Town Meeting Thursday 6th - Vote No for Land Lease Giveaway

ASSISTED LIVING OR ASSISTED GIVING AT TOWN MEETING?

BrightView Senior Living (a National provider of senior facilities) has an unconsummated purchase and sales agreement with locally owned Fraen Corp. and affiliates, to purchase several properties between Main Street and Crescent Street. If realized, several rental units would be demolished, and an Assisted Living Center would be constructed. That’s reasonable.

However, it’s Articles 1 thru 5 on Thursday’s Special Town Meeting that prompted me to write this letter. The articles affect a 17,999 square foot parcel of Town owned Land between Jeffrey’s Liquors and the Wakefield Co-Operative bank on Main Street, by rezoning it from ‘Municipal’ to ‘Business District’, and leasing the property to the facility for 99 years.

So far we hear a lot of sizzle, but see no steak. It repeats the same cycle, where Wakefield negotiates in someone’s best interest, but it’s not ours. Basic information that you or I would be fools to go without when purchasing a small home appliance is both absent and not forthcoming.

I suggest what is required at Town Meeting is:

1) A certified appraisal be presented to value the town owned parcel.

2) Financial comparison on the alternatives of selling, leasing, or neither.

3) A certified Engineer/Architect present how may parking spaces will be gained or lost.

4) A rendition of the facility and parking garage and how it would look from Main Street.

5) A list of all current town owned properties that are leased.

6) A list of businesses and residents that will be displaced by the demolitions.

As an example of what can go wrong, recall the 99 year lease from the 1950’s to American Mutual (now the Comverse Building). It continues to be a debacle as it limits public access and hinders our ability to implement a comprehensive management plan for the entire edge of the Lake for both recreational uses and water quality measures. Do you want this Town Meeting to be a repeat, where future generations know that we did not do our research, think wisely, and act prudently? Please attend this Thursday night and vote ‘NO’ on Articles 1-5.  

Sincerely,

Robert Mitchell