MassDevelopment, the agency responsible for the commercial and residential redevelopment of Devens, has announced, unexpectedly, that it will no longer participate in discussions related to the permanent governance of the former U.S. Army base.
In an email sent last Wednesday to members of the Devens Jurisdiction Framework Committee, MassDevelopment’s executive vice president for Devens, Jessica Strunkin, wrote that the agency’s withdrawal was necessary, “given the many matters facing Devens in regards to our primary mission around commercial redevelopment, running day-to-day operations, and maintaining a safe and healthy community.”
“In my 20 years representing Harvard and Devens I’ve never seen a CEO of MassDevelopment so disengaged with the communities of Ayer, Shirley, and Harvard.”
—Sen. Jamie Eldridge
Chapter 498, the state law that created the Devens redevelopment zone, “does not require real progress on the matter of final disposition until July 1, 2030,” she continued. “We expect to re-engage in these discussions with all parties closer to that timeframe.”
Until last Wednesday, the Devens Jurisdiction Framework Committee included representatives of six groups with a stake in the outcome: the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley; the Devens Enterprise Commission; Devens businesses and residents; and MassDevelopment. With the departure of MassDevelopment’s three-member delegation, the committee loses Strunkin, the committee’s co-chair, a position she shares with Victor Normand, who chairs Harvard’s jurisdiction committee. Also leaving are MassDevelopment’s director of land planning and permitting, Ed Starzec, and attorney Robert Carey.
Although the committee’s work has been delayed by the pandemic, its members are close to finishing a memorandum of agreement that sets rules for how the parties will reach consensus on issues that may divide them and how they will pay for the consulting they agree is needed to decide how Devens will be governed.
MassDevelopment was seen by the towns as a potential source of money for consulting services, but with its withdrawal, DJFC may need to seek the dollars elsewhere. Starzec has been instrumental in preparing the draft MOA as well as the committee’s “request for expression of information” that it was hoping to distribute through MassDevelopment to potential consultants.
‘A kick in the gut’
Reaction to Wednesday’s memo was swift. At a meeting the following day of Havard’s own committee—the Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee—members described the news as “a kick in the gut,” and “a snubbing of the towns.” Peter Lowitt, director of the DEC, said in a phone interview that he was shocked at the decision and had learned of it at the same time as other Devens Jurisdiction Framework Committee members.
State Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who represents the three towns and Devens, said he and state Rep. Dan Sena had learned of the email secondhand. “I’m deeply disappointed in the senior leadership of MassDevelopment,” Eldridge said in a Friday afternoon statement. “This is a big rejection of the Legislature’s recognition that the three towns are intricately involved in the future of Devens. In my 20 years representing Harvard and Devens I’ve never seen a CEO of MassDevelopment so disengaged with the communities of Ayer, Shirley, and Harvard.” The president and CEO of MassDevelopment, to whom Strunkin reports, is Dan Rivera, a former mayor of Lawrence.
A deadline for disposition
Chapter 498, the act that created Devens, requires the towns of Harvard, Shirley, and Ayer, the DEC, and MassDevelopment to begin a study no later than July 1, 2030, of how to return governance of Devens to the towns. The five stakeholders must present their findings and a joint recommendation to the legislature on or before July 1, 2033.
Three years ago, at the urging of then-MassDevelopment President and CEO Lauren Liss, Harvard and MassDevelopment formed the Devens Jurisdiction Framework Committee, whose work is now threatened by the agency’s withdrawal. (See timeline)
Nevertheless, the committee was planning to meet at its regularly scheduled time this month to consider next steps. Remaining DJFC co-chair Victor Normand informed the remaining members of the DJFC that the committee would meet Wednesday, April 13, at 3 p.m. DEC director Lowitt told the Press he believes the Devens framework committee should continue its work, whether MassDevelopment participates or not. Normand says that whether the committee can continue to exist without the participation of MassDevelopment will be the top item on next week’s agenda. Whatever members decide, Chapter 498 requires that MassDevelopment eventually rejoin the discussion, whether next month or in 2030.
