West Boylston Open Space & Environment
Ride along Prospect Street around the Lee St area and you will see what everyone sees. Some may call it a field or farmland, while others may call it Land-not-yet-developed. Whatever it is, it is certainly Open Space. From an economical point of view, it is a windfall, a cash cow, and as close to free cash as a town can get.
There are two things you can't escape in life - death and taxes - and we certainly know the latter is true in West Boylston.
Dollar for dollar, Open Space creates wealth as much as it reduces the tax burden on its residents. Given the amount of DCR land in West Boylston, we should be a very wealthy town.
Residential homes with school age kids are the biggest economical burden any town faces.
Generally speaking, half of your tax bill ($2,000 of $4,000) goes toward school costs, and the per pupil expenditure is very close to $10,000 per year.
This means it will take 5 years per home to educate 1 student one year.
Half of average tax bill ($2,000) X 5 years = $10,000 per year expenditure
(K-12) = 13 years X $10,000 per year expenditure = $130,000 total / $2,000 average tax bill = 65 years
Therefore, it takes 65 years per home to educate 1 student K-12.
Assuming the schools need every last penny, how does a town reduce its tax burden on residents? There are three primary ways:
1. Industrial and Commercial expansion: Expanding the Industrial and Commercial base offsets the residential tax burden simply because industrial and commercial buildings don't send kids to school. In other words, they do not create school costs - they pay for them. Though they do not create educational costs, they still require other services - utilities, roads, police & emergency response, etcetera, but they are still "profitable" compared to residential buildings, as they put more in than they take out.
2. 55+ developments: 55+ developments lie somewhere in between "regular" residences and Industiral & Commercial base. In general terms, 55+ developments may not have school age students other residential units have, but they do increase the 10% "quota" for its 40B subsidized housing stock. It doesn't take too many 40B units to offset the broadened tax base 55+ units provide. (see other pages on how 40B works)
3. Open Space: Dollar for dollar, Open Space is the town jackpot - little overhead and almost all profit.
Going back to the Prospect St area (for example), not once has that area sent a kid to school, called 911, needed snow removal, or has any other cost to it - aside from any road maintenance and some accounting/ clerical costs. Open Space has an ROI (return on investment) that is unparalleled to any building or residential unit in town. Again, dollar for dollar, the overhead is little and the return is great.
Developing Open Space would increase the "overhead", and that will increase the need for a higher tax burden to meet those additional expenses. Think of it this way - what will have more expense to the town: 52 units at Afra Terrace or the woods and wetland that used to be there? The 26 40B units approved for Franklin St or the woods that will be soon cut down? What about the 30 or so units at 19 Crescent St as compared to the one single home and its surrounding woods?
West Boylston Is Unique - Very Unique: For over thirty years, I have been going to sales meetings saying New England is unique. West Boylston is unique even by New England standards. There are very few towns in New England that are situated between two interstate routes like us, (I-290 and I-190) that have a rural part of town to them. For example, some other towns are Reading (I-95/Rte 128 and I-93), and Mansfield or Wrentham (I-495 and I-95).
In the case of West Boylston, we also sit atop Boston's drinking supply (Wachusett Reservoir), border the 3rd largest city in New England, and have nearby access to many research centers - UMASS and Tufts to name the obvious. We have Location, Location, Location.
What if there were a proposal that could ensure Open Space in town (thus protecting the environment), yet utilize it, and create a stream of money that could reduce the tax burden of residents? What if this same proposal had the endorsments or support of selectmen, the town administrator, and emergency repsone teams? Admittedly, the higher up you go, the more
'non-answer' you get, but there are also letters and responses from state reps, a congressman, both senators, the former governor and Lt governor, the White House, and Homeland Security.
Dr. Robert Tashjian and Malden Brook Farm: Dr. Tashjian's research center proposal, like Matt Mulvey's (former WB building inspector) Solid Waste Transfer Station, are going to be hot topics in the days ahead.
I want to make this perfectly clear: I am not a scientist, I am not a doctor, and I am not going to promote or condone Dr. Tashjian's proposal. As of this moment, I cannot simply say "Dr. Tashjian wants to build "X" so he can do "Y" located at "Z".
Route 190 was completed in roughly 1983. In a recent T&G article, Dr. Tashjian spoke about the effects of botulism spores being activated after blasting took place along Malden Brook Farm. Sterling Peat Farm is roughly 1 1/2 miles north of the Oakdale exit on Rte 190 (exit 5).
Worcester Magazine - MAY of 1981 Dr. Tashjian