Citing COVID-19 safety concerns, Nahant’s Board of Selectmen voted last week to remove all articles deemed non-essential from the Annual Town Meeting warrant, including two aimed at allowing Nahant to enact eminent domain over approximately 12 acres of land on East Point.
Currently owned by Northeastern University, enacting eminent domain over the property would grant Nahant the right to preserve East Point’s wildlife sanctuary from the school’s future development plans.
Board of Selectmen chair Mark Cullinan said the warrant change was made in the hopes of reducing the number of people who attend this month’s meeting, which is scheduled to take place Sept. 26.
“People are passionate about the East Point issue, and we concluded the eminent domain articles have the potential to draw perhaps 700 to 800 people to Town Meeting in the middle of a pandemic,” Cullinan said. “Even though the meeting will be held outside, voters have safety concerns about such a heavily attended meeting.
“Our primary duty is to protect the health and well-being of Nahant voters, and part of that is minimizing the number of people in attendance during the pandemic.”
One article sought to authorize the borrowing of $1.5 million in Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds over a 30-year period as a partial payment to Northeastern from Nahant for the land, which would be used in conjunction with $3 million in private donations.
If the first article were to pass, the second would ask voters to authorize Nahant to take land and/or easements by eminent domain by paying Northeastern University for the land while allowing the school to continue to teach and conduct research within its current footprint.
Both articles, which Cullinan said may be voted on at the 2021 Town Meeting, have been recommended by the Board and require a two-thirds vote to pass.
“We need to protect the natural habitat, wildlife preserve, and the parkland for all time so that future generations may enjoy this intrinsic piece of Nahant, just as they have done in the past,” Cullinan said.
The Board has asked Northeastern to temporarily halt expansion plans for the area, including the building of a 55,000 square-foot Coastal Sustainability Institute, in a letter that requested the university “refrain from further alteration or development of the property … until such (a) vote can safely occur.”
Until then, only business required by Massachusetts law will be discussed at the upcoming meeting.
Remaining warrant items include discussion of the town’s municipal budget for the 2021 fiscal year, and articles pertaining to salary and classification, compensation, and water and sewer.
Noting risk mitigation as a top priority, Cullinan stated the meeting will follow all state-mandated safety guidelines, including chairs placed six feet apart and masks required to be worn at all times.
“Our first and foremost responsibility is the health and welfare of the residents of Nahant,” Cullinan said. “I just hope Northeastern also recognizes that and waits until the cloud of COVID lifts. We should put our citizens’ health first over everything else.”
