DEC logoCHAPTER 498
THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

In the Year One Thousand Nine Hundred and Ninety-three
AN ACT CREATING THE DEVENS ENTERPRISE COMMISSION

SECTION 9. Devens Enterprise Commission

There shall be a body corporate known as the Devens Enterprise Commission, in this act called the "commission." The exercise by the commission of its powers and the dIscharge of its duties shall be deemed and held to be the performance of an essential government function. The Commission shall consist of twelve commissioners who shall be appointed as follows: (1) the board of selectmen of each of the Towns shall, within thirty days of the approval by the towns of the reuse plan and by-laws, nominate two candidates for commissioner whom the Governor shall, in each case and in his sole discretion, appoint or reject and, for any rejected nominee, the board of selectmen of the Town whose nominee was rejected shall nominate successive candidates for commissioner and the governor shall appoint or reject such successive candidates within thirty days of his receipt of the nominations; and {2) six commissioners shall be appointed by the Governor, of whom {a) no two shall be legal residents of the same town and (b) at least three shall reside in the Devens Region. All twelve commissioners shall have proven expertise in one or more of the following areas: industrial development, housing, finance, business, real estate, environment, planning, transportation or municipal government. The Governor shall appoint one commissioner to serve as the chairman of the commission, and one- commissioner to serve as vice-chairman of the commission.

Commissioners shall serve for terms of four years, provided, however, that of those initially appointed, three shall be appointed for a term of one year, three for two years, three for three years and three for four years, and provided further, that one nominee each of the boards of selectmen of the Towns of Ayer, Harvard and Shirley shall be initially appointed for a term at two years, and that one nominee each of the boards of selectmen of said Towns shall be initially appointed for a term of three years. No elected official of the federal government, the Commonwealth or any political subdivision of the commonwealth, or employee or agent of, or contractor for the bank or the commission may serve hereunder as commissioner. Commissioners may be eligible for renomination at the expiration of their terms and may be removed by the Governor for cause. Vacancies arising otherwise than from the expiration of a term shall be filled by persons appointed by the Governor in the same manner and subject to the same qualifications as provided above for the remainder of the unexpired term. Commissioners shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties. The Governor and the board of selectmen of each of the Towns may also each nominate one candidate for appointment as an associate member of the Commission in the same manner as for a member of the commission, and the chairman of the commission may designate any such associate member to sit on the commission in case of absence, inability to act, or conflict of interest on the part of any commissioner, or in the event of a vacancy on the commission until said vacancy is filled; provided, however, that only an associate member nominated by the board of selectmen of a town may assume the position of a commission appointed by the board of selectmen of that town.

Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, or of any other general or special law to the contrary, the Commission, for the purposes of this act, shall be deemed a "public employer" as the term is defined in section one of chapter two hundred and fifty-eight. The chairman of the Commission shall be the executive officer for presentation purposes under section four of chapter two hundred and fifty-eight.1

1Paragraph added by section 517 of chapter 151 of the acts of 1996.


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