March 16, 2009 Board of Selectmen Town of Framingham 150 Concord St. Framingham, MA 01702 Dear Board of Selectmen, I am writing to you concerning the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Office of Watershed Management’s Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) for watershed lands that are under the jurisdiction of MGL c. 59, §5G. This program is administered by DCR and funded by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). The Sudbury Reservoir System’s “South Basin” is the area comprised of Stearns (Framingham #1) and Brackett (Framingham #2) Reservoirs, property along the Sudbury River adjacent to Hopkinton State Park, and lands within the Sudbury River’s headwaters in the Cedar Swamp Area of Critical Environmental Concern. The MWRA Board of Directors voted on April 11, 2007 to declare the watershed and/or waterworks system real property in the South Basin of the Sudbury Reservoir System as surplus to MWRA watershed or water system needs. This vote authorized the MWRA Executive Director and staff to take all necessary action to discontinue any further payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT) and any other financial responsibility for these lands beyond Fiscal Year 2008. A meeting was subsequently held later that year with your community to discuss the future of the South Basin lands. DCR has been actively pursuing the transfer of this property to other conservation agencies. Management responsibility for the lands in the Cedar Swamp and along the Sudbury River were transferred to DCR Division of State Parks as of December 2008. The Division of Water Supply Protection continues to manage DCR property associated with the lands surrounding Stearns and Brackett Reservoirs during the on-going process of finding a different entity to control this property. Framingham has DCR lands in both the North Basin (Foss Reservoir (Framingham #3) remains the reserve water supply for the DCR/MWRA Water Supply System), as well as the South Basin (the Stearns and Brackett Reservoirs). According to Department of Revenue (DOR) records, the North Basin lands comprised 52% of the total assessment of the area (over) COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS · EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS Department of Conservation and Recreation Deval L. Patrick Ian A. Bowles, Secretary, Executive 251 Causeway Street, Suite 600 Governor Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs Boston MA 02114-2119 617-626-1250 617-626-1351 Fax Timothy P. Murray Richard K. Sullivan, Jr., Commissioner www.mass.gov/dcr Lt. Governor Department of Conservation & Recreation .