Selectmen Drop Westwood Station Warrant Article

A Warrant Article relating to Westwood Station that the Board of Selectmen thought would potentially be brought before Town Meeting in May was dropped Monday night.

The article involved the taking of two parcels of land in the Westwood Station area by eminent domain that were necessary for the construction of certain ramps and roadways. Those areas include a ramp off the southbound side of Rte. 128/I-95 to Blue Hill Drive, and a portion of the proposed Westwood Station Boulevard.

"Right now, there isn't enough material reason to keep it on the warrant," said Economic Development Officer Chris McKeown Monday at the Westwood Board of Selectmen meeting, which was followed by a public hearing of the Westwood Finance Commission. "I think there's a possibility that it may come back in the next week or two, but that's incumbent upon the owner, current mortgagee, and developer to bring forth material input. At this point, it's not there."

The article was composed to see if the Town of Westwood would authorize the Selectmen to take any necessary action that included purchasing conveyance, gift, eminent domain, or otherwise interest in those two areas, and subsequently enter in agreements and execute any or all instruments to take other action relative

If those parcels aren't included in the agreement to transfer the ownership of the development of Westwood Station to a new owner, the Town could take the parcels by eminent domain.

Beause of the fact that an actual sale of the land to a new owner has , it was unclear if anything would change by  Town Meeting that would result in the actual transfer of ownership.

"If there is a reason and support for us to find out a timeline we have to work with, we're on board with that," Selectmen Chair Nancy Hyde said.

McKeown clarified Monday night that if something comes to fruition too late to bring before Town Meeting, it may need to be addressed at a Special Town Meeting.