Light Board Approves Purecoat Substation Site

After two years of studying possible locations, the Belmont Municipal Light Department's 115 kV Site Selection Committee has the go-ahead to purchase the three-acre Purecoat North LLC plant on Hittinger Street to build a nearly $40 million electrical substation.

On Monday, July 26, the Board of Selectmen – acting in its capacity as the Municipal Light Board – unanimously voted to accept the committee's recommendation to negotiate a purchase and sale agreement with the Tosi family that owns Purecoat North and the Belmont location.

Selectmen Mark Paolillo said the pros of having the substation at the Purecoat site, off Hittinger Street adjacent to Belmont High School, outweighs the cons which include citizens questioning the payment of approximately $7 million to the Tosi family when the high school site is available at no cost and that buying the site would take the property off the tax rolls which is currently contributing $60,000 a year to the town's coffers.

The flexibility of having the site, he and Selectman Chairman Ralph Jones agreed, is an extremely attractive proposition for Belmont. 

Committee co-chairs Robert E. McLaughlin Sr. and Robert Forrester hope to proceed with the transaction in time to report to a September Town Meeting which will make the final vote on the site.

McLaughlin and Forrester appeared before the board to explain their recommendation of the Purecoat property over land abutting Belmont High School's tennis courts.

McLauglin pointed out that the Site Selection Committee considered a number of factors such as suitability of the location, disruption from construction, cost, environmental factors and collateral benefits to the town.

The costs of having the substation at the high school are similar to having it at Purecoat, McLaughlin said. Estimates indicate having the substation on the high school grounds would be $39,867,000 and $39,796,000 at Purecoat.

The main difference, he said, is that Purecoat offers Belmont more flexibility because the department will not necessarily need the entire three acre site and the town would receive value for any excess land.

"(If there is any surplus land after building the substation) the Purecoat property allows the town to move the department headquarters, use it for another town purpose, sell it or hold it pending a later decision," he said.

Other reasons the selection committee recommends the Purecoat site over the high school's land include the fact that people might question the wisdom of a new electrical substation so close to students who might suffer health consequences from the electromagnetic field, despite expert opinion to the contrary.

Additionally, the high school land was once part of the railroad and the town would likely need the approval of the State Department of Transportation to use the property that might lead to a delay.

McLaughlin also said the BMLD would need to provide an alternative use for the fields and tennis courts during construction of the substation.

Finally, there was a question about the title of the property which had been owned at one time by Boston and the Maine Railroad and, although Town Counsel found Belmont bought the parcel from the railroad in 1935 for highway drainage and sewer use and characterized the title as insurable, that might not prevent the slight risk of service disruption in case there was a later dispute.

According to the Site Selection Committee, the Purecoat property is best for the long-term interest of Belmont because it offers flexibility for a number of capital projects to move forward.

McLaughlin said the Tosi family is willing to lease a building on the site for a period of time that could align with the department's permitting and construction period which in turn would provide cash flow to the BMLD and improve the economics of the project, and give the town time to consider potential uses of the two acres of the site not needed for the substation.

Also, the cost of taking the site would only add $2 or $3 per month on the average residential electric bill; and the town could choose to move the entire BMLD to the excess land, allowing expansion of the Department of Public Works on the Light Department's present site on Prince Street.

"The neighbors would be delighted to see Purecoat gone and there are too many unknowns on the high school property," McLaughlin said.

Since opening its 40,000 square foot facility nearly 40 years ago, the one-time Cambridge Plating has been the target of residents who claimed the industrial electroplating, polishing and coloring operation was not the right mix for a heavily residential area.

McLaughlin and Forrester recommend that the BMLD obtain a legal opinion on who has the authority to dispose of the extra land.