Groton — The town is inching closer toward the purchase of 30 acres off Thomas Road, the so-called Spicer properties, for open space preservation.

The Town Council on Tuesday approved revised language to a resolution allowing Town Manager Mark Oefinger to sign an agreement with the state for financial assistance in acquiring the three tracts of land for about $1 million.

The land includes the former tree farm owned by the family of the late William Spicer Jr., whose death at the property in 1995 remains unsolved.

The town has agreed to pay $960,000 for the land, using $650,000 from the state’s Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Grant program. The town will contribute $310,000 toward the cost of the land and another $25,000 for administrative costs from the town’s Open Space Fund.

— Greg Smith