Norwood Approves Final Draft of Buckmaster Pond Agreement With Westwood-August 21, 1974

The Norwood Board of Selectmen advanced closer to a formalized municipal agreement with the neighboring town of Westwood regarding the long-term ownership, usage rights, and structural maintenance of Buckmaster Pond. During last night’s session, the Norwood board officially voted to approve a comprehensive draft of a final agreement detailing a specific financial compensation price to be paid to Norwood for a parcel of pond shoreline land.

This newly approved draft agreement was meticulously prepared by special municipal counsel Charles L. Donahue, working in direct synchronization with Town Manager John P. Mogan and Town Engineer Robert A. Hamilton. The document formally amends an earlier contract draft that had been prepared independently by Westwood officials. The primary structural changes incorporated into this latest version are explicitly designed to maintain Norwood’s complete underlying ownership of the pond along with its historical water supply rights. Concurrently, the pact grants Westwood specific land easements or environmental restrictions to allow for limited, passive recreational usage of the surrounding area, which is physically situated within the geographic borders of Westwood.

According to the terms of the revised agreement, the town of Westwood will formally accept full financial and physical maintenance responsibility for the pond and its surrounding acreage. However, this transfer of maintenance is strictly contingent upon Norwood first leveling its existing municipal filter beds, which are currently considered hazardous, and either improving, removing, or blocking off an old brick blockhouse structure situated on the property.

Charles L. Donahue explained that the revised text also ensures Norwood retains the absolute legal right to develop additional deep water wells at the site if necessary, and to conduct dredging or land excavation operations whenever required to protect or improve Norwood’s water supply from the pond. Following the vote, the selectmen indicated they would like to arrange further meetings with Westwood officials after John P. Mogan emphasized that Westwood must commit to improving a specific drainage outlet from the pond to mitigate severe flooding and runoff problems during high water periods.

The underlying legal conflict dates back to last year, when the Massachusetts State Legislature passed a controversial bill transferring complete ownership of Buckmaster Pond over to Westwood. The pond had originally been deeded directly to Norwood by the legislature back in the 1880s to serve as a critical backup water supply. Implementation of that transfer bill was delayed for many months when Westwood selectmen and Norfolk County Commissioners reached an intense operational impasse.

Following a series of emergency joint meetings this past spring, selectmen from both towns agreed to jointly petition the legislature for a full repeal of the Buckmaster Pond bill, provided a mutually satisfactory local agreement could be negotiated regarding water rights and maintenance lines. In a related development, John P. Mogan noted that the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC)—from which Norwood draws the vast majority of its daily water—strictly prohibits the town from pumping water from Buckmaster Pond into its municipal water lines to sell to outside communities. This clarification followed a suggestion by Selectman John F. Lydon that Norwood might be able to sell water to Walpole to help ease that town’s current severe water shortage. John P. Mogan noted that the MDC permits such local water diversions exclusively during extreme emergencies, such as active fires, and does not classify a neighbor town running out of water as an applicable emergency.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger