SENATE, No. 2392

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISSIONER OF CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE TO GRANT EASEMENTS TO THE CITY OF SOMERVILLE AND TO CONVEY CERTAIN LAND TO FR STURTEVANT STREET, LLC.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is forthwith to authorize the Division of Capital Asset Management to convey certain easements across Commonwealth property in the Assembly Square area in the City of Somerville , therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 2.  The Commissioner of DCAM, in consultation with the Commissioner of DCR and the city of Somerville may, notwithstanding sections 40E to 40J, inclusive, of chapter 7 of the General Laws, convey permanent and temporary easements, including extra work space rights and permanent and temporary access road rights over, under and through certain parcels of land located in the Ten Hills neighborhood of Somerville currently under the control of DCR to the city of Somerville and its agents and contractors, solely for the purposes of laying, constructing, maintaining, accessing, operating, replacing, repairing, abandoning and removing a stormwater discharge pipe, outfall and appurtenant subsurface facilities, subject to the provisions of (i) sections 5 and 6 of this act, and (ii) such reasonable additional terms and conditions consistent with this act as the Commissioner of DCAM, in consultation with the Commissioner of DCR, may determine.  The easement is shown as “I/I Mitigation within DCR Right of Way” on that certain plan of land entitled “DCR Exchange Plan”, prepared by Vanesse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. and dated August 7, 2007 .  This plan is filed with DCR and the Clerks of the House of Representatives and Senate.  Temporary work space and access road easements shall revert to the commonwealth upon completion of initial construction and restoration of said easement areas.  Modifications to the easement referenced above may be made in order to conform to the requirements of the MWRA, DCAM, DCR, the city of Somerville, and a final land survey, which  final land survey shall be accepted by DCAM and DCR before any conveyance to carry out the purposes of this act. 

SECTION 3.  The Commissioner of DCAM, in consultation with the Commissioner of DCR and the city of Somerville may, notwithstanding sections 40E to 40J, inclusive, of chapter 7 of the General Laws, enter into an agreement extinguishing the easement established by that certain Order of Taking by the commonwealth of Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission dated December 20, 19 62 and recorded at the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds in Book 10189, page 593, which easement is located in the city of Somerville and provides public access to Draw 7 Park.  The Commissioner of DCAM, in consultation with the Commissioner of DCR and the city of Somerville may, notwithstanding sections 40E to 40J, inclusive, of chapter 7 of the General Laws, enter into an agreement for public access to Draw 7 Park with FR Sturtevant Street, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and its respective successors and assigns, subject to the provisions of sections 5 and 6 of this act, and may agree to such reasonable additional terms and conditions consistent with this act as the Commissioner of DCAM, in consultation with the Commissioner of DCR may determine.  The new easement is shown as “Easement 1.4+/- ac” on that certain plan of land entitled “DCR Exchange Plan”, prepared by Vanesse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. and dated August 7, 2007 .  This plan is filed with DCAM, DCR and the Clerks of the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Modifications to the easement referenced above may be made in order to conform to the requirements of DCAM, DCR, the city of Somerville, and a final land survey, which final land survey shall be accepted by DCAM and DCR before any conveyance to carry out the purposes of this act. 

SECTION 4.  The Commissioner of DCAM, in consultation with the Commissioner of DCR and the city of Somerville may, notwithstanding sections 40E to 40J, inclusive, of chapter 7 of the General Laws, convey a parcel of land located in Somerville currently under the control of DCR to FR Sturtevant Street, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and its  successors and assigns, subject to the provisions of (i) sections 5 and 6 of this act, and (ii) such reasonable additional terms and conditions consistent with this act as the Commissioner of DCAM, in consultation with the Commissioner of DCR and the city of Somerville may determine.  The parcel is a portion of that land more particularly described in that certain Order of Taking by the commonwealth of Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission dated December 20, 19 62 and recorded at the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds in Book 10189, page 593.  The parcel is shown as “Boat Storage Exchange 1.6+/- ac” on that certain plan of land entitled “DCR Exchange Plan”, prepared by Vanesse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. and dated August 7, 2007 .  This plan is filed with DCAM, DCR and with the Clerks of the House of Representatives and the Senate.  Modifications to the parcel referenced above may be made in order to conform to the requirements of DCAM, DCR, the City of Somerville, and a final land survey, which final land survey shall be accepted by DCAM and DCR before any conveyance to carry out the purposes of this act.

SECTION 5.  No instrument described in sections 1, 2, 3 and 4 shall be valid unless such instrument provides that the easement or parcel conveyed thereby shall be used solely for the purpose described in section 1, section 2, section 3 and section 4, respectively.  The easement instruments referenced in sections 1 and 2 shall include a clause stating that if the easement ceases to be used by the city of Somerville for the purposes described in sections 1 and 2, the easement shall revert to the commonwealth under the control of and to be used by DCR, upon such terms and conditions as the Commissioner of DCAM may determine.  If any of these easements reverts to the commonwealth, any further disposition of such easement shall be subject to sections 40E to 40J, inclusive, of chapter 7 of the General Laws, and the prior approval of the general court.

SECTION 6.  There shall be an independent appraisal, or appraisals, of the easements described in sections 1 and 2 and an independent appraisal, or appraisals, of the conveyance described in section 4 to determine the full and fair market value, or the value in use as proposed.  The grantees of these conveyances shall compensate the commonwealth in an amount equal to no less than the full and fair market value, or the value in use, whichever is greater, as determined by the Commissioner of DCAM. The grantees of these conveyances shall assume all costs associated with any engineering, surveys, appraisals, deed preparation and other expenses deemed necessary by the Commissioner of DCAM to execute the conveyances authorized by this act.  All monetary consideration paid to the commonwealth as a result of the conveyances authorized by this act shall be deposited in the Urban Parks Trust Fund established by section 34 of Chapter 92 of the General Laws.  The Commissioner of DCAM shall submit these appraisals and a report thereon to the Inspector General for his review and comment.  The Inspector General shall review and approve the appraisal or appraisals, and the review shall include an examination of the methodology used for the appraisal or appraisals.  The Inspector General shall prepare a report of his review and file the report with the Commissioner of DCAM for submission by the Commissioner of DCAM to the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means and the Chairmen of the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets.  The Commissioner of DCAM shall submit copies of the appraisals, his report, and the Inspector General’s review and approval, and comments, if any, to the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means and the Chairmen of the Joint Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets before the execution of the conveyances.