Town seeks alternate funding to buy Elks property
Date: 7/12/2013
By Carley Dangona
carley@thereminder.comWEST SPRINGFIELD — Mayor Gregory Neffinger will not use the $100,000 approved by the City Council as a deposit for the Elks property.
The mayor stated that until an additional means of funding is secured for the full cost of the parcel, he will not apply the $100,000 as a down payment on the land.
"We're looking for alternative fundraising," Neffinger said at a press conference on July 9. "We don't want to lose the deposit."
Neffinger stated that he is researching the option of bonding the purchase and that the town would be open to the possibility of a private donor if one were to step forward.
He added that the councilors who support the acquisition of the property are researching ways to fund the purchase.
At a special meeting on June 27, the Town Council voted to appropriate $100,000 from the Free Cash account for Neffinger to use for the purchase of the property. He initially requested $500,000 — $450,000 for the purchase and $50,000 for related expenses— but the councilors approved the reduced amount by a vote of 7-1 after lengthy discussion.
City Council President Kathleen Bourque made the initial motion to reduce the appropriation to $100,000. She explained that the reduced amount would enable the town to make a deposit on the property that would cover the Elks' tax liability and provide the town with time to go through the Community Preservation Act (CPA) application process.
She addressed the fact that a church had made an offer of $385,000 on the property. "I find it hard to believe that tomorrow morning the Elks is going to say 'Nope, we're going to give up the other money and take $385,000 instead of $450,00,' especially when presented with this scenario," she said.
During the June 27 meeting, Neffinger described the potential transaction. He said, "This is a great opportunity for this town and a historic opportunity for the recreational future for the town of West Springfield."
The mayor's intention for the property was to make the pavilion available to residents to utilize and to increase the town's open space by providing more ball fields. One proposed option was to section off the front of the parcel into four sections for sale and to keep the remaining land for public use.
On June 27, District 3 Councilor George Condon spoke in favor of the purchase, but wanted to keep the property intact rather than sectioning and selling a portion of the land.
Neffinger explained the purpose of reselling some of the lot was to recoup some of the money the town would spend to purchase the property.
District 4 Councilor John Sweeney said his opposition was to the use of Free Cash for the purchase and not for the acquisition itself.
"Free cash is for these types of projects — [ones] that we would not normally fund," Neffinger said.
The council discussed the option of using CPA funds for the purchase of the Elks property.
"I think it would be a shame if we could not retain that [property] as open space for the town," George Kelly, at-large councilor, said. "I personally believe the way to do that would be to use CPA money."
Paul Boudo, Community Preservation Committee chairman and former town councilor, explained to the council that if the purchase qualified for CPA funds, the deed would be "cast in concrete" once the transaction was complete. The committee would have to be notified of the intended use of the land up front. He estimated that the entire CPA application process would take 120 days.
"The intent of the Community Preservation bond is to make monies available for things that are always getting cut from most municipal budgets — maintenance of fields, affordable housing expansion, open space for recreation; things like that," Boudo said.
"I don't really wish, from my standpoint, to get into the real estate business if you will. What I would wish is to buy the entire property with CPA money and to have that facility dedicated only to park and recreational uses," Brian Griffin, vice president of the council, said.
"I think there's too many unknowns to go through it with the CPA funds, as much as I would love to purchase the whole property with the CPA funds," Condon said. "I'm concerned that they could fail along the way [the CPA application would be denied]."
Another issue discussed on June 27 was the maintenance of the fields if established.
Sweeney stated that he was very much in favor of adding fields to his district and expanding the open space in the town.
"It's not about open fields Councilor Sweeney. It's about the 17 fields we have now that we do not take care of, that we do not maintain," Robert Mancini, at-large councilor, said.
He noted during his recent visit to Mittineague Park he discovered "numerous beer bottles" littered throughout the playground area of the park.
Mancini added, "I have a problem spending $500,000 on a wish list that we're going to get more fields when we can't take care of the fields we have now. It's mindboggling that we're sitting here discussing to purchase the Elks."
"When we have home games it's a little embarrassing. The fields are extremely tired," Griffin said.
Bourque's motion to reduce the appropriation to $100,000 failed and the discussion continued.
"I would hate to see this thing go crashing down because we can't compromise," Kelly said.
Further discussion ensued.
"We're at the point where it's a stalemate," Griffin said. He then made a motion to again reduce the amount to $100,000.
After approving the amendment, the council voted 7-1 to appropriate $100,000 from the Free Cash account for the purchase of the Elks property.
