Purecoat Gives Light Dept. Flexibility For Substation

Ask Robert McLaughlin the reason the site selection committee of the Belmont Municipal Light District choose the Purecoat North plating facility to build the new electrical substation, and he'll has a one word response.

Flexibility.

McLaughlin, chairman of the committee that has targeted numerous locations throughout town to locate the badly-needed substation only to be rejected or priced out of the market, is just happy that he can get down to negotiating a price for the site located on Hittinger Road rather than take his search on another road show.

This past Monday, June 12, the site selection committee backed the Purecoat site over the small chunk of land adjacent to the Belmont High School tennis courts.

That decision came after the site selection committee heavily pushed for the Belmont School Committee to resolve several issues involving the land where the substation would lie, including clear title and a willingness to transfer the property to the BMLD.

And while the High School site comes without a price tag, McLaughlin said in the long run, it is cost effective to pay the owners of the factory an estimated $6.3 million in ratepayer money.

McLaughlin was ready to meet the Board of Selectmen on Friday morning – which is also the board for the Light Department – to detail the findings but two of the three selectmen will be away.

McLaughlin hopes the meeting to discuss the site committee decision will take place early next week.

In a study created by Robert Forrester of Pequossette Road, the total cost of building on the High School is actually a fraction higher than the Purecoat location: $39,867,000 for the school and $39,798,000 at the industrial site.

While the BMLD must hand over an estimated $6.3 million to secure the site – and then be unable to complete the substation for upwards of five years – the Purecoat site has a built-in flexibility to raise money down the road, said McLaughlin.

While the High School site would provide just enough land to build the substation, the BMLD will only need to use one-third of the land at the Purecoat site.

It is that surplus land that allows the site to be cost effective with the High School site. The consultant predicts the surplus land will be worth $3.3 million on the open market.

"And then we can sell it to the town or to someone else for the benefit of the customers," said McLaughlin.

The advantages for selecting Purecoat kept mounting upon great analyisis, said McLaughlin. The cost of material and construction are less at the Purecoat site because it has direct access from the street.

The BMLD will also save money by not building several expensive amenities the school department required to build on school property including a Turf field for soccer and rebuilding the tennis courts and parking lot.

The Purecoat site is also ready for the type of activity the BMLD is seeking to do there.

"It's zoned for industrial use so we don't have to seek Zoning Board of Appeals approval," he said.

In addition, McLaughlin believes the High School site could used by some to begin a round of "scare tactics" to garner support against electro magnetic fields emulating from the new site.

"Someone can go on the Internet and find some site that says it causes cancer and then we'll be back to defending the entire process," said McLaughlin.

McLaughlin believes the public will support their decision at the Fall Town Meeting that needs to approve the project at that location.

"It costs less, it provides land to build future town projects and it could be the decision that begins the chess game of where all the town offices are going," said McLaughlin.