SOUTHWICK — The Select Board agreed during its Nov. 25 meeting to schedule a Special Town Meeting sometime in January to have residents to decide on a request by the Community Preservation Committee to allocate $164,000 of its funds to allow the Historical Society to purchase a piece of property on College Highway.
The board held off on scheduling the meeting until it learned when the auditorium at Southwick Regional School would be available but indicated it would probably be in mid-January.
In September, society representative Lee Hamberg applied to the CPC for over $220,000 to help it purchase a 10.52-acre piece of property at 74 College Hwy.
He said at the time there were the five things the society wanted to do with the property if they could acquire it: place a conservation restriction on it; develop a land management plan that accounts for its scenic, agricultural and passive recreation value; install an informational kiosk on the property; and provide the public access to the property from the parking lot of the Gillett Cigar Factory on the society’s property at 86 College Hwy.
The CPC initially agreed, but authorized spending its funds to conduct an appraisal of the property as required by the state’s CPC regulations.
Last week, it agreed to allocate $164,000 for the town to purchase a conservation restriction on the property, which was assessed as part of the appraisal.
The society, using its own funds, will make up the difference — $11,000 — in the property’s price of $175,000; plus $21,000 for a property survey, a property management plan, real estate agent fees and closing costs; $20,750 in contingency fees; and $1,000 for preparing the perimeter of the property with mowing and landscaping. The installation of the kiosk is estimated to cost $3,000.
In October, Chief Administrative Officer Nicole Parker told the board members about the society’s intention to purchase the property, its tentative approval by the CPC, and the need to call a Special Town Meeting before a purchase and sale agreement on the property expired in late December or January.
At that meeting, board member Doug Moglin, saying he didn’t want to set a precedent of having a one-article warrant for the Special Town Meeting, asked Parker to check with the property owners to learn if they would be willing to extend the agreement through May for the town’s next Annual Town Meeting.
At the next meeting, Parker said she had spoken to the owners and that they were agreeable to the extension.
However, at the board’s meeting on Nov. 18, Moglin asked Parker if the property owners had put in writing they were willing to wait. She said no, and that she would reach out to them.
She learned on Nov. 21 the owners weren’t willing to wait.
Board member Jason Perron asked Parker during the Nov. 25 meeting if there were any other articles that might be included in a warrant.
She said she knew of two; an application by the town to the CPC for $155,000 to cover the cost of an architectural and engineering study to determine how much it will cost to repair the brick façade on Town Hall; and a request from the Parks and Recreation Commission to fund the construction of six pickleball courts at Whalley Park.
When Parker was updating the CPC last week about the purchase of the property, there was some confusion about the deadline to execute the purchase and sale agreement.
With the general understanding the deadline for the purchase and sale agreement expired in late December, CPC Chair Christopher Pratt said the committee could schedule a meeting before its next meeting on Dec. 18, which it did.
The CPC is scheduled to meet Wednesday, Nov. 27 to finalize approving the town’s brick façade project for Town Hall, which is on the agenda.
However, the Parks and Recreation Commission’s request for $670,000 for the installation of six pickleball courts at Whalley Park is not on the CPC’s agenda.
Cara Cartello, the director of recreational operations, said Tuesday the commission is planning on applying to the CPC for the court project at the CPC’s Dec. 18 meeting.
