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BOS claims upper hand in WS
battle
By Jay Turner
Citizen Staff
Frustrated by
what they believe are misleading news reports suggesting they
are losing the ongoing battle with Westwood Station, members of
the Board of Selectmen last week fired back with comments
indicating that they are the ones, in fact, who have been
winning all along.
“Slowly but
surely we are winning this battle,” declared Selectman Victor
Del Vecchio Saturday.
To support
their claim, both Del Vecchio and Selectman Bob Burr pointed to
a letter the board received Friday by state Senator Brian Joyce,
which indicated that Canton now has the support of the Patrick
Administration in its efforts to secure a settlement with the
developer that properly addresses the town’s traffic concerns.
In the letter,
Joyce stated that he and Representative Bill Galvin met with
“senior members” of the administration Thursday to reiterate
Canton’s request for $20 million in road and bridge improvements
on Dedham Street, specifically the widening of the two bridges
over the Neponset River and the MBTA tracks from two to four
lanes, including the connecting roadway between I-95 and
University Avenue.
Joyce said the
Patrick Administration is “carefully considering” funding the
project, and more importantly, agreed to tie it to $50 million
in so-called “I-Cubed” funding that Westwood Station developer
Cabot, Cabot & Forbes is seeking for on-site infrastructure
improvements. Officials also reportedly agreed not to disperse
any funds unless CC&F agrees to address the “legitimate concerns
of the town of Canton” through a settlement.
“The
administration basically said [Westwood Station] is not going to
move forward without first reaching a settlement with the town,”
Burr said Saturday.
According to
Del Vecchio, Canton is currently seeking approximately $3.5
million in traffic mitigation and the reimbursement of its legal
fees; but as of Thursday, CC&F President Jay Doherty had
declared an end to negotiations, claiming that the money the
town has requested will instead be spent on legal fees to fight
an appeal recently filed by Canton.
A Superior
Court judge had dismissed the town’s previous suit against the
developer, but selectmen voted unanimously to appeal the ruling
after consulting with their attorney, who noted that the judge’s
decision was “based exclusively on a procedural interpretation
of the law and made no ruling whatsoever on the merits of
Canton’s claims.”
Del Vecchio
believes the town has a “very, very strong chance of winning,”
but he said it would obviously drop the appeal if CC&F agreed to
a settlement. For that reason, he disputed Doherty’s argument
about mounting legal expenses and said it would be “foolish” for
Canton to drop the appeal without having a deal first.
Del Vecchio
also said Westwood Station “may well be in financial distress,”
and as a result, may be left with no choice but to strike a
settlement with the town in order to secure the funds it is
seeking from the state.
“Its project
site looks like a ghost town,” Del Vecchio said, pointing out
that nearby Legacy Place “was booming with activity” as recently
as last week.
Doherty,
however, has repeatedly denied rumors suggesting that Westwood
Station is having funding problems. He did acknowledge that the
recession has taken its toll, but said CC&F is nonetheless
moving forward with construction of phase one of the project,
which includes 1.1-million square feet of retail space as well
as 500 units of housing.
But selectmen
maintain that even that much will never be built as long as the
developer refuses to do business with the town of Canton, and
they believe the odds are even more in their favor now that the
state has agreed to apply its own pressure.
At the same
time, Burr stopped well short of proclaiming victory just yet,
preferring instead to say that selectmen were very “encouraged”
by the Patrick Administration’s recent show of support, and were
“pleased that Joyce and Galvin continue to work for the town’s
interests.”
Editor’s note: In the
recent Superior Court ruling that dismissed Canton’s suit
against CC&F, the judge did not order the town to pay the
developer’s attorneys’ fees, but only the “costs of the action,”
which the Citizen correctly reported in a December 18 story and
accurately described as “court costs” on second reference.
December 25, 2008
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