City mulls purchase of waterfront land along Town River in Quincy Point

QUINCY – The city is considering buying two pieces of land and a boat ramp along Town River in Quincy Point.

Chris Walker, chief of staff to Mayor Thomas Koch, says the land presents a unique opportunity to "protect public access to the water" and prevent major development.

"Opportunity like this does not come along very often, where a property is for sale along the water," Walker said. "The city could potentially regret not acting on it, considering what type of development proposals could come forward. This has the potential to be an absolutely vital public access to the water."

The Quincy Park and Recreation Board, at a meeting in June, passed a resolve asking the mayor to look into the purchase of property along Town River, particularly the parcels at 662-672 Southern Artery, which include a boat ramp. The properties house a Meineke Car Care Center and The Sportsman's Den.

"This property is directly adjacent to the Souther Tide Mill property and could help unlock the potential of that site as well," the mayor's office said in a statement. "It could improve both public access to the waterfront and tourism activity to the Tide Mill property."

The Souther Tide Mill off Southern Artery in Quincy Point was built in 1806 and originally used water power to grind corn and later cut lumber.

The city provides public boat ramp access in Squantum and Houghs Neck, but there are no public boat ramps in Quincy Point. The board also mentioned that the parcels could act as a permanent home for the recreation department's crew and rowing programs.

In a statement, the mayor's office said the board referred to goals in the city's open space plan to “connect open space to create river corridors” and to “encourage public access to waterfront areas.”

Both pieces of land are owned by Pompeo Motors Inc., which also operates under the name Town River Marina. The property at 622 Southern Artery was assessed at $1.38 million this year. The property at 674 Southern Artery was assessed at $388,200.

"We are certainly negotiating. The mayor agrees wholeheartedly with the park and recreation board," Walker said. 

Talk of a potential acquisition has swirled around the city for the last several months. City Councilor-at-large Anne Mahoney asked at a meeting on June 21 if rumors surrounding a potential move of the USS Salem from the Quincy Shipyard to Town River were true. 

"I know they are looking to move that ship and some point, some place because they don't want it down at the shipyard and there has been speculation that it is going to be going over to the marina over by Southern Artery," she said. 

"I have no knowledge of any plans at this point," Walker told the councilor. "I think there has been some discussion relative to ultimately relocating the ship, it is privately held in a private space, but to my knowledge there has not been any formal plan."

Mahoney then asked if the city was in the process of acquiring the marina on Southern Artery, to which Walker replied, "Councilor, I don't know." 

The USS Salem, a heavy cruiser commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1949, is home to the United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum and is docked at land owned by Jay Cashman in the Quincy Shipyard.

Several weeks ago, the city council approved spending $125,000 of Community Preservation Act money to preserve artifacts in the museum, digitize historical documents and support continued preservation projects.

When asked if a move for the ship was in the works, a spokesperson for the Cashman companies said in an email, "The USS Salem is still currently a tenant of Jay Cashman Inc. There are no updates to report currently."

Original Source: https://www.patriotledger.com/story/news/2021/06/30/quincy-could-buy-waterfront-property-along-town-river-quincy-point/7816202002/