The Simes House is assessed for $1,710,500. On May 16, the Independent reported that the Select Board have agreed to sell it to the Manomet Bird Observatory for $40,000 (2% of its assessed value)!
The Uniform Procurement Act provides that any municipality that wishes to sell real estate must first: (1) appraise its value using valid procedures customarily accepted by the appraising profession, and then (2) publish an advertisement inviting the submission of proposals in a newspaper with a local circulation that runs at least once a week for two consecutive weeks. Was this done in this case?
Although the property is subject to conservation, preservation, and affordable housing restrictions which run with the land, the required appraisal would determine what the fair market value of the property is subject to those restrictions. It strikes me as absurd to think that it would be as low as $40,000!
If necessary, Massachusetts law also provides a means for seeking the release of these restrictions, but it requires the consent not only of the Select Board but also of the Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental Affairs, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and the Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Living Communities. Was this looked into?
Suppose the Bird Observatory decides to sell the property after acquiring it? In that case the gain will belong to the Observatory and not to the Town!
I can’t imagine that 2/3 of Town Meeting Members will vote to approve a sale that is, literally “for the birds”.
– Richard Serkey
Serkey is a Town Meeting member representing precinct 2