2020-10-01-CPC-min.exe - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Horton asked if$3.5 million is the absolute maximum offer. Mr. Hamilton responded no and explained that $3.5 million is a good opening offer given the appraisals. He reminded the Committee that they can't offer more than the appraisal price. Ms. Fenollosa asked if the Select Board is in support of the offer price and the possibility of offering more. Mr. Pato stated that there is a limit to the offer but it has not been reached yet. Mr. Pressman asked if the Committee could be informed of the Select Board's maximum offer. Mr. Pato stated that he is not at liberty to say. Mr. Langseth asked how many acres the current offer is for. Mr. Hamilton explained that the entire lot is 5.09 acres and the offer is on 4.6 +/- acres and that the Commission is trying to get a commitment before Special Town Meeting (SMT). Mr. Hornig stated that STM is next week and Mr. Hamilton stated that they would like to present during the second part of STM in November. Ms. Kosnoff stated that the objective is to put the financial Articles first so that the Town can set the tax rate. If the Article stays open it could affect the tax rate. Mr. Hornig stated that it sounds like the Committee is making a commitment not to take the Article up in October. Mr. Hamilton stated that it is up to the Committee and that it is possible things will progress after Sunday's Zoom meeting. Mr. Kanter asked if there will be a signed agreement before bringing it to SMT. Mr. Hamilton stated that there will be something in writing. Ms. Kosnoff discussed CPF balances and suggested paying $2 million in cash and debt financing $1 million. The debt financed portion could be financed through a Bond Anticipation Note (BAN) similar to the Center Track funding. Ms. Walker stated that a high percent of funding for this project is coming out of the Unbudgeted Reserve and asked the Committee if there has been a discussion or is there a policy if it is appropriate for one project to take so much money from a bucket. Ms. Fenollosa asked if$2 million is a large amount of cash to give out. Ms. Kosnoff explained that things are debt financed because the Committee typically does not have enough cash at the time. Currently the Town is not earning much in interest on cash so there is no need to hold on to this much money. Mr. Kanter stated that the Appropriation Committee and the Capital Expenditures Committee recommended to the CPC out of respect to the tax payers to keep the amount of debt as small as possible. Ms. Walker stated that cash over debt is favored and the Committee reserved $2 million to cover projects in the future. Mr. Pato stated that the Committee sets a target of no more than 50% of debt and this project would be less than 50% debt. Mr. Hornig stated that the Committee needs to keep a reasonable reserve for small projects so that the Committee doesn't have to borrow for small projects in the future. Ms. Fenollosa asked the Committee if they are comfortable with an offer price of under$4 million and if they are comfortable financing the way Mr. Kosnoff presented. The general consensus of the Committee is that they are comfortable with the allocation of Ms. Kosnoff's financing proposal and with a purchase price of less than $4 million.