Category Archives: Medfield State Hospital

SHAC flyer for STM on MSH purchase

Posted on February 17, 2014 | Comments Off on SHAC flyer for STM on MSH purchase

The State Hospital Advisory Committee (SHAC) has prepared a flyer to provide residents with information and the basic data for the 3/10/14 special town meeting (STM) on the proposed purchase from the state for $3.1 m of the 134 acres at the former Medfield State Hospital site. 20140216-draft town meeting handout 02-16-14 Greater information can be found at the SHAC website www.mshvision.net, and will also be presented prior to and at the STM.

The SHAC members will be voting at the next SHAC meeting on 2/2714 on whether to support recommending the purchase of the former Medfield State Hospital site to the Board of Selectmen.  While the SHAC members appear to be split on whether to purchase the land, this observer guesses that the committee will vote at least two to one in favor of purchasing the land.

The town residents would also have to vote by at least a two to one margin at the special town meeting (STM) to purchase the land as well for the deal to proceed.

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Posted in Medfield State Hospital, Town Meeting

STM warrant articles & ballot question re MSH purchase

Posted on February 17, 2014 | Comments Off on STM warrant articles & ballot question re MSH purchase

These are the warrant articles for the 3/10/14 special town meeting (STM) and the ballot question on whether to purchase the former Medfield State Hospital site.

===========================

Norfolk, SS.
TOWN OF MEDFIELD
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
WARRANT FOR MARCH 10,2014
SPECIAL TOWN MEETING

To the Constables of the Town of Medfield in said County, greetings:

In the name of the Commonwealth, you are directed to notify and warn the Inhabitants of the Town of Medfield, qualified to vote in elections and in Town affairs, to meet at the Amos Clark Kingsbury High School Gymnasium, located on South Street in said Medfield, on Monday the tenth day of March, A.D., 2014 at 7:30 o’clock P.M., then and there to act on the following articles:
Article 1. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money and determine in what manner said sum shall be raised and to authorize the Treasurer/Collector with the approval of the Board of Selectmen to borrow in accordance with the provisions of G.L. Chapter 44, Section 7, clause (3), or any other enabling statute, for the purposes of purchasing or otherwise acquiring a portion of the Medfield State Hospital property, so-called, and to authorize the Selectmen to enter into an agreement with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to accomplish said purchase, provided that said borrowing shall be contingent upon the passage of a debt exclusion override in accordance with the provisions of G.L. Chapter 59, Section 21 C, Paragraph (k) or any special enabling legislation governing such debt exclusion override, or do or act anything in relation thereto.
(Board of Selectmen)

Article 2. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum of money and determine in what manner said sum shall be raised, for the purposes of maintaining and/or securing the land and building of the former Medfield State Hospital property, so-called, or do or act anything in relation thereto.
(Board of Selectmen)

Article 3. To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to petition the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for special legislation to authorize the purchase of all or a portion of land and buildings at the former Medfield State Hospital, shown on the Town of Medfield Board of Assessors’ Maps as Lot 001, Map 71 and Lot 004, Map 63, further shown as Parcels A and B on a Plan entitled Location of Land Parcels Medfield State Hospital Medfield, Massachusetts provided by The Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM), legislation to include such terms, conditions, and language as the Board of Selectmen determines to be in the best interest of the Town of Medfield, or do or act anything in relation thereto.
(Board of Selectmen)

And you are directed to serve this Warrant by posting an attested copy thereof, in the usual place for posting warrants in said Medfield, fourteen days at least before the time of holding said Town Meeting.

Hereof fail not and make due return of this Warrant with your doings thereon, unto the Town Clerk at the time and place ofthe Town Meeting aforesaid. Given unto our hands this __ _
day of February, Two-Thousand and Fourteen.
Mark L. Fisher, Chairman S/ ________________ _
Osler L. Peterson S/ ____________________ _
Richard P. DeSorgher S/ ________________ _
BOARD OF SELECTMEN
By virtue of this Warrant, I have notified and warned the Inhabitants of the Town of Medfield, qualified to vote in elections and at town meetings, by posting attested copies of the same at five
public places, fourteen days before the date of the town meeting, as within directed.
Constable: S/ _________ _
Date: February __ , 2014
A TRUE COPY ATTEST:
Carol A. Mayer, CMC, CMMC S/ ________ _
Town Clerk

=============================

PROPOSITION 2 1/2 DEBT EXCLUSION QUESTION
Shall the Town of Medfield be allowed to exempt from the provIsions of proposition two and one-half, so called, the amounts required to pay for the. bond issued in order to purchase from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts all or a portion of the former Medfield State Hospital site and buildings thereon, identified on the Board of Assessors’ Maps as Lot 001, Map 71 and Lot 004, Map 63, further shown as Parcels A and B on a Plan entitled Location of Land Parcels Medfield State Hospital Medfield. Massachusetts provided by The Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management (DCAM), consisting of approximately 134 acres.

YES __ NO _

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Posted in Medfield State Hospital, Town Meeting

ATM warrant articles

Posted on February 6, 2014 | Comments Off on ATM warrant articles

The town is in the process of getting the warrant articles prepared for the annual town meeting (ATM) on April 28.  Click here for the attached is the current iteration of the warrant articles for the ATM.   Some of the articles –

  • authorize leasing the Holmquist land for farming
  • funds to complete the design and pricing of the new public safety building
  •   funds to build the new water tower at the former Medfield State Hospital site
  • whether to regulate public consumption of marijuana
  • whether to use lot 3 on Ice House Road for fields by Medfield Park & Recreation Commission or to lease to a private party to build a Forekicks type facility (Council on Aging has also expressed interest in having housing for 55+ individuals build there as well)
  • whether to fund the Medfield Cultural Council with $4,250 (matching its state grant monies)
  • create a solar photovoltaic zoning district in the existing Industrial Extensive district
  • whether to adopt the stretch building code, so as to allow Medfield to become a Green Community (and get a grant of $148,000)
  • whether to accept a gift of land that would allow for a path from Wild Holly Lane to the Holquist land and Wheelock School
  • whether to adopt the local option meals tax of 0.75%, in order to provide property tax relief

Please also schedule the special town meeting (STM) on March 10 on your calendar, at which time the town will be asked to make the biggest decision of its history, whether to buy the Medfield State Hospital site for the $3.1 m. price the state has offered it.

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Posted in Affordable housing / 40B, Budgets, Energy Committee, Fire Department, Marijuana, Medfield State Hospital, Open space, Permitting, Police Department, Recreation, Town Meeting, Water & Sewer, Zoning

HistoricalSociety on MSH Monday at 7:30 PM

Posted on February 1, 2014 | Comments Off on HistoricalSociety on MSH Monday at 7:30 PM
This from the MedfieldHistoricalSociety –
For at least a generation, one of Medfield’s main concerns has been, and continues to be, what will become of the now-deserted Medfield State Hospital.
But on Monday, Feb. 3, 2014, at 7:30 p.m., the Medfield Historical Society will take you back in time, to an era when thousands of people lived on the large campus.  Back in those days, when people in Medfield – less worried about political correctness – used to quip, “I’m from Medfield, where half the town is crazy.”
Marge Vasaturo will head a line-up of people who worked at the hospital and knew the place intimately.  She will share memories of working there summers while she was in college in the 1950s, and later as a member of the Board of Trustees for nearly 20 years.
She will be joined by Darel Nowers, who grew up on the hospital grounds and whose father, Rod, managed the hospital’s farm operation; and by Mary Calo, R.N., who worked there as a nurse for 30 years; plus a few others.
We hope many of you in the audience will speak up about your own experiences and memories of the hospital.
If you cannot attend the event but would like to share your story, please forward it to medfieldhistoricalsociety@gmail.com.
This meeting of the Medfield Historical Society is free and open to the public. As usual, it will be in the basement of the old Meetinghouse (First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church), 26 North Street. The meeting will start at 7:30 p.m.

 

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Posted in History, Medfield State Hospital

MAPC housing study

Posted on January 17, 2014 | Comments Off on MAPC housing study

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is our regional planning agency, and the MAPC has released a study about our area’s expected changes over the next several decades.  Medfield is not projected to add much in the way of housing units.  What did interest me most was

  • Medfield is not expected to add housing units, and may even lose some, despite the region needing to add 400,000 units;
  • Medfield was rated in the highest category for household size, but even we are expected to drop in size to 2040; and
  • generally the sort of units needed will change with more units needed for smaller households.

The need for all those new housing units may indicate an opportunity for the Medfield State Hospital site.  The following is from the introduction to the study –

New projections describe the challenges facing Metro Boston

To help the region and its communities plan for a changing and uncertain future, MAPC has prepared projections of population change, household growth, and housing demand for Metro Boston and its municipalities. The projections confirm that the aging and retirement of the Baby Boomers will have profound implications for the region, and that our economic future depends on attracting more young workers. More than 400,000 new housing units–mostly multifamily, and mostly in urban areas–will be needed by the year 2040 if the region is to keep growing its economic base.

LINK TO THE STUDY

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Posted in Development, Medfield State Hospital, Planning

MSH visioning

Posted on January 15, 2014 | Comments Off on MSH visioning

Last Saturday the State Hospital Advisory Committee (SHAC) held a visioning session to engage residents in a discussion about the future of the Medfield State Hospital.  Attached is the Agenda and Handout from that session.  The session was spectacularly successful, far exceeding my expectations.  There were many, many ideas floated and discussed, and the final report should make for fascinating reading.  These were my favorite take aways  –

  • per DCAMM, demolishing the building would run the town $11-14 per sq. ft. (all in) and there are about 658,000 sq. ft. of building, so $724K to $921K for the town to demolish all the buildings, including all costs.  Demolition would be cheaper if as planned it was done by the developer, who does not pay prevailing wages.  Everyone agrees the Lee Building should be saved.  The rest could be saved, but probably only at such high costs that Medfield residents will be unlikely to want to pay to save them, as residents would have to do via property tax increases
  • housing for older residents was a common theme
  • much open green space was a common theme, especially the square in the midst of the campus development.
  • include an outdoor public amphitheater – I suggest we locate the gazebo in Medfield at the back of the property so that the guests would actually be seated in the Dover on land that will not otherwise be used
  • Tom Sweeney’s idea to relocate Hospital Road to where it was formerly located (the current access road to McCarthy Park), so as to enlarge the grass expanse and vista at the front of the site

Below is the preliminary report on Saturday from SHAC visioning subcommittee member Ros Smythe, one of the primary planners of the event –

=======================

Visioning Session write up

 

Over 100 residents, including Medfield Selectmen and the Town Manager, and State Senator James Timilty, attended a Visioning Session hosted by the State Hospital Advisory Committee (SHAC) on Saturday, January 11 from 10 AM to 3 PM.   The purpose of the meeting was to educate townspeople on the issues and opportunities surrounding the potential $3.1 million purchase of approximately 137 acres of the hospital property, and to hear what the participants envision for the use of the land, if purchased.  Professional consultants, Ted Brovitz of Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates and Peter Flinker of Dodson and Flinker ran the session.

 

The morning was comprised of many presentations about different aspects of the history of the property, the condition of the land and buildings, and current considerations regarding the possible purchase of the property.  Participants formed into break-out groups in which they voiced the issues and opportunities they saw regarding the possible purchase of the land.  The overriding and major opportunity identified was the Town’s ability to control the re-use of the property.

The major issue was the uncertainty over additional costs to the Town beyond the purchase price.  The main expenses identified were: renovation or demolition of the structures; asbestos and lead paint removal; and maintenance and security costs until disposition.

 

The afternoon was devoted to scenario-building and at the end of the session each group presented a “vision” for the property, if purchased by the Town.  Although every plan was different. some common ideas were apparent. Consistent themes were: a Park and Recreation building on the approximately 37 acre sledding hill parcel; a desire to keep the view across the sledding hill as open space; height limitations of any reuse to allow the continued appreciation of the natural setting; the use of legislation to guarantee that the parcels adjacent to the core campus, which are to be retained by the State, remain as open space in perpetuity; paths and walkways throughout the whole parcel allowing connectivity between the various parcels of land and to adjacent open space properties;  maintaining the core campus village square feel; the development of a community space, utilizing the Chapel Building if suitable, for cultural activities; development of some commercial/professional space; and, fulfillment of 40B housing requirements and construction of “empty nester” homes through a mixed use development.

 

The SHAC would like to thank all the participants who attended the session.  We are grateful for your time and thoughtful comments.

 

For more information regarding the Medfield State Hospital, please go to mshvision.net or www.facebook.com/MSHVision.

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Posted in Development, Medfield State Hospital, Open space, Planning

MSH visioning this Sat.

Posted on January 8, 2014 | Comments Off on MSH visioning this Sat.

The town’s State Hospital Advisory Committee (SHAC) is holding a public visioning session this coming Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM at The Center, to get input from all residents about what to do with the Medfield State Hospital site.  There will be a special town meeting (STM) in February or March for the town to decide whether to buy the MSH site for the $3.1 m. price the selectmen recently struck with DCAMM, so all residents are encouraged to attend to learn more and to give the town the benefit of their thoughts.

Buying the MSH site allows the town to control the ultimate uses of the site, and DCAMM has offered easy financial terms – they will finance the purchase over ten years, so that we only need to pay $310,000 per year.  In a worse case situation, the town would have to pay about $10 m. to demolish all the buildings, but it would be preferable to develop the core campus and have the developer do the demolitions, where they can do it less expensively since they do not have to follow prevailing wage law requirements so they can do it cheaper.

The scenario and time constraints are such that the town will need to first make the decision to buy, before the town can decide upon the ultimate uses of the land.  This inverted process results because:

  • the town would like to respond to the pending purchase opportunity before Governor Patrick and his administration leave office in a year (when that opportunity may disappear),
  • the required special legislation will need to be crafted and passed by July when the legislative session ends.
  • Semator Timilty opines that the legislation will need to be submitted by April to have any chance at passage in the legislature by July, and
  • the town has to have made the decision to buy the MSH site at the special town meeting (in February or March) before the legislature will even consider that needed legislation.

Hence the need to have a special town meeting (STM) in the next two months.

POSSIBLE USES

The SHAC recently circulated a survey to the residents, and got 258 responses.  The most popular suggested uses were for open spaces, trails, recreation, farming, and housing, more or less in that order.  The good news is that the site is sufficiently large that all of those uses can be accommodated along with the development that will provide the appropriate economic returns to the town.

OPEN SPACES & TRAILS – The town would be buying 134 acres that is surrounded by hundreds of other acres of land that is currently open space and will continue to be open space.  Those other lands that the town will not purchase contain many fields and trails that will continue to be open to the public to use, just as they are now.  All the lands along the river and the large fields to the east and west of the MSH buildings will continue to be public lands, open to all, just as now.

The 134 acres being bought by the town consists of two parcels, the 40 acres that surround the sledding hill and the 94 acres where the buildings are currently located.  While there are 40 acres around the sledding hill, only twelve of those acres on that side of Hospital Road will be able to be developed, due to state restrictions against development of lands containing agricultural soils.  Hence, 28 acres on that side of Hospital Road will not be developed and will remain open land.

I can today go out the door of my house (adjoining the MSH area) and jog or cross country ski for miles and hours, without ever being on roads, except to cross them, and there is so much open spaces in the area that fact will not change.

FARM – DCAMM has indicated that the town can discuss with the state’s Dept. of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the state entity that will acquire ownership and control of the fields to the east and west of the MSH buildings, about farm and/or CSA use of those lands.  I personally like exploring having a farm and/or a CSA operation in town, and I think the DCR lands at the MSH could be an excellent location, just as the town’s Holmquist lands would be as well.

RECREATION – As noted above, there will always be much open space available for passive recreation uses in that general vicinity.  The town can also opt to have any of the rest of the lands it buys made available for recreational uses.  One of the suggestions for development at the site is as a regional recreational facility.

HOUSING – There should be plenty of land on which to develop housing of the sort that is lacking and therefore needed in town, housing that which will not entail large municipal costs, such as housing for the elderly, housing for empty nesters, and/or dense developments such as Olde Medfield Square which has only one school child in its first 27 occupied units.

I have suggested that the town should develop a master plan to look at all our options for locating affordable housing and other town needs throughout the town, and I hope that we can integrate the MSH site into a town-wide plan that addresses all our future needs in a well thought out and integrated manner.  Planning the development at the MSH could then become part of our plan for the development of all the rest of the town.

Bill Massaro has been a close follower of and participant in the MSH clean up and development process.  His email this week does a nice job of summarizing our current situation –

=======================================
Sent: Saturday, January 4, 2014 7:15:34 PM
Subject: State Hospital Property Reuse Visioning Workshop 1-11-14 : What Would You Like To See There?

 Hi Everyone,

Because of your continuing  concern and support,  after 5 years of struggles we were able to reach agreement with DCAMM on the cleanup and restoration  of  the 100-year old hazardous landfill  alongside and in the Charles River at the former State Hospital.

So 2013 will be remembered as the year we not only protected the Town’s main well, but  left another  priceless gift to the future generations who will  take advantage of the safe recreational opportunities you have made possible, and who will forever appreciate the restored beauty on this stretch of the Charles.

The next few months present us with the opportunity to decide what gift we will leave for future generations on the rest of the Hospital  property .

After the Hospital closed  in 2003, DCAMM’s refusal to sell any of the property to the Town led to the 2008 Legislation authorizing  2 parcels for Developer sale and their reuse for 440 housing units.

As part of the new cooperative relationship, the current administration at DCAMM has offered to sell these 2 parcels to the Town.  The Board of Selectmen have accepted DCAMM’s offer and have begun defining a detailed purchase and sale agreement, and sometime within the next few months a Special Town meeting will be called to give residents the opportunity to approve or reject the purchase.

On Saturday January 11 at 10:00 a.m. at the Center on Ice House Road, the State Hospital Advisory Committee (SHAC) will hold a Visioning Workshop to get your views for potential uses of the property.  SHAC members will first present background information on the parcels  being offered,  provide details on the proposed terms of sale, and provide a summary of recent resident surveys and consultant studies on potential reuse of the property.

You will then have the opportunity in small break-out groups to discuss issues and opportunities.  Lunch will be provided and afterwards you can join in developing  scenarios for alternative future use of the property.

The attached invitation  provides additional information on the meeting time and a link for further information.

This meeting will give you the opportunity to have your voice heard in deciding how 2014 will be remembered by future Medfield generations.

I hope you can  attend.

The RSVP address is sraposa@medfield.net

Thanks

Bill

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Posted in Affordable housing / 40B, Development, Medfield State Hospital, Nature, Open space, Planning, Select Board matters, Sports, Town Meeting

SHAC meeting re MSH site

Posted on December 9, 2013 | 2 comments

The State Hospital Advisory Committee (SHAC) met 12-5-2013, and Jim Rohnstock authored excellent meeting notes of what transpired.

In my mind the big unresolved issues are –

  • TIMING:  The timing of the special town meeting (STM) to take up whether the town will want o pursue the purchase of the Medfield State Hospital site.  All agree that consideration should happen before the Patrick administration leaves office in January 2015, and if that is to happen the required legislation will need happen before the legislature dissolves for elections next year, which may be during the summer.  The timing of the legislative calendar will therefore control the timing of our municipal consideration of and voting on the purchase.  The town will just have to back out the timing as to when the special town meeting (STM) will have to occur to meet the legislature’s schedule.  Inquiries will be made to determine the legislature’s timing, and then we can set our schedule.  My recollection the last time we dealt with the legislature over getting legislation for the Medfield State Hospital was that the legislature stopped meeting for the year in July, but we will learn more soon.
  • ULTIMATE USES:  Given the need to schedule an early special town meeting (STM) to consider the Medfield State Hospital land purchase, the town will probably not have sufficient time to engage in a completed discussion of what ultimate uses it wants to make of the site.  That we require us to decide whether we as a town want to buy the site, before we have a concrete plan in hand as to what we will do with the land after any purchase.  I hope that by the special town meeting (STM) on the purchase, that we will at least have general consensus and agreement on the broad concepts of what the town will do with the land, such as a consensus that the town will seek to partner with developers to build certain sorts of things on the land versus leaving the site as open space.  Even if there is building and development at the site, there will still be lots of open space left for residents to use, just as it is now available to us.
  • DEMOLITION:  Dealing with the decrepit buildings at the site will be a major issue.  I have come to be convinced that it is unlikely that the vast majority of the buildings can be saved for new uses given the exceedingly high cost to do so.  One can rehab any structure, but the question is at what price, and the dilapidated condition of most of the Medfield State Hospital buildings combined with the requirements of the current building codes means that any reuse of those dilapidated buildings will cost lots and lots of money, monies that the town would then have to be willing to pay.  While I personally like a lot the look of the buildings and the their placement on the site, and while I started from a position of wanting to save the buildings, I have since learned the high price to rehab such buildings, and I am now not willing to pay the lots of extra costs needed to salvage them.  Economic realities have made me a reluctant convert to the need to demolish most of the buildings at the Medfield State Hospital site.   There was some discussion of demolition costs at the meeting last week, with the following information imparted:  (1) someone related an expert opining to him that it would cost $5.5 m. to demolish all the builds (without accounting for the abatement costs), (2) experts related general demolition costs of $10-15 per sq. ft. plus $10 per sq. ft. for the abatement, (3) Foxborough State Hospital’s demolition cost $15 per sq. ft. (not at prevailing wage), and (4) DCAMM stated that on average, paying prevailing wages, that it pays $16 per sq. ft., all in (including abatement), to demolish buildings.  There are approximately 600,000 sq. ft. of buildings at the Medfield State Hospital site, so in a worst case scenario, using the DCAMM $16 per sq. ft. number, it would cost the town about $9-10 m. to demolish all the MSH buildings if the town did the demolition.  Everyone seems to agree that at the very least that the Lee Chapel building should be saved.  I am hopeful that the R building and the other building in front of the R building that were most recently rehabbed can be saved as well.  If the town decided on some development at the site, the logical thing would be to have the developer do the demolition, as they would not have to pay prevailing wages, and hence the cost would be substantially less (perhaps on the order of one-third to half less).
  • HISTORIC BUILDINGS:  The site is listed on the National Register of historic properties.  There do not yet appear to be precise answers as to just what the Massachusetts Historic Commission (MHC) will and will not allow with respect to demolition, but we do know that they recently reversed themselves to allow the requested demolition of the Odyssey House to proceed.  The MHC will also probably look to see what the Medfield Historic Commission says it wants done at the site in turns of saving versus demolishing the buildings.  To date, members of our own Historic Commission have opined towards saving as many of the buildings as possible.    The SHAC survey of the condition of four representative building will hopefully give us good data on whether the buildings can be saved and if so at what cost.

Residents should weigh in soon with their opinions about the Medfield State Hospital land on the survey SHAC has posted at its website, as the survey will probably be closed before the end of the year.  Find the survey and the SHAC’s other information at the committee’s website www.MSHvision.net.

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Posted in Medfield State Hospital

Plan of the MSH lands in play

Posted on December 4, 2013 | 3 comments

DCAMM’s term sheet for the Medfield State Hospital property refers to Parcels A and B that it is selling to the Town of Medfield.  I have uploaded the plan so people can see the land that is in play.  20130822-DCAMM-plan

Basically what has been offered to the town is 94 acres of the core campus where the buildings are located today and the 40 acres across the street where the Odyssey House and the sledding hill are located.

Only twelve (12) acres of the 40 acres across Hospital Road can be built upon, due to limitations n taking agricultural soils out of existence.  The 94 acres will be reduced by the six acres coming to the town by means of the separate and now pending water tower legislation, so in reality only 88 acres of the main MSH campus are to be purchased.

The Board of Selectmen also learned last night that the Massachusetts Historic Commission has recently reversed itself and is willing to allow the Odyssey House demolition to proceed.  However, now that the other two demolitions are already completed at the MSH site, Odyssey House will (1) have to wait until spring to be demolished, and (2) now probably cost the state more to demolish than if it had just been done while the demolition contractor was on site.

This is a list of the parcels shown on the attached plan and the intended result for each –

  • Parcels A-1 and A-2 are slated to be transferred to Dept. of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)
  • Parcel C is the long thin land located between the railroad tracks and Rte 27, located on the plan below where it is labeled, and it is also to go to DCR
  • Parcel D is the gun range, which, I believe, goes to the state’s Public Safety people
  • Parcel E (the former MSH Cemetery) goes to DMH
  • Parcel F is already an active group home and will remain as such
  • Parcel G, I believe, is the former sewer pump station, and I do not know who gets that  – ???

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Posted in Medfield State Hospital

Terms of MSH purchase

Posted on December 4, 2013 | 1 comment

The Board of Selectmen accepted and signed DCAMM’s term sheet (copy attached below) last night to proceed with the consideration of the town’s purchase of the Medfield State Hospital site.  This acceptance allows the residents to make the decision whether they want the town to buy the MSH site, which will come at a special town meeting (STM) to be held within the next few months.  The next step is for the negotiation and signing of the purchase and sale agreement.

For me, the purchase of the MSH site is worth pursuing because it allows the town to control the ultimate use of the site.  The town will also have an opportunity to make some profit from any development.

This is the DCAMM term sheet that the selectmen accepted last night –
November 7, 2013

Mr. Stephen Nolan, Chair Medfield Real Estate Committee
Mr. Michael Sullivan, Town Administrator
Medfield Town Hall
459 Main Street
Medfield, MA 02052

Re: Town of Medfield purchase of a portion of the former Medfield State Hospital
Hospital Rd., Medfield, MA

Dear Mr. Nolan and Mr. Sullivan:

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (“Seller”) proposes to sell a 100% fee simple interest in the improved real property more fully described in Paragraph 1 below (the “Property”) on an “as is” basis to the Town of Medfield (“Buyer”). However, prior to closing, the Commonwealth will complete the remediation and demolition work on the “Property” as defined in the “Settlement and Cooperation Agreement” between the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance and the Town of Medfield dated July 26, 2013 .

1. PROPERTY

The Property consists of the unrestricted fee simple interest in a portion of the former Medfield State Hospital located on Hospital Road, Medfield, MA and includes all easements, licenses, permits, agreements, rights-of-way and appurtenances to the land and improvements. The Property, listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places, consists of approximately 134 +/-  acres (Parcels A and B on attached site plan) improved with approximately 600,000 +/- SF of buildings. The final boundaries will be determined through a survey completed by the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance in consultation with the Town of Medfield.

2. PURCHASE PRICE

Three Million One Hundred Thousand which includes a 3% one-time Commonwealth finance fee (calculated as 3% of final purchase price) due at the time of closing or amortized over a 10 year period. This price assumes conveyance of the Property to the Town no later than December 2014. The amortized payments will be made to the Commonwealth through a deduct mechanism to the Town of Medfield’s “cherry sheet aid” in a method to be determined by the Secretary of Administration and Finance through the Department of Revenue.

Seller would also be entitled to a percentage of any net resale/ground lease proceeds from the sale of the total Property or any portion thereof. Seller’s percentage of net resale proceeds shall be determined after Buyer receives a 50% share plus any additional percentages Buyer may earn by achieving certain milestones set forth herein as “Redevelopment Incentives”

3. REDEVELOPMENT INCENTIVES

Buyer shall be entitled to a base percentage of 50% of any net resale/ground lease proceeds. As an incentive, the Buyer can earn up to an additional 20% of the net resale/ground lease proceeds according to the following breakdown listed below:

A. Additional 10% if the Buyer resells/ground leases the Property within 1 – 2 years of original Closing Date.

B. Additional 5% if the Buyer resells/ground leases the Property within 3 – 5 years of the Closing Date.

C. Additional 2.5 % if the Buyer completes a comprehensive market study to inform land use decisions including zoning for the site.
D. Additional 2.5% if the Buyer adopts by right zoning (to be informed by market study) on the site a portion of which must be for residential housing of at least 4 units per acre for single family units and 8 units per acre for multifamily units.

E. Additional 2.5% if the Buyer adopts 43D of the Acts of2006, Section 11 of Chapter 205 entitled “Local Expedited Permitting” which provides for expedited permitting (180 day) on a redevelopment site.

F. Additional 2.5% ifthe Buyer adheres to the Commonwealth’s sustainable development principles (found at http://mass.gov/envir/smart_growth_toolkit/pdf/patrick-principles.pdf) in the planning of future development of the site.

4. TITLE AND CONVEYANCE

Subsequent to agreement on sales purchase terms, Town Meeting approval and the enactment of authorizing legislation, Seller will convey title via a release deed.

5. DUE DILIGENCE

Seller has provided Buyer with comprehensive environmental analysis and reports as a result of the Mass Contingency Plan for the site. Buyer is entitled to any site related documents on file with the Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance. Buyer may conduct additional due diligence at buyer’s expense prior to Town Meeting approval of purchase of Property.

6. TIMING

Buyer and Seller shall use reasonable efforts to close the transaction within sixty (60) days after the completion of the procedures established by enacted authorizing legislation and in any event no later than December 2014.

7. NATURE OF AGREEMENT

THE PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT IS TO MEMORIALIZE CERTAIN BUSINESS POINTS. THE PARTIES MUTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEIR AGREEMENT IS QUALIFIED AND THAT THEY, THEREFORE, CONTEMPLATE THE DRAFTING AND EXECUTION OF A MORE DETAILED AGREEMENT. THEY INTEND TO BE BOUND ONLY BY THE EXECUTION OF SUCH AN AGREEMENT AND NOT BY THIS PRELIMINARY DOCUMENT.

Completion of this transaction is subject to the completion of the procedures and documents established by authorizing legislation.
If Buyer concurs that the terms and conditions set forth herein are satisfactory, please execute and date this letter in the space provide below.

We look forward to your acceptance of this offer to sell and the opportunity to work together on this transaction.

Sincerely,
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts:
Signature: /Carole J. Cornelison/
Title: Commissioner, Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance
Date: 11/7/2013

TOWN OF MEDFIELD ACCEPTANCE:
Signature: _____________ _
Title: Board of Selectrnen, Town of Medfield
Date: _______ _

 

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