2010-04-08-CPC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Selectmen or CPC could proceed with their respective votes with only a three- page summary for the second appraisal. He also questioned whether the CPC would have their required 14-day review period for review, a policy they had adopted after the Busa acquisition. There were further questions about whether the CPC could pay more than the appraised price for the property, to which Mr. Kelley responded that Town Counsel had reviewed this issue, felt that both appraisals should be scrutinized, but that as long as the appraisals were conducted with acceptable standards, either one would stand. Mr. Hornig, speaking as a resident, not as a Planning Board member, questioned the prudence of accepting a purchase price in the $4 million dollar range. He cited two properties at 341 Marrett Road and 52 Lowell Street which were purchased in 2008 and 2009 and had reasonable lot values. One he noted had sold for $520,000/acre. With this in mind, he questioned the wisdom of buying the Cataldo land at approximately $952,000/acre. Mr. Hornig further questioned the “left lot” value of the land, stating that he felt Mr. Cataldo’s remaining lots would be enhanced by the surrounding conservation land, and thereby increase in value. He asked if this had been taken into account in establishing the value of the 4.2 acres under negotiation. There were supporters of the purchase, including Mr. Gerry Paul, an abutter. He stated that he agreed there might be some “sticker shock” to the purchase price, but that in the future, as with many land purchases, the Town would look back and feel they got a bargain. He said he felt Town Meeting should ultimately decide. Mr. Bartenstein returned to the issue of the appraisals, and asked Mr. Kelley to describe and explain the various appraisals which had been completed on the Cataldo property over the past several years. Mr. Kelley reviewed a number of the past appraisals, but explained that they were not a comparison of apples to apples, since many of the past appraisals included different land configurations than in the present two appraisals. Mr. Urich stressed the need for the second appraisal to be made available to Town Boards and TMM members as soon as possible. Residents in support of the acquisition included Mr. David Kaufman, who spoke of the wildlife value of the parcel, and Mr. David Williams, who noted the contiguous nature of the parcel, its value to school children, and the aesthetic value it had to passersby. Ms. Ann Cubic noted that the land was one of the older parcels in Town with an agricultural history and that it also had value as a connecting swath of open space. There were questions about the roadway on the property which will be used by the Cataldo family until the family further develops the existing home (or removes it) or develops the back lots. Mr. Kanter asked if the agreement with the Cataldos gave the Conservation Commission the right to install a parkinglot while 2