Webster Woods Again Subject For Town Meeting Action

FALMOUTH- Today is the deadline to submit  articles for the Fall Annual Town Meeting, and a stack of articles sits on the desk of Diane Davidson in the office of Falmouth Town Manager Robert L. Whritenour Jr. waiting to be compiled and placed on the warrant.
More proposed articles will likely trickle in during the day today before the deadline at 4:30 PM.
Among the interesting issues that Town Meeting members will have deal with is what will become of Webster Woods, the 16 acres at 419 Woods Hole Road that was the subject of much discussion last winter.
The Falmouth Affordable Housing Committee had recommended to Falmouth selectmen that they move forward to build housing on two acres of the parcel and reserve another two acres for municipal use. But building housing on the wooded parcel was controversial, and Falmouth selectmen opted instead to wait until this fall to see if another project in Woods Hole could be put together with a similar number of units.
Selectman Kevin E. Murphy gathered a subcommittee to work on the issue, including a representative from The 300 Committee, the town’s land trust, which had presented extensive information on why the woods should not be developed.
Also on the subcommittee were members of the Woods Hole community, the chairmen of both the affordable housing committee and the Falmouth Housing Trust, and the developer Christopher Wise of Chatham, who was required to create affordable housing as part of his redevelopment of the Nautilus Motel property in Woods Hole.
Kevin Murphy said yesterday that a placeholder article has been put on the warrant dealing with the plans to create affordable housing in Woods Hole.
The article may have one or two parts, he said, with one part having to do with the creation of 12 units on property on Woods Hole Road and another five units that would meet Mr. Wise’s obligations.
The second part of the article would place a conservation restriction on all but three acres of the Webster Woods parcel. The three acres near the Woods Hole Fire Station would be reserved for future municipal use, Mr. Murphy said.
Mr. Murphy said that while the affordable housing committee suggested that 15 units be built on Webster Woods, he personally felt that 15 units was too dense and 12 units was more appropriate. He said developers typically ask for more units than they expect to get.
Last week, Edward H. Schmuhl, chairman of the affordable housing committee, told selectmen that his committee had voted to bring a petitioners article to Fall Town Meeting, asking selectmen to move forward on development of the parcel. He said they are aware of the efforts to find an alternative place for housing in Woods Hole, but the committee believes that should be in addition to housing at the Webster Woods site.
Kevin Murphy said it is important for members of the affordable housing committee to understand that they do not have the authority to bring forward an article as a committee. They can submit a petitioners article as private citizens and taxpayers, but not as a committee.
He said he understands that the affordable housing committee is “impatient” with the process and wants to move forward with development, because of the time and effort that was put into the feasibility study on Webster Woods, but he said, “That’s why you do studies.”
He said Town Meeting will have “a menu” of options on what to do with the property, with the various articles before them.
Among other articles is a long and detailed one from the Falmouth Planning Board that seeks to change the wording in the senior care retirement district article that is already in the town bylaws in order to make it more user-friendly for developers. The new bylaw does not require as much land be used for such facilities, among other changes.
Among the funding items on the warrant will be a request for $25,000 to demolish buildings on the town-owned Augusta parcel, which is behind Falmouth Lumber on Teaticket Highway. Mr. Whritenour said the buildings are dilapidated and need to be removed for safety reasons.
Town Meeting members will also have a chance to weigh in on part of the Department of Public Works reorganization plan. Paying for the part of the plan in which nine positions are reclassified was put off at the Spring Annual Town Meeting and will be back on the warrant this fall.
Also back before Town Meeting will be the removal of sludge from the Wastewater Treatment Facility on Blacksmith Shop Road in West Falmouth. Town Meeting has already approved funding for the project but the bids have come in higher than the amount approved. The budget for the sludge hauling is $138,000, and the estimated cost is more like $157,000, according to a memo to Mr. Whritenour from Falmouth Wastewater Superintendent Gerald C. Potamis.
Also on the warrant will be an article developed by the Town Meeting rules and procedures committee having to do with guidelines for PowerPoint presentations at Town Meeting. Falmouth Town Moderator David T. Vieira, who is chairman of the rules committee, submitted the article.