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Friends,
Monday night, the
Town Council will hold their monthly meeting. There are two agenda
items regarding the purchase of a property located at 634 Charlestown Beach
Rd, on the beachfront.
The first item
would authorize the Town Administrator to execute a purchase agreement on
the property, which includes a $49,900 non-refundable deposit.
The second item
would add a vote to our November 2020 election ballot to authorize the
Town to purchase that property for $2.5 Million.
Purchase of this
property, adjacent to our existing Town Beach, may be a good thing. But
there are some major concerns.
1.
The asking price is
$2.5 million. The property is assessed at $1.2 million and an
appraisal estimates its fair market value at $1.45 million. This $2.5
million price is a huge premium over both the assessed and appraised
values.
2.
The Purchase &
Sales agreement requires the Town to give the sellers a non-refundable
deposit of $49,900. This would happen before we vote on the purchase.
3.
If the voters reject
the purchase on the November ballot, the property owner will keep the
deposit money.
Asking the voters
whether or not they want to purchase this property is a good
thing. Paying more than double the assessed price, and gambling with
$49,900 of the tax payers money is not.
Charlestown
Residents United believes
1.
This price is too
high compared to the fair market value and for the small amount of beach
frontage it will add to the Town Beach and
2.
A purchase
agreement with a non-refundable deposit should NOT be signed until
the voters authorize the purchase.
Click here (page 7 of the document) for the backup information for
the Town Council meeting.
Thank you, Tim
Quillen, Chairperson, Charlestown Residents United
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