Devens Enterprise Commission (DEC) officials are asking selectmen from Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley to help stop proposed changes in the governance of Devens. In a Feb. 17 memorandum to town administrators of all three towns, planner and land use administrator Peter Lowitt and DEC Chairman William P. Marshall sought support for the removal of articles in Senate Bill 2270 that would revise Chapter 498, the law that established the Devens Regional Enterprise Zone and the DEC, and that also specifies how changes are made to the Devens Reuse Plan and/or zoning at Devens. Senate Bill 2270, referred to as “the Massachusetts Sunset Act,” was proposed on Feb. 8 by Senate President Therese Murray and, as written, would change Chapter 498 by legislative action rather than by “super town meeting,” which calls for hearings and votes by the towns.
—William P. Marshall
Specifically, Lowitt and Marshall are asking that State Senator Jamie Eldridge and Representatives Jen Benson and Robert Hargraves rescind the sections of the bill that would replace Marshall, longtime chairman of the DEC, with the state’s secretary of housing and economic development, and would also make the DEC part of the quasi public Corporation Planning Council within the Department of Economic Development. In the memo, Lowitt and Marshall objected to these actions, stating, “The DEC is a land use permitting and regulatory agency, not an economic development agency.”
Among other cautions listed in their memo, Lowitt and Marshall cited concerns that the proposed legislation would require amendments to Chapter 498 that have not been reviewed by the affected communities—Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley—and would create a conflict of interest for the secretary of housing and community development in the role of chairman of MassDevelopment’s Board of Directors, in which he would appear before the DEC testifying on numerous MassDevelopment-financed and -initiated projects.
A public hearing on the proposed legislation was to be held on February 23 at the State House. In a phone interview with the Press, Benson pointed out that the hearing is the beginning of the legislative process and that she plans to consult with the towns’ Boards of Selectmen and DEC members “to determine the best possible course.” Benson emphasized that the proposed changes are a small part of a much larger bill aimed at broad economic development reform and not specifically focused on Devens or on the DEC. As for Eldridge, his position was more emphatic: “I have already spoken with the Senate president and the Economic Development Committee and expressed my strong objections to changes to the DEC and will be working to ensure that those changes will not be in the final bill,” he said.
A sunset law is a statutory provision providing that a particular agency, benefit, or law will expire on a particular date, unless it is reauthorized by the legislature. Sunset laws in Florida and Texas were implemented to help shrink state government through an ongoing process for identifying and eliminating waste, duplication, and inefficiency in government agencies. Senate Bill 2270, sweeping in scope, proposes to establish a Sunset Advisory Commission consisting of five members of the Massachusetts Senate, five members of the Massachusetts House, and one public member appointed by the president of the Senate. The commission would establish dates for the abolition of each advisory committee, agency, or authority that comes under its responsibility. It would also conduct regular reviews to monitor efficiency and effectiveness, and to identify opportunities to consolidate functions with other agencies or authorities.
Among the agencies and authorities identified to be subject to the Sunset Advisory Commission are the Health and Education Facilities Authority, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Massachusetts Port Authority, Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (MassDevelopment, the agency responsible for redevelopment of Devens), the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, the Massachusetts Marketing Partnership, the Massachusetts Small Business Finance Corporation, the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation and the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Lowitt commented that he believes the intentions behind the bill were good, but that a firm grasp of details of how the DEC functions was lacking. “But now that we’ve involved our legislative delegates, the matter will be resolved in favor of the communities,” he predicted.
