North Adams Council OKs Sale Agreement for Windsor Mill
Wayne Wilkinson takes the oath of office for City Council on Tuesday night. Councilor Keith Bona was also sworn in as vice president. Both replace positions held by Nancy Bullett, who resigned.
The decision came after more than a half hour of discussion that included concerns from two tenants in the mill.
Simeon Bruner of Cambridge Development Corp., principal of Bruner/Cott Architects, offered $465,000 for the historic mill with the pledge to invest a minimum of $400,000 on facade and capital improvements within the next three years.
"It's been widely know for the last few years that I want to sell off city property," Mayor Richard Alcombright said. "The things that typically go wrong on large commercial properties ... we don't have the assets to maintain."
The city has owned the building for nearly 40 years, after taking it over from the defunct Economic Development Corp. in the early 1980s. Councilor Keith Bona noted that the very first speech by longtime Mayor John Barrett III referred to selling off the property.
"In my opinion, this has been a very long time coming," he said. "This is something that I wanted to see for decades, that the mill get off the city's property list."
Bona said it wasn't a matter of just getting it back on the tax rolls, but also because the city did not have the resources to maintain the 158,000 square-foot mill and that it shouldn't be competing with commercial landlords.
Councilor Wayne Wilkinson, attending his first meeting after being elected at the last meeting by the council to fill Nancy Bullett's vacant seat, thought the matter should have a more comprehensive vetting. He was concerned that the proposed buyer was not in attendance and that the council had not been provided a more thorough presentation.
He suggested that it be referred to the Community Development Committee but that did not move forward as a motion.
Alcombright said it wasn't really the council's purview to oversee site plans and that development prior presentations had been linked to requests for tax incentives.
"I think that the city government should be the method and the means by which things are permitted," he said. "I don't believe we should be competing with the private sector."
Councilor Robert R. Moulton Jr. said he was "thrilled to see the offer on this." That assessment was shared by others on the council, with Eric Buddington saying he was "perfectly comfortable" and Lisa Blackmer seeing the proposed offer as reasonable.
Blackmer, however, asked if the mayor was comfortable with the price of $465,000. The mill had been appraised at $1.1 million two years ago but Wilkinson, also a professional appraiser, thought that might be high because it had not been compared with more local structures.
"I don't have a problem with the amount we're selling it for," he said, adding his issue was the speed at which the council was being asked to act.
The councilors were concerned for the future of the 16 or 17 tenants in the building. Some were longtime renters, like Stephen Sauvé of Sauvé Guitars who said he had been there for 40 years.
"It would just really be nice if we had an idea what's going to happen to us," Sauvé said. "I would feel a whole lot better."
Alcombright said he had stressed how great the tenants were to Bruner and to a second bidder.
"Mr. Bruner is very cognizant of the tenants who are there," he said. "This could be quite awhile before any tenants may have to move."
The School Department's E3 Academy, an alternative high school program, is definitely moving out and the city is disposing of the materials it's currently storing in the mill.
The mayor said Bruner's initial proposal is for upgrades and landscaping and that his complete vision for art incubators/lofts has not been fleshed out. It could be years, he said, before any significant plans are put forth.
The tenants have from monthly up to three-year leases that he hoped would provide some protection, but he could not guarantee that. They would be in the same position, he suggested, if they were renting from a commercial owner who then sold the building.
Riad Maher, president of MRA Laboratories, said his company had just signed a three-year lease. It manufactures materials for the government and is required to give 12 months notice of any change, including moving.
"We may be asked to leave if our model doesn't fit well with Bruner's," he said. "If our new landlord asked us to leave and does not give us 12 months' notice, we are out of business."
Alcombright said once the council approved the purchase-and-sale agreement, Bruner would be meeting with tenants.
"I think he wants to do right and well by the community and right and well for the community means treating our tenants well," he said.
The buyer is responsible for doing any environmental testing but the city is not obligated to do any remediation. A search of the mill's documentation had not uncovered any environmental issues, but the buyer could back out if something was found.
The vote to enter into the purchase-and-sale agreement was unanimous, with Councilor Ronald Boucher absent. Wilkinson said his concerns had been addressed through the discussion and the involvement of some of the tenants.
Alcombright said he anticipated bringing forward two more purchase-and-sale agreements in the coming weeks. The city had put five properties up for sale earlier this year. The others are the City Yard, the salt shed, Notre Dame Church and Sullivan School. There are reportedly buyers for the City Yard and salt shed, both on Ashland Street.
In other business, the council voted on an amendment to streamline changes in the city's parking ordinances; approved the takeover of the Blackinton Cemetery; heard a report on the quality of the city's water; and referred request to take a stand on the Paris Climate Agreement to committee.
It also approved two taxi-driver applications: one from Tracy Jalbert of Mohawk Forest Boulevard to drive for RJ Taxi and other from Jennifer McKeon of Commercial Street, Adams, to drive for Tunnel City Taxi.
Tags: mill reuse, municipal property, purchase & sales ,
