Great captures.

Thanks Gary. If I had known you fifteen years ago I would have saved some of the pike for you......

Let's all think through the land sale NOW.

Thanks for the blog, Ron. I'm interested to learn more about the sale of land - how is it zoned? Who is buying it? Does the town have the "right of first refusal"? Is this how we want to spend our tax dollars? We have time to think through this land issue now - before it's a crisis and folks are up-in-arms about buildings destroying the beauty of the lake.

I'm sure our town govt is on top of it - but we need it discussed in the social arena to get public attention (i.e. Patch blogs).

I agree Amy. Is there any state funding to preserve the land? Who owns it now the state? You can check at the town hall or Worcester registry of deeds if u know the adeess

First the land that is not protected represents roughly 1/4 of the shoreline of the lake. You can see it (colored maroon) on the map at http://www.town.westborough.ma.us/Public_Documents/WestboroughMA_BComm/openspacereport2012/Documents/OpenSpace2012.pdf.

The land is under control of the Department of Capital Asset Management (DCAM). Unfortunately DCAM wants to make as much money as possible off the property, this is in part because they inflated the value and size of the property for the commission that decided to place the new hospital in Worcester, to satisfy the politicians on this committee.

The rumored asking price for the 180 acres is around $10 million, but fortunately most developers just laugh since the cost of fixing the buildings or destroying them makes this way too expensive. The town of Westborough would like to buy the land, but the cost may be too high.

The land is zoned mixed use, but will require a special permit and the planning board is not likely to allow anything near what the state's study is proposing. The state study can be seen at http://www.town.westborough.ma.us/public_documents/FV1-00010A3E/S03162642-03183958

The best thing folks can do is push their state legislators to have the state work with Westborough to protect the open space, and provide a well planned development on land that currently has buildings.

This is the first I have heard of this potential environmental tragedy. Maybe something can be worked out to contribute towards the purchase of the land. Maybe in partnership with one of the committees such as the Northboro Open Space Committee, the conservation committee, or preservation committees.

This process has been going on for a long time. In 2005 the state had a commission to decide which hospital to keep, Worcester or Westborough. I for one objected when DCAM claimed at that time there were 600 developable acres in Westborough that would more than offset the higher cost of keeping Worcester. I pointed out at the time the number was less than 200 acres (the current number by DCAM is 180 acres!)

Then in 2010 a commission was formed for reuse of the state hospital with representatives from Westborough and Northborough. Unfortunately the commission was dominated by state people who hired a consulting firm that came up with ridiculous study I cited in my earlier post.

In 2011 there were hearings on this study, where more than 100 people from Westborough showed their displeasure with the study. The study has serious flaws, one being that they authors claim 520 housing units will produce less than 100 kids in the schools. Another flaw, was that Massachusetts Historical Commission ignored that some of the open space was on the National Register of Historic Places and instead supported development on it!

Besides the recommendation of pushing the state legislators to get a good project on the site, we should probably ask them to do an investigation of DCAM!

What is the relationship between Northborough and Westborough on this? Are both towns on the same page? Or is there no role for the former (where I live)? Thanks for your comments. They were just what I was hoping to see. I think we now need some more info on what local citizens can do at this point. Groups to join or support, etc.

The Hospital shore line is the down wind shore line. Which would makes it a perfect place for windsurfing and sailing. Years ago the town band windsurfing at the beach. There use to be a good windsurfing crowd but carrying your sail across a busy road is not always safe so I only imagine that is why they closed it to windsurfing. This is the only lake for miles that is round enough and has good wind. But there is no access to the lake any more. Launching from the upwind side makes it impossible to get back and I am an expert sailor. From the town beach you had a chance if you were a beginner but there is no way to get back at the boat launch because of all the trees that cause havoc and block the wind. Hopkington and Quinsigamond are the worst lakes in the world for sailing, to skinny and in a valley. The State Hospital beach would make a great windsurfing site, canoe and kayak launch site. No motor boats please. They can use the boat launch on the Rt 9 side.

Thanks to Ron and Don for increasing our awareness on this issue. Like Andy, I thought redevelopment was a long ways off. Don, I looked at the study and can't believe that 42 units labelled as "family" units are calculated to produce 4.9 children for Westborough public schools. Definitely flawed!!
It would be great if Westborough and Northborough could reach consensus and what a good development would look like for both communities.

Gym facility...Chauncy property...playing fields...Chauncy property...

Crazy idea here: remember at Town Meeting there was a proposal to build a new "gym" facility to remove it from Forbes? Anyone else see the potential here: lots of space for fields & parking, beachfront, big buildings no one is using...

I have added some building pics and a landscape which shows, I believe, where major development would take place. So please flip through photos again. It occurs to me that many residents have never been on the property. I'll be adding more nature and recreational photos but want give viewers a better sense of the buildings Don is talking about. Hmmmm, great set for a Hollywood horror movie!

Let's figure out how we CAN.
Don, I hear you - hard to develop. But whoever owns the property will need to deal with these issues. Let it be us. I can envision a revenue-generating complex: Hopkinton State Park with gym facilities. LAX/Soccer/Cheer teams won't have to rent space in other towns for clinics and practices (especially winter). Folks will rent from us. Add facilities for the older set. Now THAT will make Westborough more attractive to home buyers!

Awesome pictures and stories, and the perfect way to raise awareness to what's going on around us-thanks for sharing, Ron!!

Please keep us in the loop. I will also spread the word. I like Amy's ideas and also sailing and kayaking. I don't understand how other places can have such great recreation areas and we seem to lag... I am NOT surprised @ Northboroughs affordable housing comments; that seems to be all they think about. One example of kids and units: there are 482 Avalon units in Northborough. 74 for kids attending schools. @ over $13,000 a year cost. Therefore, we are actually at a loss with Avalon - $103,000 loss a year!!! Which does not include other services that Avalon needs. The police are up there daily sometimes more than once! I'd advise someone to make a web page about this topic or a FB page - where people can get information. Send mass emails. What do we need to do at this point Don? Write whom specifically? Can we set up a petition on change.org? Don't wait - do something now!!! Here is my personal email if you want to contact me: cchione@msn.com

These, Carolann, are fine comments because we need to get everything in context. As a resident of Northborough I have great admiration for volunteers who set up and maintain trails and help maintain some nice parks. But overall town oversight of many things seems lacking and discouraging: awful signage blight (and in my opinion, lack of proper enforcement), much of downtown often looks like a war zone, what with abandoned properties, new properties that will stress already terrible traffic, buildings put in backwards, failure to support the police department's need for more officers (brought on in part by Avalon and Wegmans), and east side development issues that have raised more than a hackle or two. I, for one, will use my camera (blight photos are in an earlier blog) and focus on what we, our children, and grandchildren have now and will lose. I think a Facebook 'Save Chauncy' page would be fantastic, and continued discussion around these Patch pieces will help, too. And, guess what, if you haven't turned your tv on lately, its an election year. Lets get some pols to support area conservation (and other things public). Get 'em to lean on the state and sign on the dotted line.

It's too bad the existing buildings, mainly the houses, couldn't be used for affordable housing. Some of those houses have new siding, new windows, handicap ramps and satellite dishes on them. The state is always giving developers extra leadway if they include a couple of units of affordable housing in their designs and letting them build these monsterous developments. Why don't we just have one whole development of affordable housing. This area would have open space, and recreation near by for the families as well.
I can't believe the historical societies of either town haven't stepped in. This facility has been around for over 70 years.
The paths and walking trails are intermingled to take you to the Wildlife area near the Old Lyman School and in and around Little Chauncey. They probably connect to the charm bracelet trails as well.
There is the site of the old cematorium, doctor's residences and planting fields. It is a beautiful area that needs to be preserved.

@ Kim if you are referring to Westboro and affordable housing I don't know anything about that. For Northborough they have met their 40 B quota with Avalon. I think another point to think about is the prision that is over there - will people want to live near it?

Kim,

None of the trails are on the land to be developed. There are a few houses that could be used, but most of the buildings will fall down. As far a family housing, remember the Department of Youth Services essentially runs two prisons one for girls and one for boys on the property.

The Charm Bracelet does run near the property, we wanted to run through the property because of the flooding of the Little Chauncy Access Road. Unfortunately, the same people in DCAM who are now in charge of selling it, claimed that the states Recreational Use Act which is designed to protect land owners from lawsuits for passive recreation did not apply (the states attorney generals office said they were incompetant and it did).

The crematorium was a waste inceneration not a crematorium, it is a highly poluted spot that needs to be cleaned up.

Hi, Don. Is there a website set up with maps and plans and schedules of meetings for Lake Chauncy? I personally find it difficult to attend daytime meetings in town (due to my work schedule). But give me a centralized place of information and exchange, and I'm in. I'd love to see both towns come together and plan something wonderful for the next 100 years.

I am new to the area and currently live on the lake. What a beautiful spot. I am shocked at the amount of tractor trailers that pass by on Lyman Street. How this is allowed is beyond me. I have watched in horror as children use the side walk to cross to the lake. It would be physically impossible for one of those loaded trucks to stop..they can't do it. I feel so badly for all the homes that border the lake on Lyman...how their lives must be ruined ( no sleep the truck traffic is all night). This a recreation area...and something is going to happen one of these days. A walker, a biker is going to get hit.

Any news on this? Is there a informational web page for this yet?