Mayor: Medford Will Receive Mitigation for Fast14

There was never an official agreement, but there was always an understanding the city of Medford would receive mitigation from the contractor for the Fast14 project, Mayor Michael McGlynn said Wednesday.

In a phone interview Wednesday, McGlynn said he was "absolutely" confident some of the projects he named during his State of the City address would be part of the mitigation package with J.F. White Contractor.

During the address last week at Century Bank, McGlynn said among other things, from the contracting firm overseeing the $92 million project that replaced 14 superstructures along I-93 in Medford through rigorious weekend construction during the summer.

Several city councilors have since criticized McGlynn for not having a mitigation agreement with the contractor before the project started. But J.F. White has been receptive to providing mitigation to the city from the beginning, McGlynn said, and an agreement could be reached as soon as the end of this week.

“Peter White (J.F. White president) said, 'We’re here, we’re going to do something.' It has been a very positive relationship,” McGlynn said in a phone interview Wednesday.

McGlynn said he was "absolutely" confident some of the projects he named during the state of the city would be part of the mitigation.

"We could have come to an agreement last week, we could have had a settlement and I could have put it into action right away, but I’d rather take a couple additional week and see if we could accomplish a couple others," McGlynn said.

Along with the contractor, the state is funding work to address roads and private property directly impacted by the project, McGlynn said. The city, contractor and state are in discussions about whether some projects could be jointly funded by the state and contractor, McGlynn said.

During a meeting Tuesday, city councilors Robert Penta and Michael Marks both criticized McGlynn for waiting until after the project was completed to seek mitigation.

McGlynn should have sought mitigation before the project started, or in July, when he met with contractors, the Secretary of Transportation and Gov. Deval Patrick, Marks said.

"It appears to me that this is just a smokescreen to make it appear the mayor is on top of things," Marks said. "...It doesn’t make sense – you don’t ask for mitigation after the project is done."

Penta said the mitigation request was a "boondoggle."

“This is just endemic to what goes on on a daily basis in this community," Penta said.

McGlynn said he first asked about mitigation in a meeting in Boston before the project started with Jeffrey Mullan - Transportation Secretary at the time - and officials with J.F. White.

"The whole project was laid out and the first question I asked was ‘this is a historic project, but, what mitigation will you give the residents for the sacrifices they will make?'" McGlynn said. "The answer from the beginning was, 'We want to do something for the community because we know what burden your going to place on you.'"

A mitigation agreement outlining specific projects could be completed this week, McGlynn said.

"I’m going to try and do it this week," McGlynn said. "It's just a matter of getting a hold of everybody from MassDOT and J.F. White."