The Wellesley Select Board meeting on July 21 began with a resident urging the town to slow down on its site selection for a new fire station, which based on information shared during a recent public forum sounded very much like it might wind up on the North 40 property along Weston Road. The resident got her wish, when later in the meeting it was revealed the town is pushing off its request for fire station feasibility study funds from fall to spring Town Meeting.
(See Wellesley Media recording of Select Board meeting.)
Select Board member Colette Aufranc shared the funding request change of plans before diving into an update on the public engagement process concerning the North 40, land purchased by the town from Wellesley College in 2014. The fire station master plan working group determined that there wouldn’t be time to pull necessary information together for a feasibility study funding request in time for Special Town Meeting in the fall, according to Wellesley Executive Director Meghan Jop.
Regarding the North 40, Aufranc reminded listeners that the purchase was made with the intention for half of the property to be open space and half for other uses to be determined. There has been public discussion about what to do with the 46-acre property over the years, and last month the Select Board held a joint meeting with the Community Preservation Committee regarding next steps in defining a conservation restriction at the North 40 (some $10m in Community Preservation Act funds was used in the town’s $35m purchase of the North 40).
As a key restart to the North 40 public engagement process, the town is looking to hold a public meeting, complete with a staff presentation and community workshop, in early October. The Select Board is looking to vote on the conservation restriction by year-end, and intends to get public feedback on options during that October meeting, Aufranc said (there are parts of the property where things can’t be done, including on an old dump site and an area near the commuter rail tracks).
The board ahead of that meeting will seek to make clear to the public that it has heard concerns about potential locations—including two different sites at the North 40—for a new fire station and will be taking a fresh look at the matrix of possible locations. Board member Tom Ulfelder said getting that message across is important so that the meeting on the overall North 40’s future isn’t dominated by concerns about the fire station location to the point it takes away from ideas of other possible uses of the larger property. Beth Sullivan Woods recommended that the board have a discussion about the fire station ahead of the general North 40 meeting.
Board members acknowledge the tricky balancing act that the North 40 presents, with certain uses impacting the potential for others. The board wants the town to plan for North 40 uses, but also have enough flexibility to respond to needs not yet known.
Aufranc also raised the idea during the Select Board meeting about having a future joint meeting with the Natural Resources Commission to discuss topics such as possible land swaps between the Select Board and NRC, which could relate to North 40 property.
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