MassDevelopment’s new chief wants to revisit 2B
In his first visit to the Joint Boards of Selectmen (JBOS) on July 22, MassDevelopment Executive Vice President for Development George Ramirez brought the conversation back to October of 2006 saying, “The 2B disposition was crafted with everybody’s best intentions; I hate to see it sit on a shelf somewhere. I’d be interested to see what it looks like revisiting it five to seven years later with a fresh pair of eyes.” He went on, “At the end of the day, MassDevelopment [would like to] see Devens as its own standing community, be it a village or a municipality having its own identity for its own residents. That’s what MassDevelopment would like; that’s what most of the folks who bought here anticipated they were going to get. That’s probably number one priority: transitioning [Devens] into its own town [with] its own identity. Everything else falls in number two.”
“2B” refers to the 2006 vote by the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley and MassDevelopment, where acceptance of “Scenario 2B” would have led to the creation of the town of Devens.
Ramirez explained in remarks to the Press after the meeting that the residents have high priority because they are specifically “part of the job” of the executive director at Devens. The executive director of Devens is primarily responsible for commercial development of Devens properties, but is also responsible for managing the day-to-day municipal activities of the town, such as Department of Public Works, recreation, and safety, not unlike the responsibilities of a town manager. There are fewer than 150 residences at Devens.
Ramirez also remarked that he would like to know more about JBOS’ mission statement, its guiding principles, and what its goals are.
Vicksburg Square redevelopment awarded to Trinity Financial
Ramirez also announced that the MassDevelopment Board of Directors has “authorized the agency to go into negotiations with Trinity Financial for the purchase of Vicksburg square and, hopefully, development of Vicksburg square.”
JBOS to revisit Memos of Understanding (MOUs)
Also on the JBOS agenda for the meeting were four Devens-related Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs), which supplement Chapter 498, the Devens Reuse Plan, and the Devens bylaws as governance documents. Board members agreed to review the MOUs and discuss further action on them at their next meeting.
The MOUs included a 1994 MOU that formally created the Joint Boards of Selectmen (JBOS) and defined that board’s responsibilities with respect to MassDevelopment (MassDevelopment was referred to in 1994 as “the Land Bank”). The MOU defined JBOS as the “Devens Local Advisory Committee” and stated that the board is “to act as the local body to which board members and the MassDevelopment staff can bring concerns of MassDevelopment or the commonwealth regarding local issues that may impact the reuse or operation of Devens.”
Another MOU created a separate Devens Citizens Advisory Committee to address concerns of Devens residents regarding the delivery of local services and related issues.
Other MOUs the board will be addressing at its next meeting include:
- 1992 “mission statement” MOU which states the importance of cooperation between the towns and MassDevelopment and the importance of a comprehensive Reuse Plan as the basis for governance of Devens.
- 1996 “local screening” MOU which, among other considerations, established a joint recreation committee comprising representatives from MassDevelopment and the towns, transferred to the town of Shirley a nine-acre parcel of land “for no monetary consideration” for the development of a municipal center, and states that the primary responsibility of MassDevelopment is to successfully implement the Reuse Plan.
- 1996 “use restrictions” MOU refined and restricted the types of permitted uses within the Open Space and Recreation zoning districts, especially around Mirror Lake and Rogers Field.
