Date of Meeting: Friday, May 8, 2009
Location: Town Hall, 221 Main Street
Time: 1:40 PM – 3:45 PM
Members Present: Chairman James Stanton; Roger Deal; Ken Sydow
Others Present: Stephen Madaus, Town Counsel; Nancy Colbert, Town Administrator; Ellen McKay, Town Treasurer; Lori Esposito, Administrative Assistant.
Town-Owned Land:
Nancy Colbert gave a presentation on her research of Town-owned parcels.
There are four categories of land we own:
· Have deed
· Ruling in land court
· Land of “low value”
· Old Collector’s deeds; titles would need to be cleared in land court by buyer.
Land we might own:
· Taken for tax title/never went to land court
· Taken for tax title/went to land court; didn’t win, reverted back to owner
· Assessing record unclear on some parcels.
Tax Title Taking Process
· Stephen Madaus stated tax title is securing title via a collection action, through independent counsel.
· Ken asked why we have separate counsel for that. Stephen said it is a specialty. Most towns have separate counsel. The majority of attorneys who do it have relationships in land court and know the specialty. It is much more cost effective since it becomes so routine to them.
· Nancy stated that normally, once we go to land court, we would get a final decree to acknowledge we own it. Stephen noted you must put a lien on record within three years.
· Ellen McKay said it is a much more complicated process for towns to foreclose than it is for banks. Her process is to give taxpayer notice of one month prior to placing ad in the newspaper; then puts it in the newspaper and notifies by certified mail. If no payment is received within two weeks, she files an “instrument of taking,” which places a lien on the property. She then must wait six months (minimum, per statutory law) and then begins the foreclosure process. The entire process takes approximately two-plus years, depending on how complicated the case is in land court.
· Nancy said that when the property is foreclosed, the deed is the property of the Town in care of the Tax Title Custodian. At that point, the tax-title land can only be sold by auction.
· Roger asked how minimum price is set on tax-title land being sold. Stephen said the Town can determine any amount. Usually begin base amount at taxes, penalties, fees owed, etc.
· Ken would like to find an answer to a minimum dollar amount the Town must accept, if offered.
Gould Title Parcels:
· 80 parcels; 20 used/occupied
· $9.5M value; 999 acres
· Gould memo #1: We own:
o Listoritz 2-1
o Fisher 3-17
Nicholas and Poe Avenue
· Gould memo #2: We own:
o St. Amand Parcel 23-26: 134 School Street
o Nancy suggests we sell immediately
o Ellen said there is no house on it; but, according to GIS, an occupied house is on the parcel. GIS might be incorrect versus our maps, Nancy will look into.
· Case #4: We own it
Reservoir Homes:
o Parcel 67-18 (off Linden Street) 161,172 square feet valued at $202,400
o Has frontage on Linden Street
o Recommends selling
· Ken asked how we convert sales dollars of Town-owned land to go into a specific fund (e.g., for new Fire Dept or DPW building versus the General Fund). Stephen: Can be voted at Town Meeting to transfer from Tax Title Custodian to specific use. Ken asked if it can be done in advance of the sale for specific parcels before it even goes into free cash. Jim Stanton stated that would require two Town Meeting votes. One from tax-title, then another to specific purpose. It would be easier to transfer it with one vote after it is sold.
· Case #5 and 6 (Brook Realty) We own:
o Parcel 24-6 (off Ethan Allen Drive) 47,480 square feet; assessed at $53,400
o Parcel 24-12 – 85,813 square feet; assessed at $62,600
o The lots appear to be wet; can be sold
Assessors’ Parcels:
· One Oregon Avenue (tax title):
o Zoned for municipal use; we collect taxes
o Cannot find info; on Assessors’ map, labeled Ruth Gulbicki, not Town of Boylston.
o Ellen said she went through prior Tax Collector records and found there were foreclosure proceedings that her predecessor never filed with the Registry of Deeds. She spoke with Attorney Berenson and he will get any documents from the land court, if available, from 1997.
· Hobson Avenue Parcel 1-44 (Tax Collector’s deed):
o A Tax Collector’s deed is as good as owning it
o The purchaser needs to perfect title in land court
o Ellen said she has a question into Attorney Berenson to clarify this.
o Stephen said abutters might have an interest in undersized lots.
o Hobson Avenue parcel has some frontage on Route 70; possibly a brook in the back of the lot.
· Cutler Road Parcel 1-85:
o This is a small triangle; of no value
o Do not need to sell now
o Missing deed info
· Nicholas Avenue Parcel 2-2 (Tax title)
· Mill Road Parcel 2-2 (Unknown)
· 3-43 Comeau
o Abutter, Mr. Peters, is interested in purchasing to make his lot conforming
o Value $16K
o 31,424 square feet
o Suggests sell
· 3-138
o Low value
o Unsure if we own
· 3-155 Melrose Street
o Triangle lot
o Low value
o ? deed info
· 4-6 Old tax taking – pit
· 4-30 Urquhart Swift
o Nicholas Avenue frontage
o 31,103 square feet
o Value $116,500
o Suggests we sell
o ? Deed info ?
· 3-176 Stockton Street
o ? Deed info
o ? Drainage easement
o Low value
o 9,000 square feet
· 7-39 Gravel Pit, Sewall Street
o Town owned
o 518,000 square feet
o Value $370,600
o Deed available
o Nancy said we might want to review the use of this parcel. Ken said we need to research the Wood Turtle issue to be sure it’s clear to develop.
· 9-34 Rear Chehade subdivision
o Low value
o On the Shrewsbury line
o ? Deed info
· 12-10 Off Route 140
o Have the deed
o 161,000 square feet
o Value $127,000
o Leave alone until 140 study is completed
· 23-20 School Street
o Final land court determination/deed
o Appears to have a house
o Next to Cotton property, across from the golf course
o Highly recommends selling it
o 91,000 square feet
o Value $178,900
o Assessors’ map has not been updated as yet; still shows Mancini as the owner.
· 25-31 Adams Street
o ? Deed info
o Additional research is needed
o 784,000 square feet
o Value $94,000
· 32-30 Central Street (Owner unknown)
o Old tax taking
o Suggests sell
o 348,000 square feet
o Value $84,000
o No frontage
o Land-locked
o ? MDC interest/possibly own abutting parcels
o Ellen said DOR has to give us permission to assess “owners unknown.”
o Stephen suggests we start over and do a new tax taking.
o Ellen said it hasn’t been billed since the 1990s
· 33-43 Rocky Pond (Land Court deed)
o 1.3M square feet
o Value $157,500
o No frontage
o Recommends selling
o Rocky and wet
· 33-4 Peabody – disclaimed
o Putting this back on the tax rolls unless we find something to the contrary
o It is listed as Town owned, but that needs to be clarified
· 48-4 Main Street Rear – DCR ??
o 624,000 square feet
o Value $75,000
o Old tax taking, Collector’s Deed
o Assessors’ map shows The Commonwealth of Massachusetts owns it; the deed shows the Town owns it.
· Ten Parcels Total – Mile Hill/Linden Street Area
o 257 acres total
o Value $3.1M total
o Several parcels have unknown owners
o This is a long-term project; will need to review all deeds and titles over time
Discussion of other properties continued. Next steps:
· Outline parcels on which to move forward
· Identify parcels to pursue additional information
· Pursue additional information on owners of “unknown” parcels
Tax Title Custodian : On motion made by Ken Sydow, seconded by Roger Deal and voted All in Favor, Nancy Colbert Puff, Town Administrator appointed as Tax Title Custodian.
Meeting Minutes Approved: Ken Sydow made a motion, seconded by Roger Deal, to approve the minutes as listed on the May 8, 2009 workshop agenda, subject to edits from the Board of Selectmen. Voted All in Favor.
Meeting Schedule Approved: Ken Sydow made a motion, seconded by Roger Deal, to approve the meeting schedule as drafted for June 09 – September 09. Voted All in Favor.
Upon motion made by Ken Sydow and seconded by Roger Deal, and voted All in Favor, the meeting was adjourned at 3:45 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Lori Esposito
Administrative Assistant
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