PUBLIC SAFETY COMPLEX UPDATE 2

January 27, 2016

PUBLIC SAFETY COMPLEX UPDATE 2

January 27, 2016

 

Berm construction continues on the north side of the site and a temporary construction chain link fence around the site with wind screen and leaching allowance has been installed. Work with Mass DOT continues for permitting of traffic signals and road drainage. Next week excavation of the site continues along with the construction of the soil berm and completing installation of the fence. Following this excavation will begin for the foundation.

On a related note, there have been many inquiries of town departments with an underlying theme that the new Public Safety Complex is being built on conservation land and is part of the Ellis Estate.  Please be assured that this parcel is not conservation land. Here are the details provided by Town Counsel:

When the Ellis Estate was conveyed to the Town in June 1969, the entire parcel was over 101 acres.  In December 1969, the estate and the land were subdivided.  In March 1970, 40 of the 101 acres were conveyed to the School Committee for school purposes.  After a school project to be built was abandoned, Town Meeting was asked to convey the land back into conservation.  This article failed.  During the feasibility phase for the new public safety complex three sites were looked at in detail: the current location, the Purple Dinosaur Park, and a small portion of the land under the custody and control of the School Committee described above and still known as the Ellis Estate.  In 2012 the Board of Selectmen requested that the School Committee agree to convey six acres of its 40 acre ownership of this parcel for the public safety complex.  The School Committee voted to approve.  The parcel conveyance also required two-thirds Town Meeting approval, which was approved in 2014.

Understandably, no one likes to see trees forested, but in the particular case of our new Public Safety Complex these six acres have been available for potential town /school development and not in conservation for 46 years.