Marlborough hosts Lt. Gov. Murphy on listening tour
By Doug Grindle Community Reporter

PHOTO/DOUG GRINDLE Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray was hosted by Mayor Nancy Stevens during his recent "listening tour" through the commonwealth.

Marlborough - As Marlborough played host to the whistle stop tour of the state's Municipal Affairs Coordinating Cabinet Dec. 7, officials from Marlborough told Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray that the state's housing policy is hurting down-

City Council President Arthur Vigeant told Murray the state's rules for affordable housing, known as Chapter 40B, are hurting the city. He said renters are being attracted to new developments being built in Marlborough, while many units of existing housing stock that could be used as affordable housing are left vacant.

"The inner city, the multi-family [dwellings] are not being rented," Vigeant said.

According to Vigeant, the state is not being responsive in fixing the problem, and is only interested in meeting the state standard, which is that 10 percent of all housing stock be considered affordable. Vigeant criticized state housing officials.

"All they are doing is helping us meet our 10 percent, shaking our hand and walking away," he said.

At-Large Councilor Patricia Pope also attended the meeting. She told reporters the state needs to help the city ensure older housing units qualify as affordable housing. But, Pope said, state officials are slow to make changes that would allow older units to qualify.

"They haven't looked at them seriously," Pope said.

She noted second- and third-floor apartments that now go empty could be excellent low-income units.

Pope said she and Vigeant will continue to meet with state officials about the issue.

Murray replied that the state is financing an "unprecedented" amount for affordable housing and is looking for ways to be creative in expanding the housing pool.

"We will be adding different tools in the toolbox," Murray said.

Robert Landry, the administrator of the Marlborough Board of Health, told Murray that state law prohibits mutual aid between communities for public health emergencies, even though it is commonly rendered in situations involving public safety, such as fire.

He said the law needs to be changed to allow health officials to help each other in time of extreme need.

"I couldn't do it [now]," Landry said. "It would be illegal."

Murray replied he thought the public health and public safety operations ought to be more tightly knit together in this area as well as in others.

State Rep. Stephen P. LeDuc, D-Marlborough, told the cabinet he was concerned that there is no coordinated transportation policy for the region. He said the state needs to coordinate light railways, buses and other transportation between different regions in eastern and central Massachusetts.

"These are things that take place in Europe every day," LeDuc said.

According to Murray, there is no standard plan for transportation, but there needs to be one. He said the state has pushed several initiatives to upgrade traffic on the Boston-Worcester rail line, but its owner, CSX, was not proving cooperative and has set unrealistic conditions for any cooperation or sale to the state. Murray said that a blank dispensation covering even gross negligence was an unrealistic condition for the company to request.

"They don't want to be held liable for anything," Murray said.

The meeting attracted officials from cities and towns across the area. Hosted by Mayor Nancy Stevens, it was the fifth stop this year as part of a "listening tour" designed to gather information on issues of concern to communities. More stops are expected to be held next year.

"Myself and lots of municipal officials are frustrated by the lack of true collaborative relationships with state officials," said Murray, who was the mayor of Worcester before winning last year's election as lieutenant governor.

Other communities also chimed in with concerns. Several said the state is often not responsive to towns' concerns.

"Sometimes we are being hindered by various state agencies," said John Peltin, an official of an informal grouping of towns called the West Suburban Managers Association.

State officials told the assembly that the state offers assistance to communities that want to bid for state contracts, buy supplies from state surpluses, and receive assistance in information technology and other services.

Officials from the state's Division of Local Services took notes at the meeting, and said they expect to issue a full report to the state's executive in two or three weeks.