Breaking News
July 23, 2007 on 8:48 pm | In Local, Main |Sorry about the inability to blog tonight on the CNN-YouTube Democratic presidential candidates’ debate. With Biden talking about how diplomacy won’t work in Darfur and how we need to go in militarily, then in the next breath saying we need to get out of Iraq, the Dems would make a tempting target for my barbs. But there is some local breaking news to report tonight.
At a meeting of the Luke-Fitting Committee late this afternoon, the committee went into executive session with the selectmen, engineers, the TRAC committee and (unbeknownst to Michael Flint and me) Mark Capecelatro, a lawyer for the Lee family.
When the news media were called back in, we were told that First Selectman Curtis Rand had signed a nine-month option (for $500) to purchase about 25 acres of the Lee property for $1.25 million for possible use as a transfer station. If the deal goes through, the Lees will donate almost 40 additional acres to the Salisbury Housing Trust for affordable housing.
Bear in mind that the town still has options to purchase the Luke-Fitting properties for use as a transfer station until the end of February 2008. Now the town has two pretty good “options” to consider in the next few months.
As anyone who has driven from Lakeville to Millerton probably knows, the Lee farm is on Route 44 and is noted for its open space and large barns . It is no longer used as a dairy farm but its 177 acres are for sale for $2.5 million. Across Route 44 and contiguous to part of the Luke property is what remains of the old Rosseter farm which is also owned by Abel, John and Eileen Lee.
The Rosseter farm, which is the proposed site, is hard to describe without a map, but if you turn onto Dimond Road and drive past the Luke house, the vacant parcels in question are on the right. They are bounded by Dimond Road (to the east), the NYS line (to the west), the Coon and Luke properties (north) and properties to be retained by the Lees (south).
Access to the site would be either from Dimond Road or from Route 44 through a right-of-way the Lees hold over the Coon property. In his proposal, Capecelatro made a pretty good case for his clients:
At $2 million, the 14-acre Luke-Fitting properties are significantly more expensive than the Lee properties. Moreover, the Luke-Fitting properties contain two dwellings which would likely be sold off or perhaps even demolished. And of course, the homes would be taken off the tax rolls in the interim or even permanently, depending on whether they are sold or retained by the town.
Capecelatro further said in his letter to First Selectman Curtis Rand that research indicates that cluster housing regulations could allow for 15 to 20 badly needed units to be built on the 38 acres the Lees would donate to the housing trust.
To be sure, more work needs to be done, but on its face this looks like a win-win situation for a town that will be without a transfer station when its lease on land owned by The Hotchkiss School expires in 2020.
Look for a full report in Thursday’s LJ. Flint tells me he’ll have some of the documents up on his website tonight. Check them out.
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Terry,
The ROW is across property owned by Tommy Coons not Coon. The option is, obviously, a token indicating the Lee’s interest and caring about the Town. Bravo John and Eileen!!
Comment by Peter Oliver — July 23, 2007 #
Thanks Peter. I actually saw Mr “Coons” today and should have known better. Bravo, indeed.
Comment by Terry — July 23, 2007 #
The housing trust land donation alone makes this offer very attractive, if not imperative.
As one who believes that we need to be more aggressive towards afforadable housing in Salisbury, I would intially favor this option over the previous one give price and the fact of the location being even a bit better considering the development across the street.
Obviously, we will have to wait for the engineers to look at the property and determine if it meets the criteria.
Should that report come back favorable (due in August), this is a ‘no brainer’ … A win for a new transfer station site, and more importantly A WIN FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN SALISBURY.
My hat is off to the Lee family … Thank you for thinking about the Salisbury community and it’s future.
The documents are available on the Straight Talk website for those who should like to view them.
Comment by Michael J. Flint — July 24, 2007 #
When I read this, the first thing I thought of was the “option money” paid to the Lukes and Fittings…that whole deal still burns me…
Comment by Doug Richardson — July 24, 2007 #
Curiouser and curiouser …
No brainer is right. Tell me Terry, is the $500 option NOT a typo?
It will be interesting to see, if/when this comes close to a vote, whether the old road that goes through Lee’s property and over to Sharon can be reopened.
I looked over the (tiny) map in the Journal this morning with another Rosseter relative (as are the Lukes and Fittings) and she tells me a brook runs through there.
It is interesting that the Lees, who bought that land from the Rosseters, waited so long to pull the rug out from under their neighbors. It’s a no brainer for them too, Mike. As we know, the Lee farm is for sale for an even prettier price and this would push the transfer station farther away from the farm. And of course those 40 acres in back would be greatly devalued with the transfer station next door.
I can’t for the life of me understand why they were not approached earlier on … or were they?
Comment by Jim Britt — July 26, 2007 #
Doug, is it that options were paid for and not exercised that burns you, or that they were paid at all? Paying a landowner a consideration for keeping their property off the market while the buyer pulls the elements of the deal together is both fair to the seller and a legitimate business practice. It is a tool that conservation organizations and land trusts use all the time, given the uncertain nature of funding for land protection. It demonstrates good faith and respect for private property rights. An option is a negotiation like any other and is all about minimizing risk. A very high payment for an option would raise my eyebrows - the best deal from the buyer’s perspective is a long term option for a modest consideration - but sometimes the situation requires risking more capital and accepting a higher degree of uncertainty. I do not know whether the options to which you refer fall into that category, but the practice as a whole is on the level.
Comment by Tim Abbott — July 26, 2007 #
Tim Abbott: The “burn” which Doug refers to is the seeming avoidance of process in the original option to Luke/Fitting. There are no minutes reflecting a discussion or intention to pay for an option for either the Luke/Fitting or Lee properties, nor in fact were Luke/Fitting or Lee presented to the Board of Selectmen for vote and approval. An “ex poste facto” vote will be discussed at the next Selectmen’s meeting to “correct” these ommissions. Curtis and Jim have stated their belief that Curtis acted within his powers as “Chief Executive Officer”, yet they have indicated that they will allow for a discussion and vote to “humor” my objections of the usurpation of Board powers. No one is opposed to the use of options.
Comment by Peter Oliver — July 26, 2007 #
Thanks very much for the clarification, Peter.
Comment by Tim Abbott — July 27, 2007 #