Select Board Hears Extensive Report on Proposed Uses for Navy Property on Hartwell Road; Ad Hoc Committee Urges Land Acquisition for Solar Farm

Acquire the land and install an array of solar panels.

That summarizes an exhaustive report by an ad hoc committee on the status of the so-called Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant (NWIRP) on the north side of Hartwell Road, historically called Hartwell’s Hill.

The panel, which has been researching the area and preparing the report for more than two years, outlined the results to the Select Board at Monday’s virtual meeting. Board members expressed admiration for the report’s depth and breadth.

The 29-acre parcel was occupied by the U.S. Navy and its subcontractor Raytheon Co. for research and development activities between 1952 and 2000. The site remains Navy property but has been vacant since then, except for remediation efforts connected to widespread groundwater contamination.

Karl Winkler was the committee spokesperson Monday. Here is a summary of the presentation highlights:

• The Navy could divest the area as soon as 2026. Although environmental cleanup is likely to continue for decades, there are still productive uses for the land.
• If the town acquires the site, “we would have better oversight over what would happen,” and as the area is cleaned, new possibilities would emerge. The continuing cleanup and “level of safety” would be better controlled.
• The committee recommends using the land for a “solar farm,” with panels installed on concrete ballasts that could be moved to accommodate environmental cleanup, or for other uses, such as passive recreation or an “aviation memorial.”
• Town officials should try to identify the key people involved with divestiture and “start the conversation now.”

Select Board member Emily Mitchell said the federal General Services Administration oversees the disposal process. “We start to be involved when it is declared a surplus property. We can’t start from the presumption that we are going to get the property.”

Select Board Chair Margot Fleischman said that although there is no immediate action, “the timeline is extremely helpful. The Select Board will have to decide to take steps to express interest to the GSA in acquiring ownership or control of the property.” Winkler urged the board to use the information as a basis for moving forward.

Jennifer Boles, chair of the ad hoc committee, explained that there will be a “screening period, the place where the town can raise its hand. The town must proactively ask the GSA about the timing of the screening process so we don’t get surprised.”

Her inference was to the GSA’s auction in 2018 of 16 acres south of Hartwell Road, including a large hangar. When the Massachusetts Port Authority broke off talks to acquire the site, town officials thought they would have the right of first refusal. Instead, the GSA sold the site to the highest bidder, a businessman.

Boles said the solar array is considered an industrial use; all 29 acres are zoned industrial except for a small residential piece. The Navy remains responsible for cleanup until the groundwater meets drinking water standards. She added, “They are in it for the long haul.”

In the report’s conclusion, “The committee suggests that if the town decides to acquire the tract in order to host either a solar farm, or for other redevelopment use, this costly environmental history be used to strengthen the case to the GSA and the Navy that the property should be transferred to Bedford under the most favorable terms possible.”

The report also addresses the remaining unused infrastructure in the area. Ten of the original 23 buildings remain. Boles told the Select Board that “after 21 years of no maintenance, they are structurally unsound and contaminated with mold. Kids have been climbing to the tallest level, judging by the graffiti.” She noted that “there is a 2018 agreement with the state Historical Commission to take those buildings down.”

The report conclusion reads: “We also recommend that the town ask the Navy to promptly demolish and remove the remaining deteriorating NWIRP structures and old pavement on Hartwell’s Hill — along with any contaminated soil concealed beneath building slabs and pavement — and restore the site where needed with clean topsoil and stabilizing groundcover seeding and plantings. We believe this full restoration of Hartwell’s Hill should be considered part of the Navy’s responsibility to Bedford.”

Boles also noted that the proposed solar panels would pass Federal Aviation Administration glare analysis, according to the civil engineers at Hanscom Air Force Base.

In the written report, the committee details its rationale for recommending a solar farm. It’s not only a “beneficial land use,” but also has little negative impact on residential neighborhoods. The use also would “minimize future liability for both the Town and the Navy by [not] disrupting environmental cleanup operations or exposing humans to unnecessary health risks from potential TCE vapor intrusion into enclosed structures.”

The report also puts forth a “secondary future land use recommendation,” which is “for
combined open-air land uses,” such as wildlife conservation, park and recreation, and historic monument.

The potential of the 29-acre NWIRP land is part of a larger picture of potential disruptive development, the report noted.

One recommendation is for the town to “proactively explore other Hartwell area and airfield neighborhood federal and state-owned land parcels whose ownership or development is or soon may be in transition.” It cites the current request for proposals to develop the area that includes Massport land on the south side of Hartwell Road for a possible fixed-based operator serving jet aircraft.

Also, it is recommended that “Bedford request that all future development in this area take into account factors that make heavy traffic in general (and heavy truck traffic in particular) difficult and risky for drivers, residents, pedestrians, and bicyclists—along all of Hartwell Road.”

Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763