By Jon CHESTO
From Boston Globe

By William Tauro

Now Somerville taxpayers Have to Pay $28 Million More Because of Mayor Katjana Ballantyne’s Careless Decisions 

Well I’ve been writing and telling all along to Mayor Katjana Ballantyne and all the City Councilors that the residents of Cobble Hill Apartments do not want that public safety building built at 90 Washington St., because of late night noises and activity that the 300 seniors living in Cobble Hill Apartments directly next door at 84 Washington Street would have to endure every night if the public safety building is built there. 

If Mayor Katjana Ballantyne had taken my advice, this entire lawsuit would have been averted. I told them that there were two other optional locations options. One other option being at Mcgrath Highway across the street from Twin City plaza. The other option across the street from Assembly Square  along Route 93. Both options with immediate access to all major parts of the city as well as with no immediate abutting neighbors to disturb and both would’ve been just as well as Washington Street would’ve been, but no they didn’t want to listen to me, they didn’t want to listen to the residents, they didn’t want to listen to the people of Somerville.

So now Somerville taxpayers have to dish out $28 million because of Mayor Katjana Ballantyne’s stubbornness and lack of listening to the people of Somerville.  😡

“When Just Ok Just Isn’t Good Enough!”
Somerville Can Better
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Somerville Loses Court Case Over Eminent Domain

By Boston Globe

Somerville could be on the hook for roughly $28 million after a Superior Court jury ruled against the city in a trial over an eminent domain taking of a property in the Inner Belt area, according to a lawyer for the former landowners.

The property at issue is a four-acre parcel at 90 Washington St. that the Somerville Redevelopment Authority seized using eminent domain in 2019. More recently, Somerville officials have started seeking a developer that could build a new public safety building for the city as part of a bigger project. The redevelopment authority paid nearly $8.8 million for the property to the parcel owner — Cobble Hill Center LLC, a partnership owned by the Corcoran, Jennison, and Mullins families.

But George McLaughlin, a partner at the McLaughlin Brothers law firm, said he successfully argued in a trial in Middlesex Superior Court that the land is worth $35.3 million assuming 200,000 square feet of labs could be built there.

The jury, McLaughlin said, ruled in his client’s favor on Monday, agreeing with Cobble Hill’s valuation. The $26.5 million difference between Cobble Hill’s valuation and what the city paid four years ago, plus interest, totals close to $28 million, McLaughlin said.

The city has the right to appeal the verdict; a spokeswoman for the city declined to comment on Wednesday. — JON CHESTO