STANDISH – Walter Butler, the co-owner of the former Sensata building on Northeast Road, has donated about 22 acres behind the facility to the town of Standish.

On Tuesday, the Standish Town Council voted 5-2 to approve the deed transfer, with councilors Wayne Newbegin and Steve Nesbitt opposed.

The land could easily fit six playing fields and a general recreation area, according to Butler, who coached Bonny Eagle High School soccer for three years when his daughter participated in the school’s soccer program. Butler, who hopes to develop another 20 acres that are zoned for industrial uses on the opposite side of the proposed soccer fields, would allow people who use any future soccer fields on the land to park at the large lot next to the facility.

“I’m pleased that the town has accepted the donation so the students of Bonny Eagle district can have more fields to give them options for tournaments,” Butler said. “I think it’s a good use of the space.”

Town Manager Gordon Billington said the donation will be written off Butler’s taxes. In order to develop the fields, the town would likely need to pass a bond issue funding the project, he said.

Newbegin said he voted against the deed transfer because he was concerned about groundwater contamination at the site. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the former Sensata building was the site of “surface impoundment for disposal of copper and tin plating wastewater and organic wastes” when it was owned by GTE Sylvania. In a 2000 report, the agency found that groundwater on the site had high levels of tetrachloroethylene, aluminum and fluoride.

Groundwater remediation work has continued for years at a site still owned by GTE Sylvania that is adjacent to the former Sensata facility, as well as the 22 acres of donated land. According to the agency’s website, the contamination is “under control.”

Newbegin said he feared the town will never be able to build fields on the site.

“I didn’t see enough proof in regards to our responsibility as far as cleanup with DEP or EPA,” Newbegin said. To me, we didn’t do due diligence. There should have been a lot more checking done on the property.”

Butler disagreed.

“I feel that the town manager did a good job of due diligence,” he said. “He called a meeting with the DEP (and) he got input from them. He also had an engineering firm who advised them on groundwater issues. My presumption is that the town did do its due diligence.”

According to council Chairman John Sargent, who thinks the donation is a “good deal for Standish,” the adjacent remediation site does limit the type of development that is possible on the 22 acres. But that should not be a problem when it comes to developing soccer fields, he said. The main hurdle is getting voter approval.

“In layman’s terms, we can’t put in residential housing,” Sargent said. “We can use it for a ball field. We can use it for passive use.

“The other thing is, although this is proposed to put soccer fields on it, we haven’t got approval from the voters to go out there and do all this.”

The Standish Town Council voted Tuesday night to accept a donation of 22 acres behind the former Sensata building on Route 35.