By K.B. Sherman, Contributing Writer
Grafton – At their April 5 Grafton Board of Selectmen’s meeting, members of the Grafton Conservation Commission (ConCom) presented the commission’s opinion of the town’s decision to locate the new Department of Public Works (DPW) building on land that had been declared an Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).
The DPW had already weighed in on the matter March 15, with the admission that the site is not without its controversy. At that meeting, John Bechard, chair of the DPW Building Committee, appeared before the board with a progress update on the new facility. This decade-long, multi-phase $13.9 million DPW project has been controversial on several fronts and Bechard alluded to some of the ongoing concerns. This followed a June 2015 meeting with DPW representatives and those from Weston and Sampson consultants to discuss this long-simmering project dating back to 2006.
The new facility is slated to be built at Estabrook and Old Westboro roads. The existing building is old, dilapidated, arguably too small, and in violation of building and safety codes.
In May of 2003, Grafton voters approved the purchase of the 47-acre “Hennessey Property” for $1.1 million from Robert N. Hennessy. This parcel is bounded by the Massachusetts Turnpike on the north, Old Westboro Road on the west, and Estabrook Road on the south. It is currently a series of open farm meadows enclosed by old New England stone walls and stands of emerging growth vegetation (small caliper trees and moderately sized shrubs) located around the meadow’s perimeter. This land would abut the new DPW building site. A stream traverses the property, beginning at the northeastern corner at a large wetland area, flowing in an approximately southwesterly direction through the center of the parcel. Some rock outcrops are also visible in several meadows in the western portion of the site.
At the April 5 meeting, ConCom representatives noted that as a commission they have a duty to bring this topic up for discussion and further consideration. They continue to ask that the land remain more “conservation” and less “development” as it is “special land” for the town.
“We need to be smart about land development” said one commission member. “We need to be good stewards of the land.”
“So you’re not against the DPW development?” asked Selectman Bruce Spinney. “No,” was the reply from ConCom co-chair John Wilson, “but we’d like a balance to be struck.”
He noted that Miscoe Brook is one of the few remaining area trout hatcheries and that salt running into it from a DPW storage area would destroy it.
The selectmen thanked the ConCom members for their time.