Agenda Text
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Requesting approval of an Order of Taking for various Beacon Street Reconstruction Easements.
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Official Text
To the Honorable Board,
I respectfully request that the Board of Aldermen vote to approve the Order of Taking for two permanent sidewalk easements and 115 temporary construction easements related to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s ("MassDOT") Beacon Street Reconstruction Project. The temporary easements have a duration of three years.
The Beacon Street reconstruction project requires MassDOT’s contractors to have access to small slivers of private property in order to rebuild public sidewalks. As a federal-aid project, acquisition of the permanent and temporary sliver easements is subject to federal regulations regarding land acquisition, which included an appraisal of each required easement, review of this appraisal by a review appraiser, and notification to affected owners. City staff began outreach to affected owners in the Fall of 2014. While the great majority of the property owners have either chosen to donate their easements to the City or have already accepted the City's offer of compensation, MassDOT requires that all easements be included on an Order of Taking.
Reconstruction of Beacon Street cannot proceed without each and every easement noted on the Order of Taking. Federal requirements prohibit MassDOT from proceeding to bid the project until all the necessary easements have been acquired. Therefore, I respectfully request that the Board of Aldermen vote to approve this Order of Taking.
A related docket item accompanies this item to request an appropriation for the compensation due the property owners for the easements.
City staff from OSPCD and the Law Department will be available to answer any questions on this matter.
Respectfully submitted,
Joseph A. Curtatone
Mayor