Wekepeke - Wekepeke Ownership History

Wekepeke Ownership History

Originally privately owned land for farming and livestock, the town of Clinton in the late 1800s petitioned the state of Massachusetts for the rights to possess the land of the Wekepeke as a Clinton public water supply. Some of the acquisition was a land purchase while other parcels were taken by eminent domain. In the early 1960s, the Wekepeke was officially decommissioned as a town water source for Clinton and the Wachusett Reservoir became the primary and sole water source for the town. From the 1960s on, the land was used primarily for recreational activity. In 2004, Clinton negotiated a conservation restriction (CR) to preserve the Wekepeke area. The State approved the CR, the town of Clinton residents approved the CR by vote but the town of Clinton board never signed the CR. Currently, the town of Clinton is attempting to update the CR to make it "mutually agreeable" as was first proposed in the 2001 memorandum of understanding (MOU). Additionally, the state has an unfunded mandate that Clinton repair multiple dams on the property at an estimated cost of US$1.5 million.