Some think base proposal
too good to be true

Many fear children will worsen strain on overtaxed schools

By JESSICA VAN SACK
The Patriot Ledger

WEYMOUTH – It was described as a veritable utopia:

The convenience of shuttle buses zipping commuters to the train. Residents happily stopping by a small village flower shop to pick up a little surprise. Or enjoying a nature walk, watching the turtles trudge by. Grabbing a bite to eat at a local cafe, no more than a five-minute walk from home.

That was the vision that California-based Lennar Partners, master developers of the South Weymouth Naval Air Base, attempted to sell the crowd last night.

Their proposal for clusters of cozy villages and a biotech center met with a slightly skeptical audience that was unprepared to endorse anything outright, but appeared to appreciate a balance of housing, open space and jobs.

“It sounds like they put more thought into this,” said Mark Leipert, a Pennsylvania-based geologist for the U.S. Navy serving as project manager for the environmental clean-up of the base.

Leipert added, however, that the roughly 2,500 jobs being proposed does not meet Navy demands. Lennar needs naval approval for the project to move forward.

Officials said they were concerned about the strain that more children will put on schools. Weymouth District 5 Town Councilor Paul Leary said estimates of a $7,000 per-pupil cost to towns did not take into account extra schools that might need to be built.

“There are still a lot of unanswered questions,” Leary said.

Several town officials and residents from Abington, Rockland and Weymouth yesterday called for an independent review because, they said, the plan seemed almost too good to be true.

“We need to look at the details,” said former Abington selectman Joe Shea, 58.

Weymouth Mayor David Madden said proposals to add more than 1,000 biotech jobs was an “attractive component of the plan.”

“I think this a very good beginning,” he said.

Robert Lundquist, chairman of South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp., the public agency overseeing base redevelopment, said he was struck by the more than 70 percent of the site proposed as open space.

“Lennar listened very carefully to folks,” he said.

However, other Tri-Town members said winning over the towns will come down to dollars.

“That’s what this is all about,” said John Ward, Rockland’s Tri-Town representative. “How much money is going to be generated back to towns.”

A few attendees immediately opposed the plan.

“It is a big negative,” said Beth Sortin, an Abington resident serving on the restoration advisory board, which is overseeing the Navy’s environmental cleanup of the base.

She said the type of jobs called for concern her.

“When I hear about bio labs I get a little nervous,” she said.

Nothing but praise came from local labor guild workers, who predict the project would create thousands of union construction jobs over 12 years.

“It’s good, especially for me,” said Stephen Senices, 33, of Weymouth, a member of the District Council 35 painter’s union. “That’ll take me into retirement.”