WESTFIELD – Two City Council committees discussed the taking of 33 acres of farmland by eminent domain for construction of athletic fields last night, a process which will have a direct impact on the future of a proposal to construct a $26 million, 600-student school at the corner of Cross and Ashley streets.
The Finance Committee chairman, Ward 1 Councilor Christopher Keefe, opened the committee’s consider of the motion to approve $260,000 to finance the land taking from the Weilgus Trust, to not only the nine council members present, but also to other city officials and residents in attendance during the two-hour joint meeting with the Legislative & Ordinance Committee.
Holyoke residents Dan and Tom Smith, who own the Cross Street house where their mother resides and where they grew up, urged the council to defeat the land acquisition, a vote which would kill the Ashley Street school construction project that they oppose.
The Smiths, and other Cross Street residents, sued the city for violation of Article 97 in Superior Court and won a stay on the school construction project.
Hampden Superior Court Judge Tina Page issued the temporary restraining order in early September, 2012 after a motion, filed by several residents of Ashley and Cross streets, contended that the city is violating state and federal law by using part of the Cross Street playground for the $26 million school project. The residents filed the suit earlier this year, charging that the city is violating Article 97 of the Massachusetts General Law which sets preservation protection for open-space land.
The injunction issued by Page is limited to the playground land being incorporated into the 96,000-square-foot, 600-student school building project. That land will be used for subsurface infiltration of storm water collected off the building and for a recreational area.
Last night Tom Smith questioned the need to acquire the Weilgus Trust property, actively-farmed land that has been in the family for several generations.
“I’d like to ask the City Council members why there is such a dire need to acquire active farm land from an elderly lady who gets income from the rent of that property,” Smith said.
That question struck a chord with several members of the City Council in attendance.
City Solicitor Susan Phillips said the city has complied with the Article 97 conversion to replace 1.37 acres of the Cross Street playground with the proposed purchase of 33 acres from the Weilgus Trust.
“It’s a three-step process,” Phillips said. “The first step was to get approval from the National Park Service to agree with the city’s conversion process. The second step is before the council, to take the land through eminent domain and the third step is to get the state Legislature’s approval.”
Phillips said that if the Weilgus family is not satisfied with the $260,000 purchase price, based upon an appraisal of the property, it can appeal that figure in Superior Court.
“(Alice) Weilgus has the right to go to court and argue for a higher number,” Phillips said.
School Superintendent Suzanne Scallion urged the City Councilors to act on the Weilgus land taking so the Ashley Street elementary school construction can move forward to meet the needs of the district.
“If you want to leave footprints in the future, don’t drag your feet,” Scallion said. “This is about the future of the city.”
Scallion said the district has over-crowded classrooms and out-dated facilities, a situation that will become even more critical when the lease for the Juniper Park School, a state owned building on the campus of Westfield State University, expires in June of 2015.
“We will never have a perfect consensus,” Scallion said. “Other urban districts have many downtown schools that are even tighter than this project. It’s time to let go of that issue.”
Scallion said the defeat of the land acquisition could lead to the Massachusetts School Building Administration cancelling its support for the project which would have long-term effects on the city, including the requirement to return about $1.4 million to that agency.
Ward 2 Councilor Ralph Figy, in whose ward the land conversion and school project are both located, said the MSBA process could also affect accreditation of Westfield High School which needs a $7 million science wing addition to bring it into compliance, a project that the city cannot afford to do without MSBA financial assistance.
“If it loses accreditation, our kids aren’t going anywhere for college,” Figy said.
The Finance Committee voted 2-0 to give a positive recommendation to the $260,000 appropriation for the land taking and referred the issue to the L&O which voted to keep it in committee to get additional information from the Law Department.
