Skip to Content
March 19, 2024 Clouds | 36°F
The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE DIVISION OF CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE TO GRANT AN EASEMENT IN CERTAIN LAND TO THE CITY OF SALEM.

     Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to grant forthwith easements for access to certain parcels of land in the city of Salem, 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 1. Notwithstanding sections 32 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws or any other general or special law to the contrary, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the president of Salem State University, may grant to the city of Salem the following easements:
     (i)  a permanent exclusive easement under, over, in and through a parcel of land containing approximately 120,936 square feet, more or less, located on the O’Keefe Center parking lot near Canal street in the city of Salem, currently under the control of Salem State University and held for educational purposes to locate certain above-ground and below-ground improvements, including an above-ground pumping station building associated with a below-ground stormwater drainage system to be operated by the city of Salem and the stormwater drainage system improvements shall be installed as shown on certain plans on file with the division of capital asset management and maintenance prepared by Woodard & Curran Inc., dated December 22, 2014, entitled “Figure 1 City of Salem Stormwater Drainage System Improvements – Site Plan and Permanent Easement” and “Figure 2 City of Salem Stormwater Drainage System Improvements – Temporary Easements”;
     (ii)  a temporary easement for lay-down area for the construction of the stormwater drainage system improvements;
     (iii)  a permanent subsurface easement for the purpose of locating certain below-ground improvements, including drainage pipes and treatment and retention facilities associated with the stormwater drainage system improvements;
     (iv)  a permanent easement for access and egress to those portions of the city’s stormwater drainage system improvements located under, over, in and through the O’Keefe Center parking lot on the campus of Salem State University for the purpose of operating, maintaining, repairing and replacing the stormwater drainage system improvements; and
     (v)  a permanent easement for access and egress to those portions of the city’s sewer system consisting of a 36-inch sewer and associated appurtenances located under, in and though the O’Keefe Center parking lot on the campus of Salem State University for the purpose of operating, maintaining, repairing and replacing the sewer system as shown on certain plans on file with the division of capital asset management and maintenance dated January 22, 2014, entitled “Site Utility Asbuilt, Salem State/University Fitness and Recreation Center” and to amend the existing easement, if any, in favor of the city for the relocation of the sewer line as shown on the plan.
     SECTION 2.  The easements authorized in section 1 shall be granted on such terms and conditions as the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance may require. The exact boundaries of the easements shall be determined by the commissioner based upon a survey.
     SECTION 3.  The easements authorized in section 1 shall be solely for use by the city of Salem and its authorized agents for the construction, operation, repair and replacement of the stormwater drainage system and sewer system under section 1.  If the city of Salem ceases to use the property for such purposes, the easements shall terminate after notice from the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to the city of Salem; provided, however, that the city of Salem shall have an opportunity to cure.
     SECTION 4.  The consideration for the grant of the easements authorized in section 1 shall be nominal. The easements shall be granted without warranties or representations by the commonwealth.
     SECTION 5.  The easements authorized in section 1 shall only be granted if the city of Salem agrees to assume all costs associated with engineering, surveys, recording fees, deed or grant of easement preparation and any other expenses that the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance deems necessary to effectuate the conveyance.
     SECTION 6.  The grant of the easements authorized in section 1 shall include a reversionary clause stipulating that the easement shall be extinguished if it ceases to be used and maintained for the express purpose for which it was granted, after notice to the city of Salem by the division of capital asset management and maintenance and a failure by the city of Salem to cure the violation to the satisfaction of the division.

Approved, August 9, 2016