1. City Manager Letter.
2. City Manager Order 14A.
3. City Manager Order 14B
4. City Manager Order 14C.
Bob La Trémouille reports.
Following up on my analysis of May 13, 2010.
The following are the key documents, taken from the Minutes of the Cambridge City Council, May 3, 2010, City Manager Communication 14, http://www.cambridgema.gov/cityclerk/cmLetter.cfm?item_id=17021.
There were three roll call votes, reported on line as 8 - 0 - 1. Nobody voted in opposition. Councilor Davis was absent.
Note that the Cambridge City Council not only voted to destroy the environment, they voted to do so without the legal protections which they are supposed to be respecting.
In the following meeting, the City Council, after voting for OFF STREET environmental destruction in Watertown, voted to study procedures concerning destruction of street trees in Cambridge.
Another vote on May 3 was to attack raccoons living near the Squirrel Brand Building between Broadway and Harvard Street a block west of Windsor Street in the The Port neighborhood of Cambridge. This is a site in which Cambridge, as one of its first acts after conversion of a factory to affordable housing, was the destruction of a grove of 8 to 12 trees exceeding four stories in height. There was no opposition to attacking the local racoons.
1. City Manager Letter.
May 3, 2010
To the Honorable, the City Council:
I am submitting a request I received from the Department of Conservation and Recreation ("DCR") for a permanent easement of about 16,293 square feet (the "Easement") over a section of the City's water line in Watertown (the "Property") so that DCR may construct and maintain a bicycle/pedestrian path. In September of 2009, I granted a license to DCR to permit it to commence construction of the bicycle/pedestrian path over and within the proposed easement area. The bicycle/pedestrian path is part of a larger DCR/ Massachusetts Highway Department ("MHD") project to develop a bicycle/pedestrian corridor between the Charles River Reservation in Watertown and Fresh Pond Parkway in the City for recreational use by members of the public.
The Easement will ensure the long-term benefits of this portion of the bicycle/pedestrian path. Aside from the recreational benefit, the proposed benefits to the City will include DCR clearing the extensive tree growth in that area and paving it to protect the water line from further root damage and from future tree growth over the water line.
I recommend that the City Council approve the grant of the requested Easement at the Property to allow for a bicycle/pedestrian path over and within the proposed easement area and approve submission of a Home Rule Petition to the Legislature in order to obtain approval under Article 97 of the grant of the requested Easement. Assuming the Article 97 legislation is granted, I will also need authorization to grant the Easement, and therefore, I am also requesting the City Council to authorize disposition of the requested Easement and diminution of the full disposition of City-owned land process pursuant to Chapter 2.110 of the Cambridge Municipal Code.
Diminution of Process and Disposition of Easement under Chapter 2.110
First, the proposal must be considered by the Council pursuant to Chapter 2.110 of the Cambridge Municipal Code, which governs the disposition of city-owned property. I believe this disposition is properly subject to Section 2.110.010 (G) of that ordinance. Section G provides for the disposition of city-owned property where the full process of the ordinance would be unduly burdensome. Under this section, the City Manager may request of the City Council a diminution of the process in the ordinance; approval of this request requires a two-thirds vote of the City Council. I recommend such approval at this time.
Secondly, Section 2.110.010 also requires a two-thirds vote of the City Council to authorize the City Manager to grant the Easement. I also recommend that the City Council vote to authorize me to grant the Easement, and to execute and deliver the Easement in such form and substance as I determine is necessary or advisable.
I believe that the relatively minor incursions of the bicycle/pedestrian path into, onto, or over the water line qualify this proposed disposition for the diminished process permitted by Section 2.110.010(G). Limiting the scope of review for the requested disposition would be consistent with the expressed objective of the procedure required by the Chapter: to render "a fair analysis of how the greatest public benefit can be obtained from the City property in question."
I believe that the information furnished in this letter is sufficient to enable the City Council to make a determination on this matter. Carrying out a more detailed review would require significant amount of money and staff time. Since the procedure set forth in the Chapter would be costly and the area at issue is minimal, I believe this to be the type of disposition anticipated by subsection (G) which allows for a simpler process; and I therefore request that you approve a diminution of the full disposition review process and authorize me to grant the requested Easement.
Home Rule Petition
Given that the Property is land that was acquired for the purposes of developing, maintaining, and using the City's water system, the granting of this Easement requires Article 97 legislation. Article 97 of the Amendments to the Constitution of Massachusetts provides in part that "[t]he people shall have the right to clean air and water . . . ; and the protection of the people in their right to the conservation, development and utilization of . . . water, air, and other natural resources is hereby declared to be a public purpose. . . . Lands and easements taken or acquired for such purposes shall not be used for other purposes or otherwise disposed of except by laws enacted by a two-thirds vote, taken by yeas and nays, of each branch of the general court." Accordingly, a Home Rule Petition must be submitted to the Legislature and must get a two-thirds vote of approval by the both the House and the Senate. I request that you approve the submission of the attached Home Rule Petition entitled, "AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE TO GRANT A PERMANENT EASEMENT ON AND OVER CERTAIN STRIPS OF LAND OWNED BY THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE IN WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS" to the Legislature in order to seek its approval of the Easement pursuant to Article 97.
Conclusion
Consequently, I am asking for three votes from the City Council: (1) approval of the Home Rule Petition and authorization to seek said Article 97 legislation from both the House and the Senate, (2) diminution of the process, which requires a two-thirds vote of the City Council, and (3) disposition of the easement, which requires a two-thirds vote of the City Council.
I appreciate your consideration of this matter and welcome any questions you may have.
Very truly yours,
Robert W. Healy
City Manager
RWH/mec
Attachment(s)
2. City Manager Order 14A.
ORDERED: Pursuant to Section 2.110.010(g) of the Cambridge Municipal Code, the City Council hereby orders that the City Council shall utilize a diminished process for the disposition of a permanent easement on and over certain strips of land owned by the City of Cambridge in Watertown, Massachusetts to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by and through the Department of Conservation and Recreation, for the purpose of constructing, installing, maintaining, managing, operating, repairing, replacing, reconstructing, and/or removing a bicycle/pedestrian path as part of a Department of Conservation and Recreation and Massachusetts Department of Transportation project to develop a bicycle/pedestrian corridor between the Charles River Reservation in Watertown and Fresh Pond Parkway, as set forth in Robert W. Healy's May 3, 2010 letter to the City Council.
3. City Manager Order 14B
WHEREAS: The City of Cambridge has received a request from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation ("DCR") for a permanent surface easement over a section of the City's water line in Watertown in order to construct a bicycle/pedestrian path (the "Easement"); and
WHEREAS: The permanent surface Easement sought by DCR will be used to connect large portions of a bicycle/pedestrian path on either side of the Easement area as part of a larger DCR/Massachusetts Department of Transportation project to develop a bicycle/pedestrian corridor between the Charles River Reservation in Watertown and Fresh Pond Parkway; and
WHEREAS: The permanent surface Easement sought by DCR will also benefit Cambridge in several ways. Not only will the Easement provide recreational benefits, but DCR will maintain the bicycle/pedestrian path so as to ensure the long-term benefits to the City of clearing the extensive tree growth in that area and paving it, which will protect the water line from future tree growth over it and from further root damage; and
WHEREAS: The combined total of the Easement area is approximately 16,293 square feet; and
WHEREAS: It is declared that the use of the surface area required for the Easement is not necessary for operation of the City's water line; and
WHEREAS: The City Council has determined that the granting of the permanent surface Easement for the purpose of constructing, installing, maintaining, managing, operating, repairing, replacing, reconstructing, and/or removing a bicycle/pedestrian path connecting large portions of a bicycle/pedestrian path on either side of it would not derogate from the public interest or the public purposes for the area now in question; and
WHEREAS: Pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 40, Section 15B, before executing the Easement to DCR for the above-stated purposes on the above-stated terms and conditions, the City of Cambridge must first notify the Town of Watertown that it intends to do so and ensure that the Town of Watertown does not wish to acquire the Easement for the above-stated purposes on the above-stated terms and conditions; now therefore be it
ORDERED: That the City Council declares that use of the surface area required for the Easement is not necessary for operation of the water line and therefore that the City Manager is authorized, after determining that the Town of Watertown will not exercise any rights it has to acquire the Easement area on the same terms and conditions and for the same purposes it is being offered to DCR, to grant on behalf of the City of Cambridge, pursuant to Section 2.110.010 of the Cambridge Municipal Code, the permanent surface Easement to DCR for the purpose of constructing, installing, maintaining, managing, operating, repairing, replacing, reconstructing, and/or removing a bicycle/pedestrian path and to execute and deliver such Easement in such form and substance as the City Manager determines is necessary or advisable.
4. City Manager Order 14C.
May 3, 2010
1. WHEREAS: The City Council has determined that the granting of a permanent easement over a section of the City's water line in Watertown (the "Property") to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts by and through the Department of Conservation and Recreation for the purpose of constructing, installing, maintaining, managing, operating, repairing, replacing, reconstructing, and/or removing a bicycle/pedestrian path (the "Easement") would not derogate from the public interest or the public purposes for the area now in question; and
WHEREAS: The Property is land that was acquired for the purposes of developing, maintaining, and using the City's water system, and therefore, the granting of this Easement requires legislation under Article 97 of the Amendments to the Constitution of Massachusetts; and
WHEREAS: It is declared that the use of the surface area required for the Easement is not necessary for operation of the City's water line; and
WHEREAS: The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is forthwith to authorize the granting of a certain Easement in land owned by the City of Cambridge in Watertown, Massachusetts, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience; now therefore be it
ORDERED That a petition to the General Court, accompanied by a bill for a special law relating to the City of Cambridge attached and entitled "AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE TO GRANT A PERMANENT EASEMENT ON AND OVER CERTAIN STRIPS OF LAND OWNED BY THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE IN WATERTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS" to be filed with an attested copy of this order be, and hereby is, approved under Clause (1) of Section 8 of Article 2, as amended, of the Amendments to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to the end that legislation be adopted precisely as follows, except for clerical or editorial changes of form only.
