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24 Main Street, Hopkinton, MA 01748 508.435.5534 08/15/2006 11:13:24 AM Editor@HopNews.com

Secretive Whitehall appraisal figures are now public

Figures fall short of need

Deadline for Whitehall is Friday ~ One last chance

by Robert Falcione

August 14, 2006 — In a lengthy and candid interview today, Ron Nation (File photo), the seller of the Woodville property that the Town Meeting voted to purchase and fund in May, said that the reason for the latest extension that he granted to the Town was to wait for an appraisal to come in.

Even though Mr. Nation paid for the latest appraisal, which was delivered only last Friday, nearly two weeks after the grant was applied for, it came in at $2,685,000; $65,000 short of the purchase price. And Mr. Nation said the negotiations for the price of the land are over. The Town will have to come up with the difference to make up the $2,750,000.

"This thing originally wasn't for sale, but they [John Coolidge was Chair of the OSPC, Open Space Preservation Committee] kept asking me at the same time that they [Planning Board, Chair, John Coolidge] were charged with issuing me permits," he said. At the time, then Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Eric Sonnett, accused Mr. Coolidge of having a conflict of interest over the dual roles.

"Finally, I told them $3 million," he said. "There was no gift-back from me.

"It came time to sign it, and they said the Town wouldn't support a $3 million purchase. I told them to make their best offer," he said.

"I reduced the price to $2,750,000 with a $250,000 gift that was all smoke and mirrors. I believe it has been removed, because you have to hold title for a year to qualify. They agreed and signed the agreement. And where are we now?" he asked rhetorically. File photo, John Coolidge, left, and Jeff Doherty.

"They hired an appraiser who came in with a figure of $2,050,000. Under General Law 44B, the Town cannot buy a piece of land for more than the appraised value," he said. The appraisal was delivered last Friday.

"I had it appraised at $2,685,000, based on [The approval of] a 9-lot subdivision and comparable values in town.

"As the seller, I have to look at their appraisals with a jaundiced eye," he said.

Mr. Nation said that Friday, August 18, 2006, is the end of the current extension of the closing date. And he will grant another one to October 15, if and only if the town agrees to move forward on that day, to a resolution of the sale, with or without the grant money.

Jeff Doherty, also a member of the OSPC and the Community Preservation Committee, has said recently that negotiations were still under way.

"I have an agreement with the Town for $2.75 million — there's no negotiating. The terms of the extension are negotiable, but the price is not," he said.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts will not allow a Town to purchase land for less than the appraised value.

It is unclear why the OSPC applied for a grant for property to be purchased for $2.75 million when the highest appraisal, an appraisal Mr. Coolidge refused to make public, and cloaked in "Executive Session" privilege, came in at only $2,050,000, a full $700,000 less than the purchase price. Mr. Coolidge has not returned phone messages left on his machine, but did email to HopNews last week a refusal to provide those documents, a move that had people asking if perhaps the appraisals came in under the purchase price. And they did.

In a short conversation last Friday, Selectman Ron Clark said that Mr. Nation purchased the land from Bob Shepard in March for $1.8 million.

"What has caused the value of he property to go from $1.8 million to $2.75 million in two month's time?" he said.

Friday is the deadline for the current extension, and the parties are negotiating for another until October 15, 2006.