Attendees at the Nov. 6 Special Town Meeting will be asked to approve nine articles, including a request to borrow more than a quarter million dollars to upgrade the old library and another to permit the sale of town land.
The selectmen unanimously approved the Town Meeting warrant Tuesday night, and also scheduled a Special Town Election for Wednesday, Nov. 29, to approve the borrowing for the old library project.
Among the warrant’s articles are four requests for transfers or allocations of money, including the request for old library money; three Planning Board proposals to change town bylaws; and a request to authorize the sale of 3.16 acres of land adjacent to Hildreth House for the development of moderately priced housing for seniors. The warrant also asks attendees to hear a report on the state of plans for rebuilding the Hildreth Elementary School. The complete warrant was to be posted on the town website Wednesday, Oct. 18.
The article whose approval would have the greatest impact on the town center asks Town Meeting to permit the sale of town-owned property adjacent to Hildreth House for the purpose of building 17 housing units suitable for seniors who wish to downsize. The selectmen have already voted to declare the 3.16 acres surplus, but the town cannot sell the land without Town Meeting approval. The land has been appraised at roughly $1.2 million and by state law can’t be sold to a developer for less than that amount. Though an initial request for proposals drew only a single bidder who did not meet the $1.2 million purchase price, the Housing@Hildreth House Committee, appointed by the selectmen, plans to reissue the RFP and is confident a suitable developer will step forward.
The most expensive article is a request by the Old Library Accessibility Committee for as much as $382,000 for work on the 1887 building, currently leased by Harvard’s Cultural Collaborative. The total cost to construct an accessible front entrance and to make required improvements throughout the building has been estimated at $472,000. The committee has applied to the state for a $100,000 grant to defray the expense, but the result won’t be known until much later this year. Special Town Meeting attendees will be asked to authorize use of $50,000 from the Community Preservation Fund as well as the $39,000 remaining from work done on the library’s rear entrance to reduce further the amount taxpayers must absorb. Voters will then be asked to pay the balance by borrowing the necessary amount, a move that requires a two-thirds vote by Town Meeting and a majority vote at Town Election, and will raise property taxes for the one- to two-year life of the loan.
The old library request arrives on the warrant, however, without the unanimous endorsement of the Capital Planning and Investment Committee (CPIC). Although a majority of the five-member board recommended the project at its Monday morning meeting this week, the vote to do so was 3–2, with members SusanMary Redinger, Alice von Loesecke, and Nate Finch voting to support it, and John Seeley and Teresa Jardon voting against. Seeley and Jardon questioned whether the town should keep the old library, given the lack of interest shown by town boards and departments and the as-yet unproven financial track record of its current occupant, the Cultural Collaborative. They said that voters should have a chance to express their wishes for the building before any work is done by the town.
Von Loesecke, who is the selectmen’s representative on CPIC, has argued that regardless of what the future may hold for the building, it must be made accessible. She has noted repeatedly that one potential lessee, the Concord Area Special Education Collaborative, dropped its bid earlier this year because the building was not ready for occupancy. Moreover, she has observed, the Historical Commission backs the renovation plan and regards the structure as worthy of preservation as a town building.
A choice for voters
Following CPIC’s divided vote to recommend the project to voters, von Loesecke moved that the necessary money be borrowed rather than drawn from CPIC’s Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund, whose current balance is $1.97 million. That cash, she said, will be more valuable in the future, given the number and magnitude of capital requests likely in the next five years. Moreover, she and Redinger asserted, because borrowing requires a vote at Town Election, a larger percentage of registered voters would have an opportunity to make their views known on preserving the building. Von Loesecke’s motion passed 3–0, with Seeley and Jardon abstaining.
The remaining articles on the warrant are less consequential. The Department of Public Works has asked for money to purchase portable truck lifts so its own mechanics can service town vehicles. The measure has been recommended unanimously by CPIC and would be paid for with money from the Capital Stabilization and Investment Fund. Three articles offered by the Planning Board would make it easier for homeowners to add accessory apartments to their dwellings and for microbreweries to set up shop in town. A second CPC article would transfer $20,000 from Harvard’s Community Preservation Fund to help restore the World War I memorial on the Common. A final article on the warrant asks attendees to hear a report on plans to rebuild Hildreth Elementary School, a project the school superintendent, the School Committee, and the School Building Committee will ask the town to fund at the 2018 Annual Town Meeting in May.
