SOMERSET — The 108-room Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott and related commercial projects planned for Route 6 near the Veterans Memorial Bridge should be taking an important step forward Thursday afternoon when state and town officials announce a major grant for road improvements.
Secretary of Economic Development Jay Ash and Selectmen Chairwoman Holly McNamara are scheduled to announce that Somerset will be one of 37 communities sharing $82.8 million in MassWorks Infrastructure program grant funds.
The grant will support Route 6 road improvements for the Fairfield Commons project being built by South Coast Hospitality LLC.
The town reportedly applied for $880,000 from the state grant for road and signal light upgrades at the primary hotel entrance located opposite the Stop & Shop at 500 G.A.R. Highway (Route 6).
A brief invitation from the selectmen/town administrator’s office did not list the grant award, and McNamara could not be reached for comment.
The announcement is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the first-floor meeting room at Town Hall, 140 Wood St.
Fourteen months ago, Town Meeting voters overwhelmingly approved a zoning revision to allow building of a hotel in a Limited Business zone, along with increasing the height allowance of the four-story hotel by 10 feet to 45 feet.
One or two restaurants and another commercial project comprise the project located on approximately 14.5 acres.
South Coast Hospitality and its principle, Marc Landry, ag—reed to purchase the property for $750,000 and paid the 10 percent deposit of $75,000 after the Sept. 24 special Town Meeting.
The balance, as of recently, had not been made and little work besides test borings and related work have been done at the site, said Tim Turner, town health and conservation agent who’s also a member of the Planning Board that reviewed the plan.
“This is going to get that hotel going. We’re going to see some actual work real soon,” Turner said.
The grant, he said, would “go a long way” toward finalizing the permits sought by the developer through DiPrete Engineering Inc. in Providence.
The Environmental Notification Form filed early this year under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act included filling three-fourths of an acre of wetlands. It listed requirements to upgrade the traffic signal light, widen Route 6, install handicapped sidewalks and construct a prefabricated arched culvert to cross an intermittent stream.
Executive Energy Affairs Secretary Matthew Beaton in March issued a certificate for the ENF.
At the town meeting last September — just months after the Brayton Point power plant shut down — McNamara touted the expected $500,000 a year in taxes the project is expect to generate from real estate, lodging and food taxes.
Landry projected 70 full- and part-time jobs, of which 25 to 30 would come from the hotel.
Officials see the hotel project as one of several being pursued that can help offset the fiscal losses from Brayton Point, the town’s highest taxpayer.
State Rep. Patricia Haddad and Sen. Michael Rodrigues were also invited to join officials making the announcement.
The MassWorks infrastructure program announced this summer that for 2018 they had 107 grant applications totaling $208 million. The 40 grants to 37 communities, totaling $82,838,964 is expected to leverage $2.9 billion in private investment with 4,431 units of new housing and more than 9,000 full-time jobs, state officials said.
Email Michael Holtzman at mholtzman@heraldnews.com or call him at 508-676-2573.