Quorum of 150 needed
Published March 5, 2020
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
NORTH READING — By a unanimous vote of the Select Board last Saturday morning, a Special Town Meeting was called for Monday, May 11, 2020 at 7 p.m. to see if the voters will purchase approximately 14 acres of land that comprise the Seven Acres Poultry Farm at 14 Concord St.
Under the town’s charter, a quorum of 150 voters is necessary to hold a Special Town Meeting. This date is about as late as the town could hold it. Town Administrator Michael Gilleberto explained that the town will be within nine days of the 120-deadline by holding it on May 11, but the only other options available in March were Wednesday, March 25 or Monday, March 30. Select Board member Rich Wallner could not make either of those dates. No dates were available in April due to school vacation week, civic and religious holidays and dates when the Performing Arts Center at NRHS was already booked, he said.
The Special Town Meeting will also fall after the annual town election on Tuesday, May 5 so this means that a new Select Board member will be sitting in the seat currently occupied by Andy Schultz who opted not to seek re-election. One candidate has stepped forward to run for the open seat, Vincenzo Stuto, who has returned his nomination papers.
There are other advantages to having this extra time prior to Special Town Meeting as it will enable the town to more closely evaluate the land and base its decisions and recommendations on the advice provided by its engineering and land use professionals.
The Select Board also voted Saturday for the right to enter the property for the purpose of evaluating it. The town’s consulting engineer will provide the board with his assessment. The land also has wetlands.
The Seven Acres farm land came on the market in mid-January after Paul Magliozzi and his family decided to retire. Members of the Magliozzi family have been running a farm on this land for more than 80 years raising their famous turkeys and other poultry products. They’ll continue to operate their retail store beside their home during this process.
The land has been classified for agricultural/horticultural uses which afforded the owners a reduced property tax under MGL Ch. 61A in exchange for a commitment to encourage the preservation of the state’s farmland.
To qualify as a “farm” under Ch. 61A, a “property must consist of at least five contiguous acres of land under the same ownership and be ‘actively devoted’ to agricultural or horticultural use,” according to a taxpayers’ guide published by the state’s Department of Revenue.
Once a farmer chooses to convert the land back to residential, commercial or industrial uses, the town is given the option to purchase it through a “right of first refusal” in exchange for having received lower tax revenue from the over the years.
Magliozzi submitted to the town a bona fide offer to purchase the property by Sergio Coviello for $1.1 million in January which started the clock running on the 120 day option to purchase if the town can match an independently appraised price.
Included in the purchase and sale agreement between Coviello and Magliozzi is a contingency to also purchase the two residential homes on either side of farm, for $450,000 each. The town will also be given the option to match those offers. The farmhouse at 4 Concord Street is the Magliozzi’s home. The home at 12 Concord St. is a two-family.
Under the Special Town Meeting warrant, the first article will deal with the farm and the second article will address the two homes. The third and final article on the warrant has become a standard article on “nearly every Town Meeting warrant to address deficiencies in the fiscal year operating budget,” according to Gilleberto.
Gilleberto explained that the first draft of the STM warrant included an article unrelated to the Magliozzi land to seek funding for temporary facilities to draw more water from Andover sooner than previously planned. But work on those facilities must begin prior to May 11, so Gilleberto said they will fund it from the FY20 “water enterprise operating budget, with the intention of requesting a transfer into that budget at the Special Town Meeting.”