Lenox removes Laurel Lake article from town meeting warrant

LENOX – The board of selectmen has backed off of an effort to sell some of the property the town co-owns with Lee on Laurel Lake.

At their last meeting, the selectmen voted to remove Article 25 from this year’s town meeting warrant, which would have authorized the selectmen to take action to sell the house Lenox co-owns with the Town of Lee on Laurel Lake, along with a two-acre parcel of land.

Lee authorized such a sale at their last town meeting, and approval on Lenox’s side would require a two-thirds majority vote from Lenox’s town meeting.

Were this to happen, both town conservation commissions and the state legislature would have to sign off on a sale, as would the select boards of both towns. The state legislature and conservation commissions would need to give their approval because the land was purchased with preservation monies.

“They would have to approve removing those two acres from conservation purposes,” Town Manager Gregory T. Federspiel said when the article was discussed at the last selectmen’s meeting.

The passing of such an article would not obligate the selectmen to pursue selling the property.

Town Manager Federspiel said the original impetus for the article was based on both towns not having the funds to renovate the house to make it livable and its deteriorating state.

He also said new conversations about open space, particularly those with The Mount, had thrown into doubt the desirability of selling the property: “That raised the question as to whether or not to go forward.”

The article caused some debate among the selectmen.

“I personally think we should put this in here, see what the townspeople have to say,” said Selectman John McNinch, who supported keeping the article. “This is the first step in a multi-step process to even be able to sell the place.”

“Just sell it, lease it for 50 years or something,” said Selectman W. David Roche.

Selectman Channing Gibson meanwhile, objected to the article.

“Personally, I’d like to see it pulled from the warrant,” said Selectman Gibson, who, at the selectmen’s previous meeting, said he would like to see the property incorporated into a larger open space plan.

“This isn’t telling us to sell it,” said Selectman McNinch. “If we decided to sell it, we have the right to sell it.”

The turning point in the conversation came when Susan Wissler, executive director of The Mount, addressed the selectmen.

Ms. Wissler voiced her opposition to the article, saying that under an open space plan being discussed with the town, the original Mount estate was close to being put back together from a public access standpoint.

Edith Wharton Park, which is next to the property the Laurel Lake parcel is situated in, borders The Mount estate. An open space proposal currently being considered by the town would turn the grounds of The Mount into a public park, maintained by The Mount, which would form a continuous stretch of parkland with Edith Wharton Park.

Ms. Wissler said if the Laurel Lake parcel was sold to a private entity, they could put up a structure that wasn’t in keeping with the character of the area.

“I would urge the town to go slowly and to allow the other development conversations to continue,” said Ms. Wissler.

She also raised the possibility that Lee could use the money from a possible sale to pursue a plan to create a more heavily developed Lee Beach that was proposed in the 1970s.

“Give us this next year to see if we can work out a much a larger sort of open space plan,” she said.

Planning Board Chair Kathleen McNulty-Vaughan also spoke against the article.

“It just strikes me that we have no idea what’s going to happen here,” said Ms. Vaughan, characterizing the selectmen’s conversations as uncertain. “It seems to me that this needs to be tabled.”

Following Ms. Vaughan’s comments, Selectman Gibson made a motion to strike the article from the warrant, which was seconded by Board of Selectmen Chairman Kenneth L. Fowler.

“I know which way the vote’s gonna go, so it doesn’t make a lot of difference,” said Selectman Roche, when the subject of debating the motion came up.

The motion was passed after no debate, by a 3-2 vote, a rarity for the normally consensus-oriented Lenox board. Chairman Fowler, Selectman Edward P. Lane and Selectman Gibson voted to strike the article from the warrant, while Selectmen McNinch and Roche voted to keep it.

Posted by Bera B. Dunau on April 11, 2013. Filed under Community News,News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry