by Frank Schroth

During her Town Administrator’s report at last night’s meeting of the Board of Selectmen, Annmarie Fagan announced that HD/MW Randolph Ave, LLC had received a letter of eligibility (site approval) from Mass Housing for a parcel on Randolph Ave on which they propose to build a 72 unit apartment complex under Chapter 40B (see related post here). This allows them to now file a comprehensive permit with the Milton Zoning Board of Appeals.

Officials and residents had opposed the development, citing traffic and safety concerns as well as environmental impacts. The letter of eligibility acknowledges those concerns and writes

As member Keohane pointed out, the operative word in the above passage and the one used in the recommendations that follow is “should.”

You can find the complete text of the letter and the specific recommendations here. Those recommendations state tat landscape plans “should” be included and that the developer “should” address concerns of municipality including but not limited to a second means of egress.

When the comprehensive permit is filed these concerns should be addressed. The ZBA can deny the permit. At that point it is likely to be appealed. Those appeals rarely go in favor of the municipality according to Town Planner Bill Clark.

Joe Lynch, Director of the DPW, met with the selectmen and discussed three issues:

• Reviewing the rate structure for sewer and water and process for making any changes to it. The total amount paid by the town will not change. That figure is an average determined by the MWRA based on the last three years of use. However, the rates within the town can be adjusted. Two issues were discussed: 1) retaining a Tier 1 flat use amount for older residents and 2) modifying the current tier 4 which charges all residents the same amount based on a single meter. This is principally an issue at 88 Wharf Street where all owners are charged on a single meter reading for that building. The rates need to be set in early August. 
• The town is likely to sign a contract with a new firm to manage solid waste (trash, recycling, yard waste). The key difference for residents will be a change to the current pick up schedule. All trash pick ups will occur on Wednesdays and Thursdays. This will remove need for delayed pickups due to Monday holidays. The contract will be financially favorable to the town and will result in “considerable savings” according to Lynch. He could not reveal the company’s name due to ongoing negotiations. The contract is expected to go through and the consequent change in schedule would begin in July.
• Lynch also briefly discussed Central Avenue. The bid is part of a consortium bid which saves the town money, though there was no explanation of what a consortium bid is. (It sounds like a consortium of towns pool projects and then bid them out as a package). The firm was scheduled to begin work in May. They have a soft start date of the week of June 9th and are expected to finish before the snow falls.