NORTHBOROUGH – Efforts to build a contractor yard on Bartlett Street in Northborough are moving forward as the Northborough Planning Board continues its review of plans.
The company, R.J. Devereaux, installs natural gas lines for National Grid and Eversource.
It is hoping to use this Bartlett Street property as a “support system” for its Eversource crews, according to Project Manager Rick Gates.
The site is 6.7 acres and is currently occupied by Lamy Automotive.
R.J. Devereaux’s Attorney Paula Devereaux said the company has the property under agreement and would like to move in, using the two vacant buildings on the site as a contractor’s yard.
Having already undergone review by the Zoning Board of Appeals, R.J Devereaux is continuing this process in hopes of beginning work.
Representatives detail plans
There are two entrances to this parcel off Bartlett.
R.J. Devereaux is projecting 314 car trips spread out over the day, based on its other operations, though Gates said that’s the worst case scenario.
“It’s going to be lighter than what you’re seeing,” Gates told the Planning Board on March 2.
One of the buildings is located on the west side of the property and spans 17,159 square feet.
The second is on the eastern portion of the lot and is just under 12,000 square feet.
Project engineer Vito Colonna said R.J. Devereaux wants to keep and rehabilitate the existing buildings.
The larger building would specifically act as an administrative building. It would house offices and be used for training.
The training would range from education on first aid to classes on how to operate certain tools.
“Basically, [we’re] taking someone who doesn’t know about our business and teaching them everything,” Gates said. “What it’s going to enable us to do is train even better than we are right now.”
The other 12,000-square foot building would be R.J Devereaux’s maintenance building.
It would be used to maintain equipment.
“It isn’t meant for any outside service or anything like that,” Colonna said. “It’s service of their own equipment. It’s all internal use.”
The facility would also allow the company to bring in its trailers during winter snowstorms.
The plans further call for the construction of four additional bays to store gravel, sand, processed gravel and crushed stone.
“If we have a breakdown in the field, and we can’t bring in material to finish a job out in the field — that’s what that material would be for,” Gates said of those latter plans.
Attorney notes contamination
Devereaux said the site was previously used by Bay State Circuits, who used a leach field, which is a kind of underground water filtration and sewage treatment system.
Discharges into the field were discontinued in 1987. The site was cleaned up by 2009.
There was also a town well in the area.
This was believed to be off Lyman Street. But it was discontinued.
Though the well has been discontinued, Devereaux said state guidelines still require the company to monitor it according to drinking water standards.
She said the company will monitor the well, as a result.
The Planning Board heard an update on this matter during its meeting on Tuesday.
Devereaux said town counsel had told them that they will need to apply for an additional special permit in the groundwater protection overlay district as part of this process.
As such, R.J. Devereaux will have to go before the Groundwater Advisory Committee.
Their hearing before the Planning Board was continued, in the meantime, until April 19.
RELATED CONTENT
Contractor proposes support yard on Northborough’s Bartlett Street
