As many in our farm community are aware, the Waltham City Council approved a request from Waltham’s Mayor McCarthy in April to move forward with the purchase and sale agreement for the UMass Field Station and farm property. It was at this point that the process transitioned to the MA legislature, to create an Act authorizing the University of Massachusetts to convey a certain parcel of land and buildings to the City of Waltham.
We have received many requests of recent from WFCF members and shareholders for an update on the land sale as many believe the transaction complete. As of August 15th, the property remains under the ownership of the University of MA. The terms to convey the property to the City of Waltham have not yet been finalized by the MA legislature and a sale is yet to come. Tenants remain hopeful and are also preparing for the process when it resumes at the municipal level, at which point tenants will be required to respond to a Request for Proposals by the City of Waltham for continued tenancy. WFCF will seek a long-term lease with the City to bring much needed stabilization for our organization.
The process resides in the MA legislature and has been engaged by both the House and Senate. The House created a bill with the terms to convey the property that Waltham Fields has operated from for the past 25 years. The Senate has filed an amendment to the House's bill as of July. The language proposed by the House and Senate currently differ in reference to use and Article 97 of the Amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth. Waltham Fields Community Farm has strongly expressed support for the language in the Senate's redraft Amendment which assures the entire 28-acre site will continue serving the public through agricultural, open space, recreational or sustainability uses and be protected under Article 97, the gold standard for land protection in Massachusetts. We believe both the House and Senate are in favor of long-term protections for the land and it is a matter of time, and our hope, that we will see alignment in the legislature and an edit to the House's bill. The legislative session which was to expire on July 31st has now been extended until December 31st to allow for much critical work in the legislature.
This year WFCF celebrates its 25th Anniversary, a quarter century of conscientious stewardship of the vital farmland at the field station. As a long-time tenant promoting local agriculture and food access through our farming and educational programs, WFCF has been concerned about the particulars of the legislation and at this critical moment supports legislative language which ensures that the farmland and open-space remain protected as a valuable public and natural resource and in particular, remains as agricultural land and/or open space consistent with its historic and current use and unique role in the Greater Waltham community.
WFCF, alongside the tenants of the Waltham Field Station seek a means to more strongly protect access to local agricultural open-space in Massachusetts. Food access, food equity and sustainability are more important than ever, even as pressures to develop and repurpose land and open space become more acute. WFCF believes in the unique role the land at the Field Station has and continues to serve, both as a historical land and as a valuable open space, benefitting and nourishing the general public.
We thank you for your continued interest, communication and support of the tenants at 240 Beaver Street! We will share further updates as the process evolves.
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