Car wash proposal reaches City Council
By Doug Grindle Community Reporter

Marlborough - Marlborough city councilors heard a proposal to turn an unsightly contractor's yard located on Route 20 into a new car wash that, supporters said, would beautify the neighborhood.

The proposed car wash at 355 Boston Post Road, near Linguini's Restaurant, would prettify the neighborhood, said Arthur Bergeron, the attorney for the lot's owner and developer, who spoke at a public hearing during the April 7 City Council meeting.

The application for a special permit is complicated by the fact that there is no zoning allowed for car washes by city regulations, Bergeron said, even though at least four other car washes are in operation in the city.

The application is also complicated because the lot abuts a watershed area. Special care would be taken to ensure no wastewater is released into the watershed, and special systems would ensure only 750 gallons of water daily would be put into the city's sewers. That is equivalent to the usage of two four-bedroom houses, Bergeron said.

The car wash would actually reduce the runoff currently leaving the yard, according to Bergeron.

"You would be making a substantial improvement in the watershed district," he said.

Engineer Justin DuFresne said a special system would capture over 97 percent of suspended solids in the wastewater. That is higher than the state-mandated 80 percent, he added.

Property owner Kevin Labadini said the parcel has been in his family since 1985. While he had in recent years tried to develop the property as a retail or restaurant business, the close proximity to the watershed prevented him from using the entire property for parking due to setbacks. He said a car wash, which does not require much on-site parking, was the best idea to develop the property.

"Because of the setbacks, nothing seemed to work," Labadini said.

Councilors said they have reservations about the proposal. Noise would be a concern, as the nearest apartment building, Applebriar Apartments at 20 Applebriar Lane, is only 150 feet away through a thicket of trees. Apartment Manager Jennifer Maillet told councilors she was concerned about possible noise, despite the improvement to the neighborhood a car wash might bring.

"It will look better, but the rent is over $1,300 for the apartments, so they like the quiet," Maillet told reporters.

Councilors expressed concerns about noise from vacuum systems and drying equipment.

"Were looking into diff erent drying things for the noise levels," Labadini said.

Bergeron said the company would be happy to commission a noise-reduction study, work with the city on hours of operation and address any other concerns brought up by the Urban Affairs Committee.

The council voted to send the application to Urban Affairs for further review.

In other business, the council voted to transfer $826,950 from the city's Health Insurance Trust Fund to the city's Stabilization Fund.

This marks the end of a series of transactions that began when the city's health fund ran short of money in 2003, At-Large Councilor Michael Ossing said.

At that time, the city paid $4 million out of its free cash to fund the health system and has been paying itself back over the last two years.

"This is the fourth and final transfer," Ossing said, "so it puts the issue of 2003 behind us."

The city obtained the funds by raising an extra amount to go into the health-care program. The program benefits city workers and is paid for 70 percent by the city and 30 percent by city employees.

Ossing said the city has not lost money after the financial maneuvers over the past few years, but it had lost the ability to channel that money into other uses during the time it was tied up in the health-care system.

The addition increases to $7.8 million the balance the city has in its Stabilization Fund, which is used for various purposes and as a rainy day fund, Ossing said.