Reason #3 to VOTE NO on April 1 – SPIN THE MONEY!

(This is the third in a series of letters around the development of a 140 unit assisted living facility and parking garage. As noted there, quoted materials are sourced from Shelter Development LLC.’s RFP, other materials are available at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-Town-Land-Give-Away ) 

As opposed to the ‘spin’ presented in PowerPoint during the Town Meeting, reading Shelter’s RFP was like a breath of fresh air; it is succinct and complete. In contrast to that, were ‘cherry picked’ numbers and colorful power point arrows navigating all points of the compass which caused, and continues to cause, many attendees to lose their financial bearings. 

In the effort to bring the ship back on it financial course, I recall the 1980 Presidential campaign in Nashua, NH where Ronald Reagan brought instant clarity to the nation by firmly stating “I am paying for this microphone, Mr. Green”! Like the “Gipper”, you and I are paying for this garage!

The quote below affirms that the burden of constructing 123 parking spaces (each space @ $24,390) lies solely with the taxpayer.

 “The additional cost of providing the…garage is $3.0 million. This number includes expenses for construction, land acquisition, and other related items that are in excess of costs Shelter would incur for the portion of the project that is for Shelters’ benefit.  The value added to shelter through the acquisition of the Property ($1.5 million) less the additional cost ($3.0 million) is a net loss of $1.5 million to Shelter. The net present value of annual rent payments of $120,000 over 20 years….is $1.5 million”.

In addition, ‘Spin the Money’ successfully laid the groundwork for the following quotes found in letters published on 3/18/2014 in the Daily Item: “I have looked at all the information presented to us”, “bank will have 30 allocated free spaces”, “without any cost to the taxpayers”, “without any capital outlay or cost to the taxpayer”.  These quotes are understandable because the financials in the RFP were not fully disclosed to the public at town meeting, but the ‘spin’ was.

And yes, may I dare ask, why is the taxpayer funding over $1,170,720 for the 48 spaces that are “reserved for the banks during normal business hours” (Savings Bank 30 spaces for $731,700 and the Coop 18 spaces for $439,020)? Also, the aesthetics of the parking garage was spun by a town official, turned dentist, by declaring that the garage will fill the void of the ‘‘missing tooth” between Jeffries and the Co-Op bank. Good heavens, have you seen the rendering of that garage, to me the garages’ gaping front looks more like gramps ‘missing dentures’!  Hardly an improvement to our beautiful downtown!

Again, I am outraged that NO VALUATION WHATSOEVER FOR THE TOWN LAND was included in any of the presentations leading up to the vote.

In conclusion, “Reason #3 to VOTE NO on April 1 – SPIN THE MONEY” is that it’s not worth spending millions of dollars, for one ‘missing tooth’.

Sincerely,

Robert Mitchell