A plot of land in Nesquehoning that was donated to an area community college is coming back to the borough.

On Wednesday, Nesquehoning Borough Council approved an agreement with Lehigh Carbon Community College for the acquisition of a 40-acre lot between Tonoli Road and Tippets Road in the village of Hauto.

LCCC had offered the property, which had been given to the college by the Kovatch family in 2004, back to the borough for recreational use.

The property includes a natural hiking area for residents, and the borough hopes to continue what the Kovatch family started before LCCC obtained it.

Councilwoman Lois Kuba said the land will hopefully become something for everyone to enjoy, noting that the borough hopes to be able to create something, maybe a dog park, and additional walking trails.

“It’s a really nice piece of property that will be back in the borough’s hands,” she said, thanking borough solicitor Robert Yurchak for his work on filing all necessary paperwork and handling the talks with the college.

The work on looking at reacquiring the property from LCCC began in 2023 when LCCC’s president approached the borough to ask if it would be interested in the college donating the 40-acre lot back to the borough.

At that time, council noted that stipulations between the Kovatch family and LCCC was that if the property was not to be used by the college, then it could not be sold and must be reverted to a nonprofit.

Since LCCC’s Carbon campus in Nesquehoning is closed, while its Tamaqua campus has grown, the college no longer needs it for the purpose it was intended.

The plot, which was formerly a culm bank that had been reclaimed as part of a Growing Greener project, currently has trails traversing through it that people use for walking or riding.