On Monday, September 22, Rich Montuori, executive vice president at MassDevelopment, hosted what he said will become the quarterly meeting of MassDevelopment and (Devens) residents. Officials from each major MassDevelopment division were present to report on status and describe significant projects.
Walnut Street upgrade
Among the presentations was an engineering report on the upgrading of Walnut Street. Engineers said the surface would be asphalt with a granite curb. One resident asked whether, if granted a joint easement to their street, MassDevelopment would replace a sidewalk currently on their property. Montuori cautioned there could be maintenance issues going forward with such a project, but said Mass Dev would “look at it.”
Public maintenance and private ways
On the topic of maintenance of private ways at Devens, Montuori said, “Right now we only maintain, plow, and sweep public ways. Elsewhere in the commonwealth they don’t spend public funds on private ways amd we are using the same rule of thumb.”
He added, “In order for that to happen, the roads would have to be accepted by MassDevelopment as public ways.” He further cautioned, “Residents would lose all right to those roads. We’d have to put limitations on parking and we’d have to upgrade the roads to our standards.
Capital improvement projects
The Patton well and pumping station has been replaced. Construction on the Shabokin well is scheduled for September 2009 completion. Expansion of the wastewater treatment plant is nearing completion; the upgrading of the Barnum Road pumping station is under way. The electrical design and engineering of the Saratoga substation is nearing completion; that substation will be built over the next year.
Other significant projects include the ongoing development of Barnum Road, installation of sewer, electric, water line, sidewalks, and the completion of the semi-loop of a nature trail.
Tennis courts?
In response to a resident’s inquiry about whether tennis courts could be installed on Devens, Montuori said, “We continue to look at it and whether it can fit in the overall budget. Right now there is no budget for tennis courts.”
Possible new hotel
Montuori reported that a new hotel is being considered at Devens. He said there are discussions between Robert Walker, owner of property at Devens, the DEC (Devens Enterprise Commission), and Hampton Inn. They are “just discussions right now,” Montuori said.
Industrial development
In addition to Bristol-Myers Squibb and Evergreen expansions, MagneMotion is going up on Barnum Road. The company is a manufacturer of controls that use electro-magnetic force to propel, control, and track payloads through automated manufacturing and assembly automation processes.
Also, the Army is expanding its facilities on Barnum Road for maintenance and offices. Because this is a federal project, Montuori said, they can “just do it. They don’t need MassDevelopment’s permission.” Construction is likely to start early in the summer.
Residential housing development update
Montuori reported that planning is going forward on developing housing. “We want to move on the next 176 units on Devens somewhere on Grant Road,” he said.
In addition to the 176 they are allowed to build, Montuori said he hopes to work out an agreement with Devens residents and the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley to continue work on Vicksburg Square.
He added that MassDev is also looking at “small-scale housing projects within the 176 units to do green housing development, to show how housing can be constructed using green initiatives as a model for this community and around the state.”
Montuori said that the next big site to be developed will be Salerno Circle, which contains pesticides that need to be cleaned up “if the Army gets funding in the budget, which is always a concern.”
Other development
The re-engineering of McPherson Road is “somewhat on hold,” Montuori said. “VHB is the design engineer. We stopped the design for two reasons. One is that the crossing for a railroad was difficult to design and we didn’t want to spend a lot of time designing it.” The other reason for stopping, he said, was because of the sparrows on the airfield. He added that rare species of turtles and lizards are also problematic, noting that “U.S. Fish and Wildlife and National Heritage Foundation and other environmentalists will want to be consulted.”
Montuori said that office space is being discussed as a possible use for the airfield. He added that there is also an individual interested in reopening the airfield. “The individual is passionate about an airfield,” he said, “but he is doing that as an individual; it’s not MassDevelopment. We told him that if there was interest in developing it as an airfield, it would have to be worked out with the communities and he is on his own.”
Police and safety
State police reported that 12 troopers are currently assigned to Devens, with access to 250 troopers in C Troop. All the resources of the state police would be available if the need arose, Montuori said.
