Winding up a winding path

Okay, well you should have your Annual Town Meeting and Special Town Meeting Warrants, if you are a Town Meeting member that is. The Finance Committee Book should also have been received. Less than two weeks away folks.

An interesting discussion by our selectmen last Tuesday night on the Oxford and Rogers school properties.  there will be several articles related to the same for the town meetings on May 2, 2015

Just as interesting, there were selectmen votes taken relative to the proposals submitted, despite some seeming reluctance on the part of one selectmen to do so.

Digest version: both proposals (one for each building) have been rejected.  

The easy one to deal with, the one over which debate should have ended long ago, was the proposal for Rogers school.  If you read the RFP (as less than perfect as even it was) and the proposal submitted, and the additional information from the developer or lack thereof (from the proposed developer that is/was) how any reasonable person would consider the proposal responsive is beyond me. When you read the written response to request for clarification/more information, well even less responsive, in my opinion.

But hey what do I know. I am admittedly not the brightest bulb in the pack sometimes. I suppose you could argue that when providing a proposal and that provides no detail until a later time or provide information later and only in "private" are in fact responses. 

The simple fact that these were the only proposals on the table are not reason enough to accept them.

These are the only proposals we received based on the RFP we put out.  

Hammering home the mantra that was raised, grasped and taken to the present end for the form of the RFP that was in fact put out, shouldn't we know be saying once again you will never know until you try whether you can get more proposals?

Will a new RFP generate any better proposals?  Who knows?

Not likely to be any worse.

Unless you are willing to to accept what has been proposed, and this is the very key to all this, it does not matter.

Further negotiations are not any real option, nor quite frankly probable to obtain anything that will be any more beneficial to the town as a whole.

As for Oxford School, I am personally not willing to accept the proposal. Throw out the arguments against affordable housing.  That shouldn't be the issue. It shouldn't.  

But housing is the issue and the amount of "housing" should be a concern.  Ninety +/- bedrooms crammed on that lot. A PILOT of $7,500.00. 

How often have we heard that a housing development is a burden to the tax roles, i.e. the taxes collected outweigh the services provided? The amount of the PILOT is, being generous, equal to the taxes on three modest homes with three bedrooms each.

Negotiating with either or both of the present "bidders" is not, in my opinion going to yield any better results. You will be negotiating from a very weak position of desperation.

Anyway, all of the above is a moot point.  The proposals have been rejected. Rightfully so in the opinion of many if the chatter on the street is any indication.

You will still see articles related to the sale of each building on the warrant. Interesting bit of buzz about the potential of a move on the floor at TM to push the question of a sale for the Rogers school. Quite frankly, a part of me hopes this happens.  Time, as in all things, will reveal the actual event.

Until then ... well it is just buzz.

Yet at some point, some serious decisions are going to have to be made.  Truth be told, those who want to go out and negotiate and let the chips fall as they may on the Rogers school could pretty much do what they want as far as I am concerned, but that extra parcel sought isn't going for a buck.

If you are now willing to accept historical renovation in lieu of restoration, absolutely no problem in my book, but why is that okay now instead of before?  If you are willing to wait wait years and 10 years for certain things to be done and completed, why is that now okay, and was not before?

Anyway, by all means let's have a town meeting discussion. I can even let you know the procedure to use so you can have it.

In truth this TM could be a very quick one.  I know that would be disappointing to some.  Some expect long detailed information relative to articles.  In truth, as a legislative body, members do have a degree of responsibility to be prepared, to get up and asks questions if they need information to decide their votes. There is a certain responsibility to also know a bit or two about the warrant.

Simply put, if you don't know what you are voting on, if you don't agree with what is being proposed, it is your obligation to speak up. Either way, it is never due diligence to wait until the morning of the event to open up the books. It isn't even reasonable diligence.

Enough said.

Be safe.