St. Mary's development passes another hurdle
By Doug Grindle Community Reporter

Marlborough - The project to redevelop the St. Mary's Church site at 26 Broad St. cleared one more hurdle July 23 at the meeting of the Public Services Committee of the City Council.

The committee approved an application to allow sewage lines with a capacity of 8,030 gallons a day. Attorney Arthur Bergeron, representing the developer St. Mary's of French Hill Redevelopment LLC, said that that capacity was appropriate.

Later, the City Council approved the measure.

The next step is to get that approval from the city's site plan review committee, which has representatives from a range of city departments, such as the city planner. Should the proposal get approval, the developer will still need to get a building permit from the building inspector.

The first stage of the $7 million project would be construction inside the rectory and school. The second stage calls for reconstructing the interior of the church and building new townhouses out back.

"We will start to market sometime next year," Bergeron said, assuming the approval process goes well. Other City Council business

Also July 23, the Personnel Committee voted to confirm Amy Loveless as the executive director of the Council on Aging and Senior Center. Her nomination for reappointment to a three-year term had been held back for a session after one of the councilors wanted to investigate some issues raised by residents.

"I received some calls from constituents to look into some issues," Ward 4 Councilor Peter Juaire explained. "It wasn't that I ever doubted her ability to run the Senior Center."

He said he was very satisfied with her nomination and supported it.

Ward 5 Councilor Maura Navin Webster said she agreed it was worth holding over the appointment for one session.

"Amy's done a fantastic job," Webster said, "but I wanted to do due diligence."

The committee voted to approve the appointment, and the City Council voted the same evening to approve her appointment as well.

On July 23, the Finance Committee voted to approve a transfer between accounts to fund the new contract with the police command officer's contract. The contract applies a 3 percent raise for the first and second years, and a 4 percent pay raise for the third year, retroactive to July 1, 2006. It also brings the union into line on using the city's healthcare plan.

Mayor Nancy Stevens told councilors the contract is a good one.

"I believe this is a fair contract for both the city and the command officers," Stevens said.

The contract was approved by the committee and by the full City Council later the same evening. The last outstanding union contract with the city is for the patrolman's union, and that is scheduled for an arbitration hearing in late August, Stevens said.

On July 23, the City Council also voted to send a $41 million loan order for upgrades at the westerly wastewater treatment plant back to the Finance Committee.

The council had considered the bond authorization bill at its June 25 meeting but voted it down. Councilors said they were wary because once they pass the bond measure they would no longer have a say in the design of the project. No design has yet been developed.

The Finance Committee will be able to consider more details of the bond proposal and hear how the city plans to proceed with the construction at the westerly wastewater treatment plant at its subsequent meetings.

The council also voted to change the public transportation arrangements in the city. It voted to pull out of the Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA), which runs several programs to help elderly and disabled people get around the city.

The city will begin exploring how to link up with the MetroWest RTA, which is based in Framingham. No programs will be changed for now while that happens.

The city could use one of two methods of changing RTAs: a city-wide ballot or it could get the measure approved by a special vote of the State Legislature. The council also voted to seek a special act of the legislature to permit the city to transfer from the WRTA to the MetroWest RTA.