For Immediate Release

Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016

Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net

Littleton Town Meeting Approves Multimillion-Dollar Projects

LITTLETON — The Littleton Board of Selectmen is pleased to announce that several key measures were passed at Town Meeting, including the approval of the fire station expansion, Alumni Field complex renovations, conservation land purchases and economic development.

The meeting was held on Nov. 16, where more than 900 residents were able to vote on warrant items designed to improve infrastructure and promote economic growth and sustainability.

“This was a very successful town meeting,” said Melissa Hebert, Chair of the Littleton Board of Selectmen. “Through the hard work of all those involved, we are able to move forward with many great projects that will benefit the town and the residents we serve.”

Funding for projects is completely inside the levy limit and will not raise taxes. These include:

New fire station

Littleton will invest $8.9 million into building a new fire station at the existing 20 Foster St. location. Construction is scheduled to begin in December and completed one year later, in December 2017.

During construction, the fire headquarters will move to 80 Ayer Road.

The new station will be paid for through a $2.9 million allocation from the town’s stabilization fund, and $6 million will be bonded over 20 years.

Once completed, the station will have space to adequately house apparatus, a decontamination area, updated living quarters, a state-of-the-art live training facility, a community meeting room that will be open to the public, additional parking and more.

Conservation land project

Town Meeting authorized the purchase of two parcels of land on Boxborough Road for conservation purposes. The properties abut additional pieces of conservation land and give the town the ability to create a series of walking trails.

Littleton will be purchasing 5.3-acres of surplus property from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for $205,000.

The Town’s agreement with seller Joyce Williams was to purchase the 35.11-acre property for $1.27-million, contingent upon award of a $400,000 state grant. This week, the Town learned it did not receive the grant, but looks forward to continued negotiations with the seller to be able to bring this purchase to a future town meeting.

Economic development program

Town Meeting voters also approved important economic development initiatives with new funding for the Littleton Common sewer strategic plan and authorization for a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement for the new owner of the former Veryfine/Sunny Delight bottling facility.

Voters approved $252,000 to update the 2012 smart sewer study for Littleton Common and conduct a full build-out analysis, making the Town eligible to apply a $150,000 grant from the state’s Department of Energy Resources. The total estimated cost for the build-out is $600,000 with a 30 percent design cost for the $4.2-million smart sewer proposed in the 2012 study.  The goal of the Littleton Common smart sewer initiative is to promote economic development and more amenities in Littleton’s traditional village center.

Patriot Beverage LLC has purchased the former Sunny Delight property at 3 and 20 Harvard Road, and in order to support the company in being successful in starting up in this iconic building, Littleton Town Meeting voters approved a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement for Patriot Beverage, LLC under the state’s Economic Development Incentive Program (EDIP). The Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council will act on the EDIP application at its quarterly meeting on December 13.

The TIF agreement allows Patriot Beverage, an independent cooperative that produces Pepsi products, to receive a $113,000 tax break over seven years. During that time period, Littleton will collect 1.4 million in tax revenue from the company. In fact, by simply having a business in the formerly vacant space, $8 million will be taken off the residential tax base and moved onto the commercial tax base.

After five years, Patriot Beverage will donate $20,000 to a cause in town, which will directly benefit services for residents.

Additionally, the company is investing $22 million into the building, creating 50 new jobs over the course of five years.

Alumni Field Renovations

Littleton has allocated $4 million to renovate the entire Alumni Field complex, which is approximately 46 years old and has never been updated.

The project includes adding synthetic turf, which will allow more sports and more games to be played per year, along with the construction and installation of new bleachers (with a press box), an amenities building (with bathrooms, concession stand and storage), additional parking, and improved traffic flow around the complex. All improvements will meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards. The work will be bid this winter, with completion expected in September 2017.

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