Select Board authorizes town manager to negotiate sewer agreement for proposed Primrose child-care center

A Primrose Schools proposal for a child-care center at 457 Massachusetts Ave moved forward on Monday after the Select Board authorized the town manager to negotiate an "ability to serve" or memorandum of agreement confirming sewer capacity for the project.

Project and sewer request: Primrose Schools — a national child-care chain — applied for a sewer connection for a proposed two-story child-care facility at 457 Massachusetts Ave. Town staff reported the site currently has one sewer unit assigned for the single-family home on the parcel and the applicant requested an additional six sewer units (bringing total demand to seven SBUs). Town consulting engineers had evaluated sewer availability and the staff memo noted other previously reserved allocations; Select Board approval will support a formal agreement that allows the applicant to continue engineering and permitting work.

Board direction and conditions sought: after discussion about site layout, parking and historic-home impacts, the Select Board voted unanimously to direct the town manager to negotiate an agreement to serve and return it to the Board for approval. Board members and staff asked the applicant to consider design revisions to reduce play areas exposed to Massachusetts Avenue and to explore options such as cross-access with the adjacent school driveway. Several board members also asked the applicant to consider subsidized child-care slots coordinated with town human services; Primrose representatives said the company has a charitable arm and would discuss options.

Historic and siting matters: the property includes a house that may be subject to a demonstration-delay review by the Historic Commission. Staff said a demo-delay application from 2019 had previously expired and the applicant planned HDC review in mid-May. The board heard comments urging reuse of the house where feasible and said the project will need State and local permitting, stormwater review, MassDOT driveway permits and a traffic review during site-plan review.

Why it matters: the Select Board and residents raised child-care availability as a community need, and the project would add local capacity while using sewer resources that the board regulates. The town charges a sewer-connection fee per sewer unit; consultants indicated an approximate fee of $30,000 per unit but staff said the town would confirm the precise figure through engineering staff.

Next steps: the town manager will draft the memorandum of agreement/ability-to-serve document and return it to the Select Board for formal authorization prior to final firm commitments. The applicant will proceed with site-plan and historic-review processes and return materials needed for permitting.