HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-04-22 Board of Selectmen Executive Session Minutes Minutes of the Board of Selectmen Meeting
Executive Session
April 22, 1993
- The meeting was convened at 8:30 p.m. in the Conference Room, 16
Lowell Street, Reading, MA. Present were Chairman Dan Ensminger,
Vice Chairman George Hines, Secretary Sally Hoyt, Selectmen
Eugene Nigro and Bill Burditt, Bear Hill Evaluation Committee
member Don Allen, Town Manager Peter I. Hechenbleikner. Later,
Drew Dolben and Brad Latham joined the group.
On motion by Hoyt seconded by Hines the Board voted to go into
Executive Session for the purpose of discussing real estate nego-
tiations not to come out into open session. All five members
present voted in the affirmative and the motion was carried.
Housing Authority issues including affordable housing for low and
middle income residents were reviewed. Mssrs. Dolben and Latham
entered the meeting. Mr. Latham presented a letter dated April
22, 1993 which addressed the issues raised in the Evaluation
Committee's report of April 7, 1993.
With regard to the number of units and the justification for the
number of units, the proponent felt that these should be dealt
with as part of the site plan process. With regard to the sell-
ing price, the proponent submitted land sales comparables and
other material which indicated that a price in the $7,500 to
$11,000 per unit range was appropriate. This followed consult-
ation with a number of professionals in the field. One of the
comparables sited by the Evaluation Committee was Shrewsbury
which was a MHFA project which was fully permitted.
With regard to item 4, Mr. Latham indicated that he could not
recommend to his client that it accept responsibility for 21E
problems on the site. This issue may moot because of the Corp
of Engineers' clean-up on the site.
With regard to item 5, the proponent will be happy to enter into
discussions with neighborhood groups.
With regard to item 6, related to off-site improvements, the
proponent doesn't feel that this can be left open ended. We
should try to define what needs to be done.
With regard to item 7, the proponent has indicated that the
recreation area is adequate in size - it's approximately one half
of a house lot. The plan, of course, is still in the conceptual
stages.
With regard to additional bonding, the proponent doesn't feel
that this is necessary or appropriate.
With regard to the financial capacity of the developer, the pur-
chase price and closing of the property should be adequate to ad
dress those issues.
Board of Selectmen Minutes - 4/22/93 - page 2
Bill Burditt indicated that the Town might be better off if the
project was a condo. He asked if the developer would finance it
as a condo, and the response was if the market was there it would
be sold as condos when it is developed. Unless it is going to be
sold as condos, it would not be filed as condominiums.
There was discussion about the number of school children that
would be generated from this site. Latham presented information
based on talking to each of the principals of the schools, and
indicated that there would be .17 children per rental unit. Data
was also presented by Drew Dolben showing a range of .2 to .5
children per unit as an example of renting condos vs. apartments.
They will be marketing to 25 to 35 year old people. The town
house units tend to target two income no kids households, with a
$1,000/month rental. The market survey indicates that there is a
market from the Lexington area to the Beverly area. The
proponent indicated that he would be willing to change the three
bedroom units to two bedrooms plus a den or larger two bedroom
unit. The proponent asked if they could layout on the site where
the property line abutts the Bear Hill Road neighbors, and where
the set back would abut them. The Town Manager indicated that
that could be done at a later date, but it was not appropriate to
do so at this time. . Dolben indicated that he would be the manag-
ing agent. There was discussion about the combined access for
Summit Towers and Summit Terrace. If the properties were sold as
condos they would be in the $120,000 (2 bedroom) to $140,000 (3
bedroom) price tag. At 10: 30 p.m Dolben and Latham left. The
Board started to discuss what their issues and concerns were.
The primary issues are the total number of units and total sell-
ing price.
Dolben and Latham came back into the session and the Board indi-
cated that they were positively disposed towards the project.
They understand that the position stated in Latham's letter of
today does not reflect any negotiations. The Board of Selectmen
will meet next week on their own. Mr. Dolben and Mr. Latham
left.
The Town Manager presented a concept for development of the Pearl
Street School site as "assisted housing. " The Board will review
that concept and have a decision next Tuesday at their regular
meeting. On motion by Burditt seconded by Hines the Board voted
to adjourn at 11:05 p.m. with all five members voting in the af-
firmative.
Respectfully submitted,
Secreta y