Person · 1921 - 1987

Nicola Micozzi

Born	1921-03-11
Died	1987-10-21
Town Meeting
In Office	1969 - 1973 1977 - 1986
Conservation Commission
In Office	1972 - 1987

Nicola Micozzi, known as Nick, was born on March 11, 1921, and lived at 15 Endicott Street in Billerica. He served as a town meeting member from Precinct 4 by 1969, and in 1977 he was the chairman of the Precinct 4 town meeting members. In September 1970 he was one of four members added to the Town Flag Adoption Committee, which worked out a design for an official town flag and recommended it to the 1971 town meeting, and in 1971 he sat on the Gilson Hill Committee.

In 1972 the selectmen appointed him and William A. Gelzinis to the Conservation Commission, replacing Howard J. Ralston and Joseph Gallant. By 1973 he was already reporting to the commission on plans for dredging Nutting Lake. He was its vice chairman by 1974, and after Gustav Wagner left the chair in December 1975 he signed the commission's reports as acting chairman for 1976 and 1977. He was chairman from 1978 until his death. He also represented the commission on the Local Growth Policy Committee from 1975 to 1984.

The restoration of Nutting Lake, which the commission later credited him with overseeing "from start to successful conclusion," was the largest project the commission had undertaken. In 1976 the commission learned that the federal Environmental Protection Agency had money for lake restoration and applied for it, and preliminary approval came in March 1977. The Nutting Lake Water Quality Restoration Project had five parts: dredging the lake, disposing of the dredged sediment, an educational program, a street sweeping program and a land acquisition program. Dredging got into full swing in 1979, when more than 30,000 cubic yards of sediment were removed, and 60,000 cubic yards came out in 1980; the project was officially completed in December 1985. The commission also bought about 12 acres on the southwest side of the lake, approved by the 1975 town meeting, and in 1984 it purchased a 35-acre parcel on Fox Hill. A town beach with a comfort station and parking area was built at the lake, and on May 9, 1986, State Senator Patricia McGovern and Representative Michael J. Rea Jr. presented Micozzi with a $50,000 grant from the state Division of Waterways, for the parking area and handicapped access at the beach house, during a small ceremony at the beach.

By 1986 he was ill, and a letter from him was read to that year's town meeting in his place. In May 1987 Vice Chairman Carlo Piacenza Jr. told town meeting that Micozzi was very ill and that he would raise $25,000 for a Nick Micozzi Scholarship Fund. The beach opened on June 27, 1987, and the selectmen voted unanimously to name it the Nicola Micozzi Beach "in recognition of his time, effort and dedication in making the development of this facility a reality." He died on October 21, 1987. The Conservation Commission wrote that he "was instrumental in molding the Conservation Commission into the important and successful Board that it is," and that because of his dedication and persistence "Nutting Lake has been completely restored as a popular spot for swimming, boating and fishing." He is buried in Fox Hill Cemetery in Billerica. A Nicola Micozzi fund is listed among the town's endowed scholarship funds in the treasurer's reports from the late 1990s on, and the town reports still call the beach Micozzi Beach.

Nicola Micozzi

Nicola Micozzi

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