ESSEX - Residents will vote on whether to spend $200,000 as Essex' portion of the

$8.1 million purchase of the nearly 1,000-acre Preserve property that sits on the border of Essex and Old Saybrook at a Wednesday, July 16 town meeting.

Seventy of The Preserve's acres are in Essex.

The Essex Board of Selectmen discussed the project at a meeting on June 18. According to minutes from the meeting, Paul Greenberg of the Essex Land Conservation Trust said that Bokum Road would be the access point to the property.

First Selectman Norman Needleman said the cost of the project would come from the town's open space sinking fund. The first selectman, reached after the meeting, said he is confident that Essex voters will support the expenditure.

The Essex town meeting will only occur if Old Saybrook approves a $3 million expenditure as that town's payment toward the overall purchase. Old Saybrook will hold a town meeting on Monday, June 30 and a referendum on Tuesday, July 8 on the proposed purchase.

About $3 million in state funds are also part of the overall purchase plan.