Devens Enterprise Commission
 

DEC staff includes Director/Land Use Administrator Peter C. Lowitt and Administrative Assistant Mary Quinn plus a number of consultants. These include the provision of inspectional services that are conducted by Gabe Vellante, Wellman Parker and Bob Friedrich. Our legal and engineering assistance are covered by contractual relationships with consultants as well, the firm of Vollmer Associates providing Development Review Services for the DEC and Edith Netter & Associates continuing in their legal advisor role. Mr. Lowitt is president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Planning Association and continues to serve on the boards of the Eco Industrial Development Council and is chairman of the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Industry Association.

HIGHLIGHTS 2005

Projects:

2005 saw a slowing of development activity as Devens changed focus to the issue of disposition and the Grant Road Housing project was put on hold. Devens Common was built out over course of 2005 which took much of the time and involvement of the inspectional staff. Only five (5) Level II permits were issued in 2005, down from 12 in 2004 which was a doubling of the number issued in 2003. These included the two garage permits to locate garages in locations other than approved in the garage master plan, an trailer parking lot expansion for Lot 9b and Lot 10 on Independence to accommodate Kraft Foods Veryfine Warehouse which is located in the former C&S Grocers building, a wetlands permit along Jackson Road and the pledging of a liquor license by the Golf Course as part of the financing package for their club house.

2005 Permits

Level 2 Permits 5
Reconsideration 0
Level 1 Permits 46
Sign Permits 17
Tent Permits 7
Demolition Permits 8
Level 1 Lotting Plans 4
Septage Hauling Permits 2
Certificates of Occupancy 4 T 18
Electrical Permits 71
Plumbing Permits 25
Gas Permits 33
Transfer Liquor License 1
Liquor Permits 3
1 Day Liquor Licenses 1
Beaver Control Permits 1

Awards:

The DEC received the Fiscal Year 2005 State Agency Environmental Purchasing and Sustainability Award for a Government Agency. Mr. Marshall and Mr. Lowitt received the award for the DEC's continuing commitment to the shared vision of sustainable development at Devens and for the DEC's continued implementation of that vision. Congratulations to all involved! See: www.devensec.com/sustain.html for more information on this prestigious award.

Move:

In March, 2005 the DEC moved from 43 Buena Vista Street (Vicksburgh Square) to 33 Andrews Parkway (Devens Common). We joined our partner in the redevelopment process, Mass Development at this new location. The move went smoothly and the Commission and staff are enjoying the new facilities.

Transportation:

The Fitchburg Line Reverse Commute working group, chaired by DEC Director Peter Lowitt, continued its work to connect Route 2 and Fitchburg Line Commuter Rail issues through regular meetings of community representatives to discuss transportation issues. These meetings resulted in a study funded by the MBTA (the McMahon Report) The Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line Improvement Plan September 2005 to analyze the potential for reverse commuting and improvements to the line and the reinstitution of Express Commuter Rail Service along the Fitchburg Line. A summary of the report's recommendations are listed below:

"The Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line, running from North Station to the Northwest, was reviewed for potential service expansion and improvements.

The service expansion recommendations for the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line have been defined for implementation in the short-range, medium-range and long-range. Each of the improvement packages includes three elements. The short-range (implemented within the next five years) improvement package includes consolidation of stations, schedule improvements and addition of continuously welded track/design of signal system upgrades. The medium-range (implemented within 5 - 10 years) improvement package includes station improvements, implementation of reverse commute options and signal system improvements. Finally, the long-range (implementation expected to take 10 or more years) improvement package includes the creation of a regional parking facility, additional peak/off peak service, double tracking and extension of service to a proposed station at the Gardner terminus or a proposed Wachusett Station in West Fitchburg. For more details about the existing conditions, the evaluation process of service expansion possibilities, or the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line Improvement Implementation Plan."

For more information please see: www.mbta.com/projects_underway/fitchburg.asp#

During 2005 the Devens Transportation Management Initiative remained on hold.

Communication:

The DEC's main means of communicating with the public remains its web site, www.devensec.com, where its meeting and hearing dates are listed, as are the agendas and minutes from recent meetings. Records of Decisions from various Unified Permit applications are also listed to illustrate the permitting process through concrete examples. The Loaves and Fishes Unified Permit Record of Decision is currently listed on the site.

Disposition:

The DEC, through its Chairman and Vice Chairman, William P. Marshall and Paul Von Loesecke, actively participated in the actions of the Devens Disposition Steering Committee and the disposition process as it unfolded in 2005. Mr. Marshall serves as chair of the Devens Disposition Executive Board. Many DEC Commissioners and staff participated in this process, some continuing to serve on the Land Use and Open Space Committee (Director Lowitt), finance and development (Commissioner Von Loesecke), housing and transportation (Commissioner Sidney and Director Lowitt). The DEC staff and commissioners continue to serve on these committees as they sought to answer a series of questions posed by the Disposition Steering Committee. What questions need to be answered in order for the participants in the disposition process (Ayer, Harvard, Shirley, Mass Development, the DEC, the residents and businesses of Devens) to make an informed decision about their future, either reverting to their former boundaries or becoming a new town. The DEC has both a statutory responsibility and an inclination to participate in these working groups to better understand and accommodate the needs of our residents and the host communities.

Sustainability Efforts

Devens work on Sustainable Development and the DEC's EcoStar program continue to receive worldwide recognition. Mr. Lowitt presented a case study on Devens Sustainability efforts to the International Society of Industrial Ecology in Stockholm, Sweden and at the National Brownfield's Conference in Denver. The focus of the DEC's current sustainability efforts remains our EcoStar program, which was launched in February, 2005 with Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farms Yogurt as our keynote speaker.

• What is the EcoStar program?

  EcoStar is an environmental achievement and branding program developed by a steering committee of citizens, business representatives, government officials and environmental advocates. The program is designed to provide technical assistance and recognition to local businesses and organizations that become leaders in the implementation of pollution prevention initiatives. Companies participating in the EcoStar program commit to continuous environmental improvement that goes beyond compliance and develop partnerships to support achievement of EcoStar goals. These businesses will focus on waste and toxics use reduction, water and energy efficiency, recycling, purchasing of environmentally preferable products and other sustainability efforts. The EcoStar program encourages collaboration between firms to increase efficiency of resource use and support environmental protection. Underlying the program design is the concept of "industrial ecology", which envisions organizations linking together to exchange materials, energy and information in a way that reduces waste and increases materials and energy efficiency.

  Businesses located at Devens and in Ayer, Harvard and Shirley are invited to join the EcoStar program and work towards meeting 15 environmental standards. As of December 27, 2005, seventeen(17) businesses had joined EcoStar. A key component of the program is technical assistance provided to businesses, including workshops and on-site assistance. Informative workshops were held to prepare businesses to meet each of the standards, six (6) were held in 2005. When businesses achieve their EcoStar, they will receive public recognition for their efforts and be eligible for other program benefits.

Financial self-sufficiency:

The Legislature instructed the DEC to become financially self sufficient and stopped funding the DEC in 2000. Since then the DEC has undertaken a number of studies to establish a program of taxation to offset the loss of state funding. A taxation plan was submitted to the Department of Revenue and Administration and Finance per Chapter 498 of the Acts of 1993. The DEC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mass Development to cooperatively institute a taxation program for Devens. The Memorandum of Understanding a Joint Plan of Taxation for Devens earmarks two percent of all taxes and funds from the 29 special agreements or taxation/fee programs with existing firms at Devens. Additionally, Mass Development agrees to maintain the DEC's $250,000 cash reserve. In March of each year the DEC forecasts the size of its reserve as of June 30 of that year. If it is forecast to fall below 250,000, then Mass Development agrees to make the reserve whole. While our March 2005 forecast saw a triggering of the cash reserve agreement, a last minute influx of permit fees provided the required cushion and that portion of the taxation agreement was not triggered. The DEC reduced our operating surplus from over $900,000 to $350,000 over the past four years. The DEC's main source of funding is the collection of permit fees, which reflect the level of development activity at Devens. The rational for building up a surplus has always been the cyclical nature of development activity. We have been in a trough the last four years and the first half of this fiscal year (FY 05-06) has seen limited level II permit applications. The DEC is pleased to announce that our audit for 2005 has been completed in a timely manner and that our auditor has issued a finding of no material findings.

Respectfully submitted to each town for their respective Town Reports:

Ed Hamilton Commissioner
Marty Poutry Commissioner
Ayer