By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — Longtime Recreation Committee member Rita Mullin made an appeal to the townspeople to attend the Special Town Meeting on Tuesday, January 30 in support of the purchase of the Wheeler property at 1 Central St.
The land abuts town-owned land on two sides, abutting Ipswich River Park and recreation property.
“I want to remind everybody you cannot make land. This piece of property is extremely important to Parks and Rec, and the whole town,” Mullin said during public comment at Monday night’s Select Board meeting.
Because it’s a Special Town Meeting, a quorum of at least 150 people must be in attendance for the meeting to commence. An affirmative vote will also require that a two-thirds majority of the voters in attendance agree with Mullin and the Recreation Committee that the $650,000 purchase price well worth it for the half acre lot that occupies the last 125 feet of frontage on this side of Central Street that is not town-owned, between Chestnut Street and Park Street.
Mullin thanked Nancy Wheeler and her brother Charlie Wheeler for providing the town with the right of first refusal when was not required of them to do so. “When we approached Nancy Wheeler and her brother Charlie they immediately said ‘yes we would do this for the town and we will support you for anything that you ask.’ They did not ask us for any extra money. They asked us for what they were paying taxes on,” Mullin said.
Mullin recalled that 30 to 40 years ago a house in the center of town came on the market — the historic Jared McLane House beside the police/fire station. She was just getting involved in local politics and thought it was “a no-brainer,” she said but recalled that “the Selectmen voted then that ‘nah, we don’t need it for anything,’” and let the opportunity slip away.
“I am asking anybody who has ever had anything to do with the things that our volunteers have done for the town and please step forward; come to this meeting,” Mullin said, adding, “It is extremely important. It is the best money you will ever spend. Please show up. We do not want to hold the Wheelers up. They have waited six weeks for us rather than put it on the open market. So please come to Town Meeting. Be there for quorum, but more importantly, be there for the two-thirds vote.”
Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto said the informational meeting on the three Special Town Meeting warrant articles will be held the day prior to the Special Town Meeting at a regular Select Board meeting in Town Hall’s Room 14.
This meeting will provide voters as well as members of the town’s boards and committees to learn more about the proposal and offer their opinions in advance of the Special Town Meeting.
While stressing that a final use for the property has not bee decided, Gilleberto said this piece of land and the abutting town owned land have been the topic of discussion for years.
“This is an opportunity for the town to acquire property that is relatively dry compared to some of the properties nearby. It isn’t severely burdened by wetlands and it is directly abutting currently owned town-owned property,” Gilleberto said.
“There is a lot of discussion of what could potentially be developed on that property for the use. No decisions have been made. A list of potential items include: a small recreation maintenance facility and improvements to parking for the park, to an intergenerational community center. There has been discussion about a larger indoor recreation facility, a smaller recreational building; any number of municipal uses that have been discussed.”
“I would be remiss if I did not mention that we are talking about a Fire Department renovation project and this is a site that we have used for temporary facilities for the Police Department in the past (during the renovatons of the police station),” Gilleberto said. “It could serve that purpose for the Fire Dept. I have to stress no decision has been made at this point in time but it is one of the sites that has been looked at whether or not we acquire 1 Central Street.”
Attaining a quorum is also imperative. “While we do not expect to fund it though borrowing because it is the acquisition of property, it does require a two-third majority vote” at the Special Town Meeting, he said.