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December 09, 2024 Clouds | 39°F
The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISSIONER OF CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE TO CONVEY CERTAIN EASEMENTS OVER CERTAIN LAND TAKEN FOR WATER SUPPLY PURPOSES IN THE CITY OF MEDFORD.

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to authorize forthwith the conveyance of an easement over certain parcels of land in the city of Medford, 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 general or special law to the contrary, the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, in consultation with the commissioner of conservation and recreation, may convey an exclusive subsurface and a nonexclusive surface easement over certain parcels of land under the care and control of the department of conservation and recreation and held for conservation and recreation purposes, to North Shore Residential Development, Inc., its successors and assigns. The easement shall be used solely for the purposes of installing, operating, maintaining, repairing and replacing a water pipe, subject to the requirements of sections 2 to 4, inclusive, and such additional terms and conditions consistent with this act as the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance in consultation with the commissioner of conservation and recreation, may prescribe. The surface easement shall be limited solely to provide access to the subsurface area, surface use shall be minimized in duration to the extent feasible, and the surface shall be promptly restored to the substantially-equivalent condition as then maintained by the fee interest owner and at the sole cost of North Shore Residential Development, Inc., its successors or assigns. The easement area shall be located on a portion of parcels N-16-8 and N-16-9 as shown on the records of the board of assessors of the city of Medford and being a portion of certain land taken by the commonwealth for water supply purposes by a deed recorded in the Middlesex southern district registry of deeds in book 7723, page 76. Prior to finalizing the transaction or making the conveyance authorized herein, the division of capital asset management and maintenance shall establish the final easement area, with the approval of the department of conservation and recreation, and complete a survey which shall be recorded with the easement deed.

SECTION 2. An independent appraisal of the fair market value and value in use of the easements authorized in section 1 shall be prepared in accordance with the usual and customary professional appraisal practices by a qualified appraiser commissioned by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance. Consideration for the grant of the above-described easements shall be the full and fair market value or the value in proposed use, whichever is greater, as determined by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance and compensated in accordance with section 3. The commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance shall submit the appraisal to the inspector general for review and comment. The inspector general shall review and approve the appraisal, and the review shall include an examination of the methodology utilized for the appraisal. The inspector general shall prepare a report of such review and file the report with the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance. After receiving the report, the commissioner shall submit copies of the report to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on state administration and regulatory oversight at least 15 days before the execution of any documents effecting the conveyances authorized in said section 1.

SECTION 3. To ensure a no-net-loss of lands protected for natural resource purposes, North Shore Residential Development, Inc. shall compensate the commonwealth for the easements described in section 1 through the transfer to the department of conservation and recreation of funding for the acquisition of land or an interest therein equal to or greater than the appraised value as determined by section 2. All monetary payments paid to the commonwealth as a result of any conveyance authorized in this act shall be deposited in the Conservation Trust established in section 1 of chapter 132A of the General Laws. Any land or interest in land acquired by the department with those funds shall be permanently held and managed for conservation and recreation purposes by the department.

SECTION 4. North Shore Residential Development, Inc. shall assume all costs associated with engineering, surveys, appraisals, deed preparation and other expenses deemed necessary by the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance to execute the conveyances authorized in this act.

Approved, August 9, 2018.