After voting down a proposal for affordable senior housing at the Westfied site last Tuesday, Wareham voters approved $50,000 of Community Preservation Act money for the Wareham Housing Authority to hire a consultant to shepherd a project to build 40 new units at Agawam Village and rehabilitate the existing buildings.

The proposal caused little debate, even after many individuals questioned the possibility of whether the project at Agawam can even be completed in discussing the Westfield project.

The confusion is due to the fact that Agawam Village is owned and maintained by the State. With the current state budget crisis, many supporters of the Westfield project argued that this fact eliminated the possibility of renovating the Agawam site.

Wareham Housing Authority Executive Director Pam Sequeira faced relatively minor concerns, however. She explained that the money would be used to hire a consultant to help find money to complete the recommendations of 2004 study done by the Southeast Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD) that presented possibilities for expanding the site.

"SRPEDD did a study in 2004 and came up with possibility of three projects," Sequeira explained.
"This project made the most sense. Now we need to go forward to get the funds to make this project come forward."