Ward 6 Candidates Respond to Question re: Waltham Field Station

Concerned about the greatest open space threat in Waltham's Ward 6, the Waltham Land Trust, our community primary environmental non-profit focused on land conservation, asked candidates for Ward 6 City Councillor —What would you hope to see as the future of the Waltham Field Station property, now that UMass is on record as interested in selling? Here are their responses.

Adam Crossman:

The Waltham Field Station should be purchased by the city and the core of the property kept as is.

My neighbors on Linden Street agree with me as well. I would, however, like to see some investment in to the buildings on site. The main building, house, and greenhouse are terribly run down and should be replaced/restored. I would be open to a community-oriented space to replace those buildings fronting Beaver Street.

In my ideal world we would have some space to play sports (volleyball and bocce courts anyone?) with some space reserved to enjoy the outdoors (dare I say seasonal beer garden?).

However, everything beyond the gravel parking lots should remain untouched. This is a key parcel for the Western Greenway and we are doing a terrible disservice to future generations by developing farmland that is becoming increasingly rare.

Sean Durkee:

The Waltham Field Station property should remain as agricultural and/or open space/ park land. Cornelia Warren intended her donated land to remain as such. I strongly oppose any attempt to put a massive office park or development on the property. State institutions, such as UMass, are exempt from local zoning laws even though the field station is zoned as conservation and recreation. Without further detail on the field station’s status, the city will need to work closely with Waltham’s State Representatives and Senator to work on a final plan for the site.

The field station property is an integral part of the Western Greenway and must be included in any plan for the site. Excluding the Western Greenway is non-negotiable. The Waltham Land Trust and other tenants should have an opportunity to continue their work at the site as long as it fits in with the agricultural/ open space concept. I’m more familiar with Green Rows of Waltham (GROW) than some of the other tenants as I used to help friends and family with their garden plots. Waltham Fields Community Farm is an incredibly inspirational group. Seeing volunteers harvest and stack vegetables at the end of growing season is great to witness. Their volunteerism is one of the purest forms of community service. One report stated they donated over 20 tons of food. Along with 4H and all the other tenants, these are organizations we need to keep in Waltham.

So, how do we keep the land as agricultural or open space? If Waltham has to purchase the land, Community Preservation Act (CPA) money could be used. And I suggest the community be open-minded about other open space/energy conservation type uses. For example, why not incorporate green technologies and/or experimentation alongside the farms? A mini solar farm powering a portion of a field house is consistent with the lands intended use. Maybe there’s a recreational portion in addition to the Western Greenway that doesn’t impede with farming. The overall theme of the Waltham Field station property has been educational. Let’s have Waltham develop a 21st century agricultural/ open space park the rest of the state can envy!

Sharline Nabulime:

It has saddened me to see the Waltham Field Station property become a victim of political games in recent years, though I am heartened that the groups that use the field station have stood vigilantly for the preservation of this invaluable property. I stand with them and will be their strongest advocate as the Ward 6 city councilor.

I grew up walking through farms and fields, eating food that comes directly from the land. I believe that it is essential that our children grow up knowing where their food comes from, knowing what it means to be close to the land, and knowing what it means to be a steward of that land. The organizations at the field station understand this. They have served generations of Waltham citizens and trained countless farmers who till the soil elsewhere across Massachusetts today. For that to continue to happen, we need to protect this land right now.

How do we protect this land for our children?

1. As a city councilor I will work with our state legislators to ensure that UMass is required by state legislation to preferentially sell the farm to the City of Waltham or the current tenants under a renewed version of Cornelia Warren’s original deed. Provisions of that deed have been allowed to lapse and it is the responsibility of UMass to restore them, not use them to sell off the land for development.
2. The land should be sold to the city or the tenants at the price of land zoned as conservation and recreation land, and the price should be no greater than the per-acre cost for the land sold by the state in 2014 to Waltham at the Fernald school, not the millions that UMass is likely hoping to get by selling it off for development.
3. The current field station should be fully rehabilitated and the projected costs of the rehabilitation should be deducted from the sale price by UMass in return for having allowed the conditions at the building to lapse.
4. The current tenants should be offered low-cost 99 year leases to stay where they are.

Over the last year I have heard many things proposed regarding what the UMass Field Station should become. Most recently, the station was allegedly proposed as a potential location for a high school, all without public input. Instead of discussing what it should become, I will advocate for keeping it what it is, and I will do so by ensuring that all negotiations for the future of the property involve a representative from the tenants and that we set a proactive foundation for those negotiations.

In order to accomplish this, I promise that if elected, I will immediately put forward an application to appraise the land based on the conditions listed above and prepare a community preservation committee grant to purchase that land from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I will seek endorsements for that application from our state representatives and make it clear that this land is ours to keep the way we wish to keep it, for our children and for our posterity.

Deborah Schreiber:

This property gives back so much to our community that I favor maintaining this land as is, maybe with some upgrades to the buildings, and hopefully adding to the great programs already running. There is nothing like it in our city and, even if there was not great historical value to its story, its ongoing and future value is inestimable

Charles Smerlas:

I would like to see the city of Waltham purchase the property & continue it’s use of open space & possibly passive recreational activity like walking trails with adjacent properties plus expand the community gardening I think this would be nice for the city of Waltham.