Cummings Properties Press Release - January 29, 2008

Cummings to pay City $540,000
Planning Board to consider Courthouse occupancy permit again tonight
Cummings Properties Press Release

TradeCenter 128 may be nearing its first milestone tonight. The Planning Board is expected to again consider Cummings Properties' request for the Board's signoff for its occupancy permit for the new building constructed for Middlesex County Superior Court.

The Board at its January 8 meeting appeared mostly concerned about the new lights at the intersection of Main Street, Elm Street, Alfred Street, and Sylvan Road. It wanted to know that these new lights would be fully operational before it would authorize Planning Director Ed Tarallo to issue the first occupancy permit for the Courthouse.

Vehicles flowed through the newly rebuilt Main Street intersection just north of the Route 38 Rotary yesterday, but at times it flowed pretty slowly. Movement at School Street and Main was also meaningfully impacted yesterday morning, as the new traffic controllers began to be activated for the first time.

With several Woburn police officers on duty and technicians making important adjustments, however, operations at both intersections cleared up shortly after 9:00 AM. Today, workers will reportedly begin activating new specialized video monitors at the key intersection serving Stop and Shop and the new TradeCenter 128.

According to Greg Ahearn, who is general superintendent of all field operations at Cummings Properties, "all work on this important Route 38 intersection is now 99 percent done, but technicians are still doing the last corrections. They are working even this morning on final programming adjustments to all of the new lights for inspection by the traffic engineers this week."

Cummings president and CEO, Dennis Clarke, said the only other major unresolved issue he knows of is the Board's requirement for cash in lieu of the modifications to the Route 128 rotary, which MassHighway rejected in May 2007. Although Cummings originally contended that the amount required by the Board was excessive, Clarke said he would write the check today.

According to Clarke, Cummings managers met yesterday with City Engineer Jay Corey, Public Works Superintendent Vincent Ferlisi and Deputy Superintendent Thomas Quinn, along with Planning Director Tarallo. Clarke said the amount of the recommended payment had been reduced by Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. from $590,000 to $540,000.

"If this development project was subject to the City's current Mitigation Ordinance, we would be obligated to pay a total $1.2 million dollars to the City for off-site traffic improvements," said Clarke. "That Mitigation Ordinance does not apply to TradeCenter 128 which is under an approved Subdivision Plan zoning freeze, however, the proponent will pay nearly $3 million dollars for off-site mitigation, including today's $540,000 payment. We have conceded to all that the Planning Board has prescribed."

Clarke said he would make the half million dollars payment to the Planning Department today, to obtain the needed occupancy permit. He emphasized, however, that specific Planning Board approval is still necessary before the first occupancy permit will be issued.