median priced home in Madison, that cost breaks down to $68 a year over its 20-year bonding period.

Sixty-eight dollars a year. Consider that if you bought a Christmas tree this year you probably spent close to that. What do you spend on your cable bill or your cell phone bill? Probably at least that a month, not $68 a year. What do you spend to have your driveway plowed or your house cleaned?

Taken together, $68 a year is small change to preserve a rare marsh habitat that happens to be surrounded on three sides by Hammonasset State Park.

Look up and down the shoreline and see the real cost of over-development. What price tag do you put on growing congestion, loss of significant habitat, and environmental degradation?

Realize that for $68 a year we in Madison are being asked to pay a reasonable, even small, price. I hope your readers will join me and vote "Yes" on

Jan. 26 to purchase the Griswold property site.

Lynne Charles

Madison