Politics & Government

Selectmen Agree to Purchase Cross Street Land

Members also meet with Farmers Market representative at Monday meeting.

In hopes of expanding the playing fields in town, Wilmington selectmen agreed to sign a contingent purchase and sales agreement for 20.3 acres of land in addition to discussing a variety of other items at Monday’s meeting.

Town Manager Michael Caira said the town has been interested in the land, known has Yentile’s Farm, for years but the price was too high. The land was sold in 2003 for about $3 million, outbidding the $2.1 million offer put forth by the Board of Selectmen.

After the buyer was unable to develop the property, it eventually went to auction and was purchased by Century Bank. If the purchase goes through and voters approve it at this spring’s Annual Town Meeting, the town will own the land for $1,182,500, which will be taken out of free cash.

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“It fell in the lap of the Town of Wilmington,” said Selectman Michael McCoy. “What a wonderful time to buy this property at a time like this. It’s going to work wonders for this community. There is a need for ball fields, and we have done a good job expanding upon the fields that we have.”

Board members unanimously approved to include the purchase for vote at Town Meeting during the session.

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“It’s clearly a win,” said Michael Champoux. “Because of its location, it’s like a bulls eye right in the middle of our town. I’m really excited that we’ll finally see something happen in that location.”

In addition to discussing the field purchase, selectmen also met with Dana Burnham from the Wilmington Farmers Market for an update on this year’s successes and room for improvement.

Burnham and selectmen agreed that the initial year of the Farmers Market was extremely well received within the community.

“Typical of Wilmington, it was a community of volunteers,” said Burnham.

Selectmen said they would be open to discussing potential expansion of the market in future years so Wilmington residents could take advantage of items such as pumpkins, apples and more harvest crops.

“It’s very impressive and it’s clear that the Farmers Market is an asset to our community,” said Chariman Lou Cimaglia. “It’s great to have a variety and I’m proud to say the town has this entity. As far as expansion, I am pretty confident we will get you there. Your patience, just like last year, is greatly appreciated.” 


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