AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISSIONER OF CAPITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE AND THE TOWN OF HINGHAM TO GRANT CERTAIN EASEMENTS UPON CERTAIN LAND LOCATED IN THE TOWN OF HINGHAM.
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 commissioner of conservation and recreation and the executive director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, may grant a nonexclusive permanent and a temporary subsurface easement upon a certain parcel of land known as Stodder’s Neck in the town of Hingham, currently under the care and control of the department of conservation and recreation and held for conservation and recreation purposes, to the town of Hingham acting through its board of sewer commissioners to be used for the installation and maintenance of a subsurface sewer main, subject to the requirements of this act and to 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 and the executive director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, may prescribe. The permanent subsurface easement area is shown as “Proposed 20’ Wide Sewer Easement, Area = 5,158 S. F. ±” and the temporary subsurface easement is shown as “Proposed 10’ Wide Temporary Easement” on a plan of land entitled “Sewer Easement Plan” prepared for the town of Hingham by Perkins Engineering, Inc. to be recorded in the Plymouth registry of deeds. Prior to finalizing the transaction or making the conveyance authorized herein, the division of capital asset management and maintenance may make minor modifications to the area and plan in order to carry out this act. The easement rights granted to the town under this act, including surface rights for the installation, maintenance and repair of subsurface infrastructure, shall not limit, restrict or close vehicular or pedestrian access to the Stodder’s Neck property or to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority sewage pumping station except as may be approved in writing by the department and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
SECTION 2. An independent appraisal of the fair market value and value in use of the easement described 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 easement 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 calculated with regard to its full development potential as assembled with other lands owned or otherwise controlled by the grantee. The commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance shall submit any appraisals to the inspector general for review and comment. The inspector general shall review and approve any such appraisals and the review shall include an examination of the methodology utilized for the appraisals. The inspector general shall prepare a report of such review and file the report with the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance for submission by the commissioner to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on state administration and regulatory oversight. The commissioner shall submit copies of any appraisals and the inspector general’s review and approval and comments, if any, to the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on state administration and regulatory oversight at least 15 days prior to the execution of any documents effecting the transfers authorized in said section 1.
SECTION 3. As consideration for the grant of easement authorized in section 1, the town of Hingham shall transfer to the department of conservation and recreation land, an interest in land or funding for the acquisition of land or an interest therein equal to or greater than the resource value of the land described in said section 1 and the highest appraised value as determined under section 2. The fair market value of any land or interest in land proposed to be conveyed by the grantee to the department shall be included within the appraisal prepared under said section 2. The land, interest in land or funding for the acquisition of land or an interest therein shall be subject to the approval of the department of conservation and recreation and any land or interest in land, whether conveyed by the grantee or acquired by the department, shall be permanently held and managed for conservation and recreation purposes by the department. If the appraised value of any land or interests in land transferred to the department is greater than the appraised value of the interests in land described in said section 1, the commonwealth shall have no obligation to pay the difference to the grantee. All payments paid to the commonwealth as a result of the conveyances or grants authorized in this act shall be deposited in the Conservation Trust established in section 1 of chapter 132A of the General Laws.
SECTION 4. 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 commissioner of conservation and recreation, may grant a permanent nonexclusive easement to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority for no monetary consideration to access, erect, inspect, renew, replace, operate and forever maintain poles, wires, underground conduits and their appurtenances for the transmission of electricity and communication and pipes for the conveyance of water and sewage in, through, under and over the easement and for the continued access to its sewage pumping station in the town of Hingham in accordance with chapter 372 of the acts of 1984. The easement area contains 8,000 square feet, more or less, and is shown as “Proposed Easement Parcel #2” on a plan entitled “The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Metropolitan District, Sewerage Division, Plan of Land in Hingham, Oct. 1956, A. E. Sulesky, Director of Sewerage Division and Chief Sewerage Engineer, Land Taking for Proposed Sewage Pumping Station, South Metropolitan System,”, recorded in the Plymouth registry of deeds as plan 835 of 1956 and is described in an order of taking recorded in the Plymouth registry of deeds in book 2543, page 177 and located upon a portion of the land described in an order of taking recorded in the Plymouth registry of deeds in book 3788, page 64. Prior to finalizing the transaction or making the conveyance authorized in this section, the division of capital asset management and maintenance may make minor modifications to the area to carry out this act. The easement rights granted to the authority in this section shall not limit, restrict or close vehicular or pedestrian access to the department’s Stodder’s Neck property except as may be approved in writing by the department.
SECTION 5. The town of Hingham 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 conveyance authorized in section 1. The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority 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 conveyance authorized in section 4.
SECTION 6. No instruments executed pursuant to this act shall be valid unless it provides that the easements authorized in sections 1 and 4 shall be used solely for the purposes described in said sections 1 and 4. The instruments authorized pursuant to said sections 1 and 4 shall include a reversionary clause that stipulates that if the interest ceases to be used for the express purposes authorized in said sections 1 and 4, such interest shall revert to the commonwealth and be assigned to the care, custody and control of the department of conservation and recreation upon such terms and conditions as the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance may determine. If any interest reverts to the commonwealth, any further disposition shall be subject to sections 34 to 37, inclusive, of chapter 7C of the General Laws and the prior approval of the general court.
Approved, August 9, 2018.