Curve Road property sale
Published on May 31st, 2006
STONEHAM, MA - In a unanimous 3-0 vote, the Board of Selectmen directed Town Treasurer Thomas Cicatelli to set a minimal bidding price of $13,000 for a small town-owned parcel of land at the tip of Curve Road.
A few weeks ago, Town Administrator Ron Florino had suggested that the 1,049 square foot strip of land be sold for $10,000.
However, upon learning that the potential buyer of the parcel would be able to subdivide his property upon purchase of the land, as it would create another buildable lot, Selectmen Paul Rotondi and Tony Kennedy advocated for a higher selling price.
According to Cicatelli, while the Curve Road property had been accessed at $5,000, meaning that the first proposed $10,000 price-tag appeared to be fairly set, he needed direction from the Selectmen on what minimal figure should be established.
The sale of the small strip of town-owned land was authorized at a Town Meeting gathering nearly a year ago.
"We have been directed by Town Meeting to sell this property. It will create a buildable lot, so there is a benefit for it at that point [after a new house is built, creating new tax revenue]. But that is the accessed value of that lot as it stands," the Town Treasurer explained, referring to the $5,000 valuation.
Continuing to advocate for the original $10,000 price-tag, Town Administrator Ron Florino presented the Selectmen with a list of site work which would be required before the property could be considered a separate buildable lot.
According to Florino, the worksheet, which was prepared by Public Works Director Bob Grover, calculated that at least $60,000 worth of site preparations would be necessary.
"The town owns about 1,049 square feet, so it's not a great deal of property. I thought that $10,000 was a reasonable amount, knowing how much work needs to be done," the Town Administrator argued, listing the installation of sewer and water pipes, the re-grading of the property, and the creation of a roadway as required work.
"It does create tax revenue with another house there. So that's fine. I'm comfortable with that," chimed in Selectman George Seibold. "I would rather see the $10,000 than have this person get discouraged. And then there'll be no house there at all."
Predicting that the end-worth of the property, when subdivided, would be around $250,000, Rotondi appealed for the price-tag to be set at $13,000, which he considered fair since the town's portion of the lot would constitute about one-tenth of the buildable lot.
Kennedy would later agree with Rotondi, feeling that the $10,000 figure appeared to have been pulled out of the air. The veteran Selectman further countered that an additional $3,000 didn't seem to be a jump that would render the property owner's plans uneconomical.
"It's an asset to the town. And it strikes me as providing value to someone. Even at $13,000, I think this is reasonable," said Kennedy, before the unanimous 3-0 vote.
Bonding
The town's Selectmen also voted to authorize the Town Treasurer to borrow a little more than $2 million through both long and short-term bonds.
According to Cicatelli, the approval was required to permit him to obtain the funding approved from various measures at Town Meeting.
Broken down into three separate amounts, approximately $95,000 worth of the funding would be obtained through short-term borrowing.
The majority of that smaller amount, $60,000, would pay for the new fire station study, which was abandoned last year after town officials realized they would lack any funding to pay for a new facility.
"The study was done on a property that was not owned by the Town of Stoneham at the time," said Cicatelli, explaining why the item couldn't be included in the larger $1,988,530 bond, which would be borrowed over the long-term at a rate of 4.25 percent.
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