Published August 6, 2020

By MAUREEN DOHERTY
Editor

Imagine the town of North Reading today without Ipswich River Park or the grounds of North Reading High School without its modern track, turf field and stadium bleachers at Arthur J. Kenney Athletic Field.

It seems nearly impossible to think that not too many years ago, neither of these gems existed. And neither project would ever have come to fruition if it had not been for the foresight of Town Meeting voters who, back in 1988, got the crazy idea that the town should buy a private country club over on North Street to save it from being transformed into hundreds of condominiums built on top of the town’s aquifer.

Then, after the town bought the Hillview Country Club, through eminent domain, the townspeople should continue to run it as a municipal course and also open up the function hall to the public while requiring all profits, after expenses, be held in a special account that only funds the purchase of other open space preservation or recreational endeavors. “It will never work,” the naysayers said back then. “What does the town know about running a golf course?”

It was pointed out to them that if it didn’t work, the town could always sell the land, but change was coming and something had to be done about it now, or we’d live to regret it.

Flash forward 32 years. Many of those Town Meeting regulars who took a gamble on the Hillview have passed on, yet look at the legacy that they have left behind for their children, grandchildren, and future generations.

On Saturday at 9 a.m., it will be your turn to return the favor for the benefit of current and future generations by attending an outdoor Special Town Meeting on that very same Arthur J. Kenney turf field to vote “yes” on both Articles 1 and 2.

By using a total of about $2M from approximately $20M in proceeds from the sale of town-owned land (the J.T. Berry property) that can only be used for these types of investments, the town can purchase the 14-acre Seven Acres Poultry Farm at 14 Concord St. for about $1.1M (Article 1). Voters will be asked to appropriate about $900,000 under Article 2 to potentially purchase the two adjacent parcels, each just under 1 acre — one with a single family home and the other with a two-family home. All three parcels combined would give the town about 500 feet of continuous frontage along Concord Street on a parcel that is abutted to the rear by the Ipswich River. All of it is zoned residential, serving as a dividing point between the town’s commercial/industrial zone, residential property and the fragile river in a section of town that will likely have a sewerage system built in the next decade or so.

The Magliozzi family has farmed this land for over 80 years and now they’d like to retire. Under the state law that granted their farmland tax protection with an agricultural exemption (Ch. 61A), the town has the right of first refusal on the 14-acre parcel, but only for a limited time (extended only due to the COVID-19 crisis). The amount being requested matches their bona fide market rate purchase and sales agreement with Concord Street Realty Trust, which has a contingency to also purchase the other two properties if 14 Concord St. is bought. The family would be made whole under the proposal regardless of who buys it, but this rare opportunity allows the town to control its destiny on many fronts.

Land: They aren’t making any more of it.