The Grafton Republican will join fellow legislators, municipal officials and representatives from a variety of planning, transit and development agencies on the 27-member 495/Metro West Suburban Edge Community Commission, which is being chaired by Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Jay Ash. The commission will investigate and study the various development challenges facing edge communities, including transportation, water, cellular and energy infrastructure needs, transit services, residential development, reuse of former industrial facilities and historic mills, brownfields reclamation, and downtown redevelopment issues.
The special commission, created through an outside section of the Fiscal Year 2015 state budget, defines an edge community as any municipality with a population of not more than 35,000 that is not adjacent to a gateway municipality. Gateway communities are defined in statute as municipalities with populations greater than 35,000 and less than 250,000 with a median household income below the Commonwealth’s average and a rate of educational attainment of a bachelor’s degree or above that is below the Commonwealth’s average.
“Representative Muradian has a strong understanding of the challenges facing our cities and towns, having served as a legislative aide in the House of Representatives for seven years before running for office,” said Representative Jones. “I am confident he will bring a wealth of institutional and real-world knowledge to this special commission as it seeks to find ways to remove some of the barriers impeding development in our edge communities.”
“I am honored to have been appointed to this special commission by Representative Jones,” said Representative Muradian. “As a lifelong resident of the Blackstone Valley, I am deeply committed to the communities I serve and look forward to working with my colleagues to find ways to promote enhanced economic development throughout my district and around the state.”
Representative Muradian represents the Ninth Worcester District, which consists of the communities of Grafton, Northbridge and Upton. He is currently serving his first term in the Massachusetts Legislature, but previously worked in the State House as an aide to former state Representative and Assistant Minority Leader George N. Peterson, Jr., who opted not to run for re-election in 2014 and was recently appointed as the new Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Fish & Game.
