SOUTHWICK –In early November it was announced that Southwick Country Club owner Bill Najam filed papers to sell the 110-acre property that contains the 18 hole golf course.
On Nov. 14, the Select Board held a public hearing to discuss the news and allow anyone in attendance to voice their thoughts. While Southwick resident and avid golfer Chris Vanasse said the “course is a tremendous resource for the town,” Select Board Chairman Doug Moglin thought otherwise.
“I personally don’t want to see the town of Southwick be the operator of a municipal golf course,” said Moglin. “There’s no shortage of opportunities to golf in this area.”
Najam then stood up and gave an explanation as to why he decided to sell the property.
“We’ve tried to operate the course well and provide public play for as long as we could possibly sustain it,” said Najam. “It’s become increasingly difficult to make any money in the business.”
Southwick Country Club. (WNG File Photo)
The town of Southwick had the right of first refusal to purchase the land, however on Nov. 28 the Select Board held a meeting and chose to exercise their decision to forego ownership of the course.
As a result of the town passing, the secondary party interested in purchasing the property was Fiore Realty Holdings LLC and they are now moving forward with their plan to build single-family homes on that land. Dick Fiore, Vice President of Fiore Realty, noted that the current plan is to have anywhere from 45 to 50 lots on the property.
Reported by The Westfield News on December 5, the Southwick Country Club sale will be sold for $1.8 million.
A Dec. 5 article contained comments from officials in town on their opinion of the potential addition of homes and if it would affect their respective departments.
“I believe our town departments can easily absorb what we’re looking at,” said Select Board Vice Chairman Joe Deedy.
The increase of homes and people also puts out an alert to our first responders in town.
“It’s not going to have a real big effect on our call volume,” said Fire Chief Russ Anderson. “I think the return outweighs the expense of increased need.”
Police Chief David Ricardi also gave his thoughts on the topic.
“It would definitely affect us public safety wise,” said Ricardi. “We answer the medical calls, that’s a whole new game that’s got to be covered.”
The Select Board held a public hearing in November to discuss the sale of the Southwick Country Club. (WNG File Photo)
According to Fiore on December 13, after the Southwick Conservation Commission approved the plan for the delineation of the wetlands on the property, he is now working on creating a complete plot plan.
While Fiore wants to at least get a preliminary plan in front of the town at some point in January, it’s weather permitting.
“We’re hoping it’s going to be a relatively smooth process,” said Fiore.
Although Fiore confirmed that building anywhere from 45 to 50 homes is still part of the plan, he said that could always be subject to change.
“We want to work with the town in order to do the right thing with the property,” said Fiore.
Fiore added that he will go into his talks with the town with a couple different proposals to see what they like.
