Watch the meeting online.

Steven Zieff, project manager for the Legacy Farms development proposed for east Hopkinton, paid a quick visit to the Board of Selectmen to give a progress report.  Legacy has completed many filings with the state towards "entitling" the Alprilla Farm Well.  January 15, Legacy filed the Environmental Notification Form (ENF) for the well; they had received their EOEA number by January 26, and comments are due by February 16.

Legacy anticipates filing their pumping test report with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) by Monday.

Legacy has also begun planning on the traffic signalization upgrades at the Cedar Street/Grove Street/Main Street intersection per the Host Community Agreement.  The current signalization mechanism runs on a timer; the new mechanism will be able to respond to traffic situations with video detection, and will have much more flexibility in controlling traffic through the intersection.  After e-mail correspondence with the Downtown Revitalization Committee and other affected groups to verify their "aesthetic choice", they have bid out for the lights.  Zieff did admit that he does not think they will be able to begin work on April 20, the Tuesday immediately following the Boston Marathon and the date recommended by Selectmen RJ Dourney at a previous Legacy Farms Update.  Zieff stressed that the only reason he does not yet have a firm start date is because they have not yet signed a contract with anyone to get the work done.  He insists they should have a start date set up within the next couple of weeks.  Once construction begins, it should take three weeks to complete.

Finally, Zieff also reported that Legacy has begun its Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) filings per the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Act; as Zieff explained it, "It's basically a master permit from the state."  The Legacy farms development is large enough to trigger the need for not just an ENF but also an DEIR.  Since the initial scoping by MEPA, the project has seen a zoning change; they have filed their Master Plan Special Permit; and done "a fairly substantial amount of due diligence" regarding waste water, mounding analyses, and pumping tests, "So there's a significantly greater level of certainty related to the project" than when they had filed the ENF in 2007.  The DEIR should be filed by Monday.  MEPA will then hold a public scoping session, collect comments regarding the DEIR, and sift through that information and the Legacy materials.  Zieff stated that all of their documentation for the filing will be available to the public on their FTP site.

Zieff also noted that LegacyFarms.com is up and running again, and that they have updated their literature about the project and placed pamphlets at Town Hall.