Northbridge man blocks access to West Hill Park in dispute with Army Corps of Engineers
By
Susan Spencer
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Posted Jan 9, 2019 at 8:30 PM
Updated Jan 9, 2019 at 8:30 PM
NORTHBRIDGE - Roberta Rumsis of Bellingham pulled up short Wednesday
on her drive down West Hill Road when she encountered a blockade of
cement blocks, cones and a barrel across most of the paved road.
Ms. Rumsis, who came to walk the trails of West Hill Park with her 5-year-old mixed-breed dog, Charlie, as she does about three times a week, got out of her car to read the big sign posted behind the barricade.
The barricade and sign were put up on Sunday by Ross W. Smith of 50 West Hill Road, after what he described as two years of frustration over not being listened to by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials regarding a proposed driveway on his land to a house he wants to build for his son and grandchildren.
The barricade has received attention across social media, as dog walkers, runners, mountain bikers and others who come to enjoy the network of trails surrounding West Hill Dam encounter the new obstacle. While there is room for pedestrians to pass, motorists can’t get by.
“We did not block the road. We blocked off the property that we own,” Mr. Smith emphasized.
He said he would be willing to remove the barricade if the Army Corps of Engineers will work with him on consenting to the proposed driveway, which would cross a low-elevation area of land with a “flowage easement” for flood water, to reach the proposed house site.
Mr. Smith explained on the sign - and expanded on in an interview - that ownership of the blocked area has been attached to the property that he and his wife, Nancy, have owned for more than seven years. The town of Northbridge abandoned the road in 1963.
He said according to the deed, the couple own up to the center of the “road layout.” The road layout isn’t just the 12 feet of asphalt road people see, he said, but 33 feet from a stone wall on the edge of his 29-acre farm, across to an area in woods owned by the state Department of Fish and Game.
He said he has been allowing the Army Corps of Engineers and the public to travel on the paved road to reach the park.
The Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, manages and
operates West Hill Park as part of the West Hill Lake and Dam Project in
the towns of Uxbridge, Northbridge, Upton and Mendon.
The park is open to visitors from mid-May through mid-September, offering a variety of recreational facilities including a swimming beach, picnic shelters and hiking access to the West River Trail, according to a news release.
People visit the site year-round, however.
“Historically, West Hill Park has been accessed by visitors through the use of West Hill Road, a former public road,” the news release said. “Regrettably, due to a property line dispute between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and an adjacent landowner, access to West Hill Park is not available through West Hill Road.
“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is diligently working towards a resolution of this issue, with the goal of providing access to West Hill Park for the upcoming 2019 recreation season.”
Visitors are encouraged to park at the West Hill Dam Project office at 518 East Hartford Ave., Uxbridge, according to the statement.
Mr. Smith readily showed visitors a stack of maps, stamped surveys and documents outlining his struggle to develop a portion of his land for his family.
Plans were filed with the Northbridge Planning Board on Nov. 1, 2016,
and the board voted to withhold endorsement until Mr. Smith provided
the town with a letter from the Army Corps of Engineering acknowledging
and consenting to proposed construction (the new house lot) within the
flowage easement area on the property, Town Planner R. Gary Bechtholdt
II said.
Flowage easement land is privately owned land on which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has acquired certain perpetual rights, namely the right to flood it as part of its water resource management.
Mr. Smith said land below 269 feet of elevation in the easement area cannot be built on.
The proposed house would be on an elevation of 272 feet, which would be above the minimum level. But to access the house from the road would involve crossing fields that are below 269 feet.
Maureen Davi, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers real estate division in the New England District office in Concord, wrote in an email to Northbridge officials Nov. 18, 2016, “It is our judgment that the survey is not accurate and we are concerned about the possibility of a residence being located within the government’s flowage easement.”
Mr. Smith said that even in an emergency, “You’re talking about very little water, maybe 6 inches,” that would flow across his field and the proposed driveway.
He said he has been trying to meet with Army Corps of Engineers officials to discuss the easement from West Hill Road for the past two years.
“Basically what they’ve done in two years is nothing,” Mr. Smith said.
His hopes brightened at Thanksgiving, when he received a letter from the chief of the Conveyance Branch in Concord, to discuss West Hill Road and another road along the back of the property known as Rice City Road, to formalize boundary-line agreements.
Mr. Smith requested the agenda for the Jan. 4 meeting and found that West Hill Road was off the table. He asked for it to be brought back on, but said he was rebuffed. The meeting was canceled.
“We were going to grant them an easement for free, in exchange for the easement for the driveway,” he said.
After Mr. Smith met with local police, fire and public works officials late last week to inform them of his decision to block his property and to grant them emergency access through other means, he set up his barricade.
“We’re not mean-spirited. We’re just trying to get them to the table,” Mr. Smith said. “We chose the slowest time of the year, to have a minimum impact.”
He continued, “Who holds the government accountable? In my view, they’re not being held accountable for their action, or lack of it.”
Northbridge Town Manager Adam D. Gaudette said Mr. Smith informed him of his plans on Friday. He had not received any calls from residents about it by mid-morning Wednesday.
Ms. Rumsis, who came to walk the trails of West Hill Park with her 5-year-old mixed-breed dog, Charlie, as she does about three times a week, got out of her car to read the big sign posted behind the barricade.
The barricade and sign were put up on Sunday by Ross W. Smith of 50 West Hill Road, after what he described as two years of frustration over not being listened to by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials regarding a proposed driveway on his land to a house he wants to build for his son and grandchildren.
The barricade has received attention across social media, as dog walkers, runners, mountain bikers and others who come to enjoy the network of trails surrounding West Hill Dam encounter the new obstacle. While there is room for pedestrians to pass, motorists can’t get by.
“We did not block the road. We blocked off the property that we own,” Mr. Smith emphasized.
He said he would be willing to remove the barricade if the Army Corps of Engineers will work with him on consenting to the proposed driveway, which would cross a low-elevation area of land with a “flowage easement” for flood water, to reach the proposed house site.
Mr. Smith explained on the sign - and expanded on in an interview - that ownership of the blocked area has been attached to the property that he and his wife, Nancy, have owned for more than seven years. The town of Northbridge abandoned the road in 1963.
He said according to the deed, the couple own up to the center of the “road layout.” The road layout isn’t just the 12 feet of asphalt road people see, he said, but 33 feet from a stone wall on the edge of his 29-acre farm, across to an area in woods owned by the state Department of Fish and Game.
He said he has been allowing the Army Corps of Engineers and the public to travel on the paved road to reach the park.
The park is open to visitors from mid-May through mid-September, offering a variety of recreational facilities including a swimming beach, picnic shelters and hiking access to the West River Trail, according to a news release.
People visit the site year-round, however.
“Historically, West Hill Park has been accessed by visitors through the use of West Hill Road, a former public road,” the news release said. “Regrettably, due to a property line dispute between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and an adjacent landowner, access to West Hill Park is not available through West Hill Road.
“The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is diligently working towards a resolution of this issue, with the goal of providing access to West Hill Park for the upcoming 2019 recreation season.”
Visitors are encouraged to park at the West Hill Dam Project office at 518 East Hartford Ave., Uxbridge, according to the statement.
Mr. Smith readily showed visitors a stack of maps, stamped surveys and documents outlining his struggle to develop a portion of his land for his family.
Flowage easement land is privately owned land on which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has acquired certain perpetual rights, namely the right to flood it as part of its water resource management.
Mr. Smith said land below 269 feet of elevation in the easement area cannot be built on.
The proposed house would be on an elevation of 272 feet, which would be above the minimum level. But to access the house from the road would involve crossing fields that are below 269 feet.
Maureen Davi, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers real estate division in the New England District office in Concord, wrote in an email to Northbridge officials Nov. 18, 2016, “It is our judgment that the survey is not accurate and we are concerned about the possibility of a residence being located within the government’s flowage easement.”
Mr. Smith said that even in an emergency, “You’re talking about very little water, maybe 6 inches,” that would flow across his field and the proposed driveway.
He said he has been trying to meet with Army Corps of Engineers officials to discuss the easement from West Hill Road for the past two years.
His hopes brightened at Thanksgiving, when he received a letter from the chief of the Conveyance Branch in Concord, to discuss West Hill Road and another road along the back of the property known as Rice City Road, to formalize boundary-line agreements.
Mr. Smith requested the agenda for the Jan. 4 meeting and found that West Hill Road was off the table. He asked for it to be brought back on, but said he was rebuffed. The meeting was canceled.
“We were going to grant them an easement for free, in exchange for the easement for the driveway,” he said.
After Mr. Smith met with local police, fire and public works officials late last week to inform them of his decision to block his property and to grant them emergency access through other means, he set up his barricade.
“We’re not mean-spirited. We’re just trying to get them to the table,” Mr. Smith said. “We chose the slowest time of the year, to have a minimum impact.”
He continued, “Who holds the government accountable? In my view, they’re not being held accountable for their action, or lack of it.”
Northbridge Town Manager Adam D. Gaudette said Mr. Smith informed him of his plans on Friday. He had not received any calls from residents about it by mid-morning Wednesday.
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