Wilber School Redevelopment Committee/Board of Selectmen Joint Meeting

Executive Session September 11th, 2006

Approved September 18, 2006

Approved for Release October 29, 2007

Attendees

David DePree-Chair	Phil Kopel-WSRC
Michael Baskin-WSRC	Michael Baskin-WSRC
Stephen Crane-Consultant	Marcia Liebman-WSRC
David Deitz-WSRC	Melissa Mills-WSRC
Craig Edwards-WSRC	Joel Tran-WSRC
David Gordon-WSRC	Greg Waugh-WSRC
Marilyn Kahn-WSRC	Richard Powell-BOS

Meeting called to order at 7:40 pm by David DePree.

Steven Crane facilitated the review of proposals.

Initial “sense” by each committee member (only WSRC members voted-BOS abstained) of each proposal:

Firm	HA	A	NA	U
Spiegel & Bloom	1	6	3	0
Connolly	6	5	0	0
RSJ	1	5	5	0
Frontier	5	4	2	0
Commonwealth	0	1	3	7

Based on the ratings, CommonweaIth moved to the bottom of the list.

The group next compared Spiegel & Bloom with RSJ (the “middle scorers”):

Spiegel & Bloom	RSJ
Pros:	Pros:
Attractive rendering	Full rehabilitation
Good lease price	Affordable rentals
Faster schedule	Appealing site development
Cons:	Cons:
Façade only	Densely populated
No affordable	Lack of financial details
Demo done by town	Town houses
Sales-condos	Trying to obtain tax relief

Clarification about committee's ability to obtain additional information is needed; Crane referred committee to Town Counsel.

The two “top scorers” were compared:

Connolly	Frontier
Need to wait for tax credits	Lease payment $180K per year
Cash payments each year	Town could lease space for $48K
Majority of land left untouched	25% units are affordable
Building on existing footprint
37 units qualify for housing credits
Retail

Rating the “top scorers” only, the vote was Connolly 6 (HA), 6 (A), 0 (NA), 0 (U) and Frontier 3 (HA), 7(A), 2 (NA), 0 (U). Crane iterated that many of the things requested within the RFP were provided for. The building can get done. When making a recommendation to the Selectmen he said the committee could present choice 1 and choice 2. The RFP process is a process used by developers throughout Massachusetts to prevent fraud.

Conversation continued, focusing mostly on the “top scorers”. Gordon thought Connolly was more appealing and presented appropriate evidence of historical preservation experience, but he did not like how the library was positioned on the site. Gordon believed Frontier more clearly provided amenities to the town by including the auditorium; they also included the library use as part of the waste treatment facility.

Waugh indicated that Connolly had minimal impact to abutters and provided the most open space and affordable housing.

Baskin liked Frontier's offer to lease space to the town, as there is a pressing need for municipal space. Felt that Frontier proposal gave town more options. He likes their imaginative thinking and the team they put together. He also informed the group that Timility (of Frontier) was linked to Back Bay Restaurant Corp.

Tran stated that Frontier is adding a 12K square foot footprint; Station and South Main Streets, however, would look the same as they do now. He liked the financing aspect and thought they would finish the project earlier. Twenty-five percent of the units will count toward our 40B goals. Tran stated Frontier had the highest project costs and would be taxed on this rate, bringing additional money to the town. The septic provides enough capacity for the library.

A straw poll of which proposal thought best at this point-not to be construed as final) resulted in 8 votes for Connolly and 4 for Frontier.

Crane emphasized that the mandate of the committee is to make a single recommendation to dispose of the property to the developer subject to the lease agreement with the developer. The committee has to provide a written statement to the BOS regarding its choice, listing both reasons for the choice and concerns to be addressed during lease negotiation. The committee can also mention that it had a strong second candidate (by name), but is all. The Selectmen can opt to negotiate with the second candidate if they cannot come to terms with the first candidate.

DePree to call Town Counsel to clarify scope of actions committee can take in determining proposal for recommendation to Selectmen. Town Counsel to be invited to next meeting.

Future Meetings

September 13 at 7:30 PM, Cynthia B. Fox Community Room, Sharon Public Library

September 18 at 7:30 PM, Hearing Room, Sharon Town Hall

Meeting Adjournment

Baskin/Mills moved that the committee adjourn; unanimously approved. Meeting adjourned at 10:05 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Rachelle F. Levitts