Town of Sharon

Sacred Heart Reuse Committee

Meeting Minutes of 4/13/11

Amended and Approved on 4/25/11

Sharon Community Center

 

Committee Attendees

John Davis, Chair

Jim Michael

Valeda Britton

Ed Keenan

Larry Seggelin

Karen Friedman

Carl Gladstone

David Straus

Michael Ginsberg

 

 

Other Attendees

Alice Cheyer

 

 

Chair Report

Chair Davis opened the meeting at 7:35 PM. The first order of business was rotating the Chair position. Mr. Keenan moved to appoint Karen Friedman as Chair of the Sacred Heart Reuse Committee. Ms. Britton seconded the motion and the Committee voted 8-0-1 in favor. (Ms. Friedman abstained). Ms. Friedman thanked all of the original members for their previous hard work and dedication. She stated she has no hidden agendas and her goal is to create something everyone will enjoy on the property.

 

Cedar Street Status

Mr. Davis said he contacted Peter O’Cain, Town Engineer regarding the question raised as to whether there is a Cedar Street restriction barring egress to Cedar Street. He said Mr. O’ Cain said there is no legal restriction. The Board of Selectmen may have agreed to a specific egress. Also as per Ben Puritz there is nothing formal regarding this restriction. Mr. Davis said therefore since there is nothing formal in writing, we do not need to identify any legal restriction on the access or egress on Cedar Street within an RFP. Ultimately any proposal needs a traffic plan.

 

RFP/Discussion

Mr. Ginsberg said that the Recreation Advisory Committee  submitted a plan to the Board of Selectmen requesting a one way exit, right turn only toward Main Street to prevent traffic from crossing over the cross walks and increase safety of the area. He said they are also looking into putting in a blinking light in the center of the street to make it easier for pedestrians to cross.

 

Chair Friedman asked if there is anything within the current RFP that discusses accessing traffic.

 

Mr. Ginsberg asked why $10,000 is the amount listed to lease the property, on page 5 of the RFP. Mr. Davis said the proposal was to make the most money and that was just a plug number.

 

Mr. Ginsberg said that the small nursery school at Horizons for Youth is paying $35,000 per year for rent so why would the amount to rent Sacred Heart be so small? Mr. Michael said that the nursery school is a habitable building and the Sacred Heart building is not.

 

Mr. Ginsberg asked if the Community Preservation Committee can be asked for the money to demolish the Sacred Heart building. Ms. Cheyer said funds could not be used for demolition.

 

Mr. Michael asked why we did not get a lot of responses to the first RFP and said he spoke to a health club owner/consultant who said that the pool will not make a lot of money. With respect to health clubs, there is a lot of competition.

 

Mr. Gladstone commented that the “holy grail;” to develop the site is parking. When he drove his bicycle by on Saturday, he noticed that the lots were full and is concerned that without enough parking, nothing can be done at the site.

 

Mr. Ginsberg reported that the Finance Committee and the Board of Selectmen voted against allowing housing to be put on the site.

 

Mr. Straus suggested that perhaps the lease term within the RFP needs to change to 50 years. Mr. Davis said that if someone is going to invest large sums into the site, they do not want to be booted off. It would take Town Meeting to change the lease term. Ms. Cheyer said that the statute changed from 10 - 30 years for leases, after the RFP was issued.

 

Mr. Ginsberg said that perhaps other things should be thought of for the site and forwarded information about spas to the Chair for review.

 

Ms. Friedman asked if other uses, like a library, were on the table. Mr. Davis said the library did not submit a proposal and was not encouraged by the nature of the RFP. It would decentralize downtown.

 

Mr. Keenan said he can see moving the Fire Department or Town Hall to the site but that takes a great amount of money to do.

 

Mr. Davis said the goal of the RFP was to bring something to the property that would benefit tax payers. Using the site for a library or police station is not palatable.

 

Mr. Seggelin said the question that needs to be answered is what can be put on the parcel that would generate money for the Town and owner.

 

Ms. Britton suggested there has not been a  focus on educational or cultural options.

 

Mr. Davis said to be fair to Cornerstone, recreation was important to their program. They said it was important that they have active recreation. They thought of the pool as an integral part of the proposal.

 

Ms. Britton said if there are three uses: recreational, cultural and educational, what can be put on the site?

 

Mr. Ginsberg said based ion the size of the property , it does not lend itself to a lot. There are parking restrictions, water restrictions, and facility, traffic and safety restrictions as well.  The easiest thing he suggested was to put a field down.

 

Mr. Michael said satellite museums, or satellite colleges have not been explored.

Mr. Davis said, if nothing else, the RFP is too narrow.. They need to expand the use. We need to promote the submissions for educational and cultural uses that would fit on the site and generate money for the town.

 

Mr. Straus asked what outside of the building can be touched. Can parking be moved and can the basketball courts be moved?

 

Mr. Ginsberg said you can only add gravel parking as per the Conservation Commission issue with the gardeners and Gunhouse Street residents.

 

Mr. Michael indicated that the buildable lot area is rapidly shrinking to make something financially viable. He suggested that a land plan needs to be developed to determine what is usable and what is not, what the traffic issues are, what the Conservation Commission restrictions exist as well as Recreation issues.

 

Mr. Ginsberg said that more fields are needed and there are groups in town that have the finances to support new fields although they would not be revenue makers for the Town.

 

Mr. Davis suggested we should identify people to come in and speak to the Committee like the Conservation Commission, Recreation Department, SYBSA, and gardeners etc. to get their sense of interest in the land as well as their vision. It would be important to ask them how they would like the land used and what restrictions they know of.

 

Mr. Ginsberg said that Scott Brody of Camp Everwood had offered to put a pool in for the Town if the Town would renegotiate the lease on the camp.

 

Ms. Friedman said she will invite various groups to come in and speak to the Committee like the Conservation Commission. Recreation Department, Soccer Association, SYBSA, Community Gardeners, Library, Peter O’Cain, Town Engineer etc.

 

Mr. Gladstone reported that he spoke with Peter O’Cain regarding the physical status of the  building and that Mr. O’Cain was not aware that anyone had recently entered the building. There are windows where the plywood is pulling away or missing.

 

Mr. Davis offered to provide everyone with copies of the picture that he has of the inside of the building.

 

Meeting Minutes

Mr. Davis moved to approve the meeting minutes of 3/29/11 and Mr. Ginsberg seconded the motion. The Committee voted 9-0-0 in favor.

 

Other

Mr. Davis moved that the Sacred Heart Reuse Committee authorize the Chair of the Committee to sign Ms. Levitts timesheet. Mr. Michael seconded the motion and the Committee voted 9-0-0 in favor of the motion.

Next Meeting

4/25/11

 

Adjournment

Mr. Davis moved to adjourn at 9:00 PM and Mr. Keenan seconded the motion. The Committee voted 9-0-0 in favor.

 

Attachments

1. June 25, 2010 email from John Davis to Ben Puritz containing the listing of the names of contacts to whom the RPF was mailed.