By Bill Forry

The state Attorney General's office has filed a motion to evict a Granite Avenue tow company from property that is expected to be converted into parkland along the Neponset River. Now, an attorney for the Schlager Tow Company says that the business will soon relocate to a new site in Quincy.

The state acquired the Schlager company's land by eminent domain three years ago for the purpose of reclaiming the waterfront property for public use. However, the terms of the acquisition allowed Schlager to rent the site until the business could find an appropriate new location.

Schlager originally hoped to relocate next door to a former junkyard known as the Sax property. The idea was unpopular with local civic leaders, however, and in 2000, the state Legislature appropriated $7 million to acquire the Sax property for parkland. Schlager is now suing two Dorchester elected officials and the Cedar Grove Civic Association, claiming that they improperly interfered in his relocation plans.

Schlager's attorney, Richard Hynes, says that neighborhood opposition further delayed Schlager's move.

Another business along the Neponset- T Equipment- relocated last year.

Hynes said this week that Schlager now hopes to relocate his business to an industrially zoned property near Crown Colony in Quincy, a transaction which is still in progress. Hynes says that Schlager plans "to make a good faith effort to get out of where he is as soon as humanly possible."

Kathy Garnett, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), says that the Attorney General's office served Schlager with a 'notice to quit' the Granite Ave. site on April 12. The notice must be either appealed or honored by May 13.

Meanwhile, Hynes says that Schlager's civil lawsuit filed last year against Speaker Thomas Finneran, City Councillor Maureen Feeney and the Cedar Grove Civic Association is still moving ahead. Schlager alleges that the three conspired to block his relocation to the Sax property. Hynes says Schlager wants to recoup about $100,000 in fees he spent while preparing to buy the Sax site.

"We plan to talk with the Attorney General's office and the Speaker to get some kind of relief for the amount of investment that (Schlager) put in," said Hynes.

Garnett says that the MDC hopes to begin environmental testing on the Schlager site as soon as the business leaves. In 2000, the MDC was directed by legislators to spend $15 million to clean up and build parkland along that section of the Neponset River, including the Sax property. The MDC says it is currently negotiating with the current owners to acquire the Sax site.