Town Meeting rejected Westfield by only five votes but prolonged the debate by voting to form a committee to further study the article and present their recommendation at the Fall Town Meeting

The 117-122 vote culminated an already dramatic evening.

Discussion on the article was interrupted by a fire alarm, evacuating the building and forcing town meeting attendees outside for minutes as the building was investigated by the Fire Department. Moderator Claire Smith told the meeting when it reconvened almost 20 minutes later that it appeared that a faulty smoke detector had triggered the alarm.

This was the fourth time that the Westfield article was presented to Town Meeting voters. The article was sent to further study twice before being rejected at October 2009 Town Meeting by a 261-204 margin.

The Board of Selectmen had placed the article on the warrant this year, citing the close vote at last fall's Town Meeting. A non-binding referendum on the April 6 ballot sought approval to move the project forward and resulted in a 54-to-46% "yes" vote.

Selectmen recommended passing the bill by a 4-1 margin, although they voted before the April 6 elections.

The Finance Committee recommended voting against the bill by a 5-3 margin. Finance Committee Chair Dick Paulsen said that the committee members voting against the bill had two reasons for their vote: three members thought that the town should focus on rehabilitating and building new units at Agawam Village, the Housing Authority's affordable housing for seniors site. Two felt that the issue was decided last year and shouldn't be brought up again.

The minority on the Finance Committee believed that the town should not miss out on the opportunity to construct the project, particularly with federal financing that might be available.

The arguments were mirrored by Town Meeting.

Richard Boucher, the chairman of the board of directors for the council of aging, reported that the board of directors supported the amendment. He cited statistics that there was a two-year waitlist for public senior housing in Wareham, a seven-year waitlist for private senior housing, and that approximately 200 people are waiting for housing.

Boucher also refuted claims that the site was too far away from downtown and that the town should focus on fixing Agawam Village.

"Agawam is a state facility; the state has no money for upkeep, and the plan [to build new units and renovate existing units at Agawam] doesn't fulfill town needs," Boucher said. "Seniors use transportation to where they shop, to doctors offices... none of them that I have spoken to think that being close to downtown is a factor in their lives."

Selectman Chair Jane Donahue also spoke in favor of the project. She emphasized that the land - and she noted that it would be 18 acres of a 53-acre parcel - would continue to be owned by the town and only leased to developers. The project would enable the town to meet its 40B requirement that 10 percent of the housing stock be deemed affordable - when a town doesn't meet this requirement, the state allows new development to bypass certain zoning restrictions and environmental regulations if it offers subsidized units. And in addition to providing 175 or more seniors in town with a place to live, Donahue said the project would annually bring $250,000 of revenue to the town for the next 15 years.

"It's a win-win situation for our citizens and our financial situation," said Donahue.

Opponents were unconvinced, however, whether the development would really be most beneficial for Wareham residents or for a private developer who set aside a few affordable units.

"What are we proposing?," asked Peter Balzarini. "Is this a private apartment complex? That's what's going to be built. They are going to charge rent and set aside a few that are going to be affordable, the rest are going to be market."

Sam Corbitt voiced concerns that the Westfield site was not intended to be used for development but rather recreation. He recounted the town's previous efforts to put athletic fields and a trail network on the site and said that these efforts were halted because of a lack of funds.

After the vote revealed the narrow defeat, Ervin Russell made a motion to form a committee to study the Westfield proposal further. The committee will be made up of a single representative from the Finance Commitee, the Housing Authority, the Board of Selectmen, and three members at large, and it will report to the fall Town Meeting.

After the meeting, Russell said the idea was a spur-of-the-moment attempt to save the Westfield project, which he said he supported.

"It was a last-ditch effort to bring the parties to develop some type of consensus," Russell said.