UNDERUTILIZED ASSETS COMMITTEE
Regular Meeting
February 28, 2012
The Committee meeting was called to order at 6:35PM. Present were: Phil Mighdoll, Tom Daly, David Krashes, and Larry DeBlois. Henry Beth was absent.
Also in attendance was Alex Fiandaca from the Historical Commission.
The minutes from February 14, 2012, were approved as amended with MH costs.
Phil announced the soon-to-be formed “Friends of Mechanics Hall” will have its first meeting on March 22, 2012, at 7PM in the Annex.
Dave felt the Committee’s final report to the Selectmen was due April 1, 2012, and Phil felt that was not a hard date. To be clarified at the next meeting.
There was some discussion of the complexity of setting up a non-profit corporation. Alex noted that attorney Matt Lindberg is a member of the Historical Commission and might be willing to assist in preparing legal documentation for “Friends of Mechanics Hall”. Tom will talk to John Mirick and we will also discuss with Henry Beth at our next meeting.
The Committee reviewed the list of unutilized properties and decided the “Comments” portion should be descriptive only and any recommendations be presented within the body of the report.
All of the Committee thanked Phil for his hard work in developing a draft for the final report. It was agreed the report should focus on the land and then comment on Mechanics Hall. Tom suggested the report be in the format of a newspaper article with the conclusions leading and supporting documentation to follow. Larry felt we should include all of the investigative efforts of the Committee that lead to our conclusions. Dave suggested we include a cost estimate to stabilize MH. After much discussion, the Committee elected to not include any cost/sale estimates in the report as there are too many variables. Alex’s recommendations for MH will be reviewed by Phil and be part of the next draft.
There was also much discussion that MH be maintained in some fashion because of its importance to the identity of the Town, particularly East Princeton. The Committee also felt the assets represent a one-time opportunity to raise funds and their potential value should be maximized over time and not disposed of in a “fire sale”. Any proceeds from the sale of land should be utilized for capital projects and not operating funds.
The meeting adjourned at 8:00PM.
Respectfully submitted, Tom Daly, Secretary
| 
