1705 VT Route 128: Town Purchase

The property at 1705 VT Route 128, (1705 property) also known as the Pigeon property, was a former service station and bus garage. The Town is interested in purchasing the property for the potential purposes of conservation, providing public access to the Browns River, septic capacity for the Town Office & Public Library, expansion of the Town Office, and environmental improvements. The Town and residents will control the future development of the property. Town ownership of this property would ensure that any development that takes place is in line with the people of Westford’s vision for their Village Center.

The 1705 property is one of the most visible and important pieces of real estate in the village center and development of this parcel can offer the Town the opportunity to obtain many community benefits including: 

1. Public Access to the Browns River which runs through the heart of the village, but very few people have access to it. The Town hopes to work with the Vermont River Conservancy to provide convenient, accessible recreation paths through a meadow to the river.
2. Municipal/Public Facility Needs: The Town Office & Library are sharing a 90 gallon per day septic system which is inadequate for the current use of those buildings and does not allow for growth. The Town Office is also rapidly running out of space, including vault space for the safe, legally required storage of vital town records. The 1705 property provides a permitted 490 gallon per day septic design and an opportunity to expand the municipal property to meet current and future needs.
3. Improved Parking: Part of the Pigeon property can be used to provide additional parking for town center activities.
4. Environmental Improvements: The property was used for many decades as a gas/service station and a bus garage. As a result, residual contaminants exceeding acceptable levels have been identified on the property. Westford’s involvement in the State BRELLA program reduces Town liability for the contamination and provides access to funding sources for cleanup.
5. Stormwater Management: Owning the property allows for control and mitigation of the un-permitted, environmentally unsound discharge culvert that serves the Town Common stormwater drainage system.

A floor vote will be held at the Westford Elementary School on Tuesday 10/22/2024 at 6:15pm on an advisory article for the use of Unassigned Fund balance to purchase the 1705 property. You must be in-person to cast your vote on that evening. Prior to the vote there will be an informational presentation. The official notice of this meeting, as with all Annual and Special Town Meetings, was posted in several places including the town website, Westford post office, library & town office, and the Seven Days newspaper. Notices of meetings are posted to Front Porch Forum as a courtesy; no statute requires it.

The purchase price for 1705 VT Route 128 is $300,000 for the +/- 3.2 acre parcel. The Selectboard has chosen to use the $150,000 of ARPA money earmarked for the Maple Shade Community Wastewater project to fund the property acquisition. The allocation and expenditure of ARPA funds is under Selectboard control, and because the Maple Shade project is not moving forward, the Selectboard must re-allocate those funds before ARPA’s deadline of 12/31/2024.

The Selectboard hopes to use Unassigned General Fund Balance for the other $150,000 of the purchase price. NOTE: Spending Unassigned Funds will not inherently raise taxes! These funds have already been raised because Unassigned Funds are budget surplus (taxpayer money) that has built up over the years. Generally, it is not recommended to let excess funds accumulate this way. Expert guidance says to present an “advisory article” to the voters for their opinion on whether these funds should be used for this project. An advisory article is not legally binding – it is “politically binding”, meaning that the Selectboard could still move forward even if the voters say no; it would be important that they consider the political implications of doing so, however. Unassigned Funds are not the same as Reserve Funds because reserves were created by voters at Town Meetings for very specific purposes.

This article is not required to be voted by Australian Ballot because it is not a Town Budget article, and voters present at the 2024 Town Meeting voted NOT to move all articles to Australian ballot voting. Due to timing it was not possible to add this article to the General Election Ballot that the State of Vermont mailed to every registered voter. Mailing, by hand, a separate ballot to every registered voter in Westford would be a significant undertaking for Town Office staff and potentially cause confusion for residents to receive multiple separate ballots.

Westford has been engaged with the 1705 property and its owners for many years. A project spearheaded by the Planning Commission in 2021-2022 that would have partnered with the Vermont Community Development Program, Vermont River Conservancy, Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity and Champlain Housing trust but was ultimately not successful. Some of the work that was done at that time will be useful if the Town moves forward with the purchase.

The 1705 property is currently owned by the Pigeon Trust who have been maintaining it at their expense while looking for a buyer. In the spring of 2024, The Selectboard voted unanimously that the 1705 property was a strategic parcel for the Town to own and entered negotiations with the Pigeon Trust for the purchase. These conversations were exempt from public record as negotiating or securing of real estate purchase or lease options are qualified executive session topics (1 V.S.A. § 313). An agreed upon price was not reached until the end of August 2024 and, after legal review, a purchase agreement was signed in early September. The Pigeon Trust is excited to finalize the sale, and the Selectboard must re-allocate ARPA funds by 12/31/2024, so time is of the essence. Closing was set for April 1, 2025 (or sooner if possible).

Due to the sensitive nature of purchase negotiations, the Selectboard was unable to share details with the public until recently. The Selectboard acted quickly once an agreed upon purchase price was reached, and while the purchase is not deemed an “emergency”, there is some urgency when it comes to real estate transactions. Going forward, if the property is to be purchased, the Selectboard will seek community involvement to ensure that residents’ thoughts and suggestions are being fully considered.

A floor vote will be held at the Westford Elementary School next Tuesday 10/22/2024 at 6:15pm on whether to use $150,000 in Unassigned Fund Balance to purchase the 1705 property. Zoom will be available for listening to the meeting, but you MUST BE IN-PERSON to cast your vote. Prior to the vote there will be an informational presentation and an opportunity to ask questions.

The Selectboard is aware that the designer of the 490 gallon per day septic system, David Tudhope, will voluntarily rescind the permit awarded because the well proposed to serve the system was located in the area of brownfield contamination and must be moved. The designer is working closely with the State of Vermont and environmental experts to determine the best place for a new well. He will be re-permitting the septic design as soon as possible. NOTE: the septic system, minus the well location, is still acceptable by the State wastewater division.

If the purchase moves forward, the Selectboard wishes to engage the public to determine what the future of the 1705 property holds. Some future costs will be unclear until these conversations happen and a project scope is fully developed. Not all costs are unknown, though. The purchase price is $300,000 and a septic system has been estimated to cost around $50,000 to install. The Selectboard has chosen to use $150,000 of ARPA money, and the voters will weigh in on whether to use $150,000 that the Town has accumulated as Unassigned Funds. That total will fund the property acquisition, and there are $60,000 in Admin Capital Reserves earmarked to replace the Town Office & Library septic system. 

The Town Office & Library need a new septic system, the Town Office is running out of space quickly and there is a stormwater discharge system for the Town Common that needs attention. The Selectboard agrees that the purchase of 1705 could provide a resource to address each of these priorities, as well as other community interests to be determined, all while keeping our beautiful town center intact.