Ledges 40b Project

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 150 residents who took time out of their busy schedules to attend a Neighborhood Meeting sponsored by the Woburn Neighborhood Association and Alderman Edward Tedesco to discuss the Ledges 40B construction project. We would also like to thank Alderman Richard Gately and Alderman-at-Large Mike Concanon for their attendance and continued support in our quest to protect the health, safety and welfare for residents directly affected by the project along with all residents of Woburn. We would also like to thank Tony Fiorello for the use of St. Anthony’s Club for our meeting.

This nightmare began in 2006 when a 40B permit was approved by the State for a 9 -acre site located at 1042 Main Street in North Woburn. In 2012 the 40B permit was sold to an out of state developer. Over the next four years, and after hundreds of hours of meetings packed with residents who stated their concerns to the Woburn Board of Appeals (BOA), the board denied the permit. One of the main reasons for the denial was the court was not convinced about the disruption of the health, safety and welfare of the residents from the process to remove over 420,000 cy of crushed rock and fill from the mountain. The developer appealed the decision through the legal process and in November of 2017 the MA Appeals Court ruled in favor of the developer. In a last-ditch effort, the City of Woburn petitioned the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) to reverse the decision. In February of 2018 the SJC denied the request thereby ending the legal process. We would also like to thank Mayor Galvin, City Solicitor Ellen Callahan-Doucette and Woburn Board of Appeals for their support and effort throughout the entire legal process.

The focus of the January 7, 2019 Neighborhood Meeting was to listen to and list the concerns and questions regarding the health, safety and welfare of the residents and present this list to the City of Woburn Department heads prior to issuing the Building permit for the project. After the Department Head meeting, and prior to the issuing of the Building Permit, we will issue guidelines for construction. Along with the guidelines we will issue a list of contacts that the residents can use to report complaints.

The two-part nightmare is estimated to continue for at least the next 3 years; the first two years will be blasting, crushed rock and fill removal of up to 420,000 cy and the remainder of the time will be the construction portion of the project. To act as a resident project information source and forum, we have created a face book page: (Route 38 Santullo MT) to date we have over 200 members. We will also post updates and documents as they happen to our website; www.woburnneighborhoodassociation.com. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this project, you can contact Mike Raymond at fitwalker1@comcast.net or Alderman Edward Tedesco at etedesco@cityofwoburn.com. For those residents who do not use Facebook or email we are developing a new by-monthly newsletter that will be available upon request. Call us at 781-935-2438 to request information by mail.

Our next meeting will be scheduled after we have compiled the list of guidelines and contacts. I would like to leave you with one final thought: It is a shame that money has replaced humanity and good common sense.