More than a dozen Cedarville residents showed up at the Select Board meeting Tuesday to vent disappointment at a recent board vote on a nearby land deal some said was fraught with conflict of interest, undue secrecy and a lack of integrity.
The ire was directed at a June 9 vote clearing the way for Plymouth developer Matthew Sheridan to buy 138 acres of formerly protected land at Landers Farm Road to use a portion to build a housing development.
Board Members Kevin Canty and David Golden are longtime friends of Sheridan. He also serves as campaign manager of Golden’s current bid for state representative. He also served as campaign manager in Canty’s recent and successful bid for reelection.
Both Canty and Golden declined calls to recuse themselves, and instead opted to cast deciding votes that would financially benefit their friend and campaign manager. The deal came to a vote after months of secret negotiations in executive sessions. Select Board Chair Deb Iaquinto cast the third vote in favor of the deal.
Members Bill Keohan and Dick Quintal were opposed, arguing the town should give environmental groups more time to come up with the money to purchase the land.
Anna Melillo said she was disappointed with the board’s actions on the Landers deal.
“Mr. Golden, Mr. Canty should have abstained, not just for optics alone,” Melillo said during the public comment portion of the Select Board meeting at Cedarville Fire Station.
She was one of 13 in the audience who stood to voice their concerns about the vote.
“The integrity of this board has been threatened,” said Bill Lawrence.
Patrick Downey rose to say he intends to file a complaint with the state Ethics Commission.
“Why did this all have to be in secret?” he asked. “Why was this all behind closed doors? There’s nothing in here that’s so confidential that we can’t hear about it.”
Canty attempted to address each of the concerns, saying he and Golden filed the appropriate disclosure forms about their relationships to Sheridan.
“The proposed developer is a friend of mine,” Canty said. “I felt that I could look after the best interests of the town. Although he is a friend of mine, that was not the basis of my assessment. It was based on the track record of work that that developer has in this community of building working-class homes, of building places that people can afford to live in this community.
“No one should get my vote because they’re my friend, but I don’t think people should lose my vote just because they’re my friend either,” Canty said. Golden, who wasn’t present for much of the meeting due to a family matter, showed up online to voice his agreement with Canty over the issue.
Canty said the secrecy was necessary to protect the interests of the town while the board discusses with an attorney and staff how best to negotiate with a potential buyer or seller of land. Government bodies in Massachusetts are allowed to conduct such negotiations away from public scrutiny to prevent other potential buyers from hijacking the negotiations.
Because the land had been protected previously, the town had a right of first refusal to come up with the $5 million price tag. The board dismissed the option to transfer the town’s right of first refusal to the Community Land and Water Coalition, which Iaquinto said had not provided sufficient information to support its ability to come up with the money.
Keohan and Quintal agreed the non-profit should have been given more time.
“We should have took a little more time,” Quintal said. “We had another group that was interested in it. We may have co-partnered with them or any other groups. We don’t know because we didn’t get that far.”
Keohan said the town could have tapped into the $4.4 million it raises each year in Community Preservation Act funds and partnered with the other group for the balance.
“We fell short,” he said. “The land warranted a serious consideration for preservation.”
Resident Gerry Williams asked about the rushed vote. The town had until August to waive its right of first refusal.
“I don’t see why we had to rush to give up our refusal,” Williams said.
Iaquinto likened the situation to agreeing to sell a house to a buyer who cannot provide financial details until the day of closing.
Keohan, a real-estate agent, said it was more like the seller taking a house off the market contingent on getting a finance approval letter from the buyer within 30 or 60 days.
“We only gave this group seven days to come up with the financial information,” Keohan said. “I feel like we jumped out of it too quick.”
One man who identified himself only as Smith rose to express his disappointment.
“You represent us,” he said. “We only ask you look out for us.”
Canty said he understands people are disappointed he participated in an outcome they don’t like.
Sybil Holland expressed concerns the memorandum of understanding the town reached with Sheridan is unenforceable. Sheridan agreed to a series of conditions to include pursuing a walking trail and evaluating the feasibility of building a wastewater treatment facility.
“It’s almost as though he’s saying to you: ‘Yeah, I promise. I’ll give it some thought,” Holland said. “There’s nothing here with any teeth. Nothing I see or read here is enforceable.”
Canty said the memorandum of understanding would be filed with the registry of deeds, will run with the land, and will be used by the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals in the permitting process.
Keohan agreed with Holland the conditions of the memorandum of understanding are unenforceable.
“They’re just aspirational,” Keohan said, adding that he did not sign the memorandum for that reason. “What we have is something that is vague.”
Canty said he and Golden filed their disclosure forms because they wanted to be on the up-and-up.
“We did that to maintain the integrity of the board and the process,” Canty said.
Quintal said if Canty and Golden had recused themselves, the vote would probably have been different, as Iaquinto would have been the only member in favor of relinquishing the town’s right of first refusal.
Iaquinto said the board received public comment through letters and phone calls and attended a June 6 public meeting organized by the Community Land and Water Coalition at the Plymouth Public Library.
Resident Eric Cody said the public was unduly excluded from the decision.
“By going behind closed doors and shortening the decision time frame you basically cut us out of the picture.”
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org