Demolition of the 100-year-old Ashley Street school building continues. (Photo by Don Wielgus)
WESTFIELD — The city was notified Friday that the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs has determined that the city will not be required to submit an environmental impact report for the use of 1.37 acres of the 5.32 acre Cross Street playground in the Ashley Street school project.
Philip Griffiths, EOEEA undersecretary, notified the city after assessment of the Environmental Notification Form (ENF) submitted by the city for the $36 million school construction project.
The city ENF submission includes a proposal to replace the 1.37 acreage lost at Cross Street with acquisition of 33 acres off Main Street.
“The project does not require any state agency permits to complete the land transfer,” Griffiths stated in the notification, adding that the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency (MEPA) “jurisdiction is limited to only the 1.37 acres of land to be conveyed, and not the entire school site.”
Griffiths said that the replacement land “will allow for many recreational opportunities not available at the Cross Street playground site. The plan for this 33 acres parcel is to have recreational uses, including baseball and soccer fields, walking trails, river access, and community gardening.”
“The recreational needs currently provided at Cross Street will continue to be provided and expanded there by improvements to the site,” Griffiths said. “The population to be served by the replacement park will include the currently served Cross Street playground users, as well as city-wide users. Recreational opportunities in this part of the city will be greatly expanded.”
“I find that the proposed conveyance will comply with the EEA’s Article 97 Land Disposition Policy,” Griffiths said. Based ion the review of the ENF and the comments received, and in consultation with state agencies, I have determined that no further MEPA review is required at this time.”
Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said that Griffiths’ findings “support the city’s position that it has the legitimate right to build a school on city property, that we can lawfully go forward because the replication has been agreed to. Projects have been done before the swaps are done. We did that for Paper Mill School.”
“We have a request for (Hampden Superior Court) Judge Tina Page to amend her order. We have a letter from the state that we need only comply with the federal requirements of Article 97, to let the work proceed and eliminate the need to get a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.”
“This goes back to our belief that because the property was not acquired with public funds and came to us through tax title,” Knapik said. “Federal money did come into the city and Cross Street was eligible for that.”
The city will have to submit documentation to the National Park Service for the conversion to the Main Street property because of that federal funding, but may not require the approval of a two-thirds majority of the state Legislature for the project if Page finds that the state’s elements of Article 97 have been satisfied.
Knapik said that work, including demolition of the present 100-year-old school building, will continue and that site preparation will be done until halted by winter weather.\
To read the MEPA decision, click here.
