Weston CPC Unanimously Approves Soil Test Funds for Wellington Farm Acquisition

WESTON -- September 18, 2017, Weston's Community Preservation Committee unanimously approved a $6,400 soil-testing appropriation for the 11.32-acre Wellington Farm on Glen Road and heard a $3,396,451 construction funding request for renovation of the historic old library into an arts and innovation center. The farm acquisition would draw $1.96 million from CPA funds and an additional $860,000 from an MWRA settlement reserve, against an appraised value of $2.8 million for the property owned by Nick Danforth; the committee pressed for clarity on a disputed appraisal methodology that reduced a Lot 6 deduction from $950,000 to $700,000 through a 15 percent retail discount and a two-year time-value adjustment. Library Director Susan Brennan told the committee that true all-in project costs have risen from $3,164,000 to $3,396,451 since the last town meeting request, with a prior $253,000 CPA balance offsetting the new ask; a committee member pushed back on a presentation characterizing the increase as only 20 percent, calling the framing "misleading." Phyllis Halpern, co-chair of the Historical Commission, also requested up to $62,325 to repair two 1920-era cattle passes along the future Rail Trail before Eversource permanently fills them in. All three substantive funding requests are continued to the October 23 public hearing.