Air station agency will push for extension

Three plans have been floated for the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, which closed in 1997. The latest - a proposal to develop housing and commercial space - appears to be final.

WEYMOUTH - Just 10 years after it was created, the quasi-government agency charged with redeveloping the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station is looking to extend its life span, prolonging its control over what is now one of the largest undeveloped pieces of property in the region.

In the next couple of weeks, representatives from the South Shore Tri-Town Development Corp. will visit the Weymouth Town Council and selectmen in Abington and Rockland, making their pitch to increase the agency's life span by 35 years, to 2053. It is now set to expire in 2018.

Little work has been done on the property since the agency was created in 1998 by the state Legislature at the request of the affected towns. Three plans for the area have been proposed, and the latest - to develop housing and commercial space - appears final. Thus, Tri-Town, which is responsible for laying out the infrastructure, is planning to secure a bond of $100 million to develop water and sewer services on the property.

Tri-Town executive director Terry Fancher said the corporation will need to extend its charter to prove to bonding agencies that it will survive longer than the terms of the bonds.

"Our goal, as it has always been, is we do not want to . . . saddle towns with any of the bonds on this," Fancher said. "We're not just doing this for the heck of it; we're doing it because our ability to survive and pay bonds will require us to do it."

The corporation was created in 1998 with a 20-year life span, with the expectation that the project would be completed within that time. Proposed legislation - approved by the corporation's board of directors two weeks ago - would call for another 35 years on top of the 10 remaining in the charter. Legislation restructuring the corporation will be sent to the State House in the next several weeks for approval, officials said.

The additional time would give the corporation continued control over the 1,400-plus acres at the old air station, which is made up of parts of Abington, Rockland, and South Weymouth.

Plans to develop the air station have been surrounded by controversy over the past decade, with differences among residents of Abington, Rockland, and Weymouth, and even within the towns, about how to proceed.

Town officials say that although the proposal to extend Tri-Town's life may spark new disagreements, it's best to just move ahead with the planned construction of 2,855 homes, 2 million square feet of commercial space, and a golf course.

"As much as I'm not in favor of the project, the project got approved, and people got behind it," said Weymouth Town Councilor Kenneth DiFazio.

"You can't turn the ship around now. There's been a lot that's been done. They're on the way and have their approvals. This isn't something in which you can prohibit their ability for good bond rating."

A meeting has been scheduled for Monday in Rockland, and the corporation is expected to meet with selectmen in Abington on Jan. 14. It was not known last week if any meeting had been scheduled in Weymouth.