Parents, Mudge ask AG to probe land transaction

By: BETH BOTTIS 01/08/2004

NORTH KINGSTOWN- A group of concerned parents are planning to appeal to the Department of the Attorney General for assistance in what they say is a "crisis of ethics and fair government in North Kingstown."
Lynda and Joseph Avanzato, with the assistance of school committee member William Mudge and a group of local parents are requesting that the Attorney General's office look into a number of issues relating to the superintendent of schools and some town officials.
One of the issues brought up is described by the parents as "an illegal land transaction" and deals with the property located at 646 Camp Avenue, the site of the former Quonset School.
The town had purchased the 6.65 acres of land for $65,512, according to the minutes of the May 3, 2000 town council work session during which the issue was discussed. According to the website for Vision Appraisal Technology, which the town has contracted with to assist in the revaluation that is taking place, the town purchased that property in 1978.
According to the town charter and confirmed by Town Manager Richard Kerbel, in order for the town to sell a piece of property, it must first get the approval of the town council and then the approval of the voters at the next general election.
In this instance, the issue was one of four local referenda questions on the ballot in the 1986 election.
The town council approved a sale of the property at the July 10, 2000 council meeting.
The property was finally sold to the Southern Rhode Island Collaborative (SORICO) Real Estate Holding Corporation in the summer of 2000 for $60,000. SORICO is a group governed by a council of superintendents and one school committee member from each of the districts. As members of the council, they are responsible for and oversee the property, affairs and activities of the Collaborative. The Southern Collaborative includes the districts of Block Island, Chariho, East Greenwich, Exeter/West Greenwich, Jamestown, Narragansett, North Kingstown, South Kingstown and Westerly. The mission of the group is "to develop and offer programs and services that meet the needs of its members districts when such services and programs can more effectively and economically be provided on a collaborative basis."
For North Kingstown, Superintendent Dr. James Halley and school committee member Patricia Watkins are representatives.
According to the Non-Profit Corporation Annual Report for 2002, Halley is the president of SORICO and Watkins is the chairperson for the SORICO real Estate Holding Corporation.
Part of the reason the parents say that the deal was an "illegal land transaction" is because the land that was sold for only $60,000 is worth over $500,000.
According to the Vision Appraisal website, the property is valued at exactly $501,800.
Kerbel said that his understanding of the town charter requires voter approval to sell the town's assets, which was obtained by the 1986 vote. The original deal for sale of the property back in the 1980s, he said obviously fell through, though he does not know why, and the building had been vacant since then.
According to the May 3, 2000 meeting minutes, Kerbel told the council that there had been two proposals for the purchase of the land. Kerbel confirmed on Tuesday that there had been three proposals for the land, including SORICO's proposal.
One of the proposals, according to Kerbel, was from Don Steinman, who had developed a small business incubator at the campus at Lafayette. He had bid for the Camp Avenue property with the intentions of developing another incubator, and had wanted to purchase the property from the town and have the town act as a partner with the incubator development. Kerbel could not remember the exact price of that proposal or if it had been a formal written proposal.
The other proposal, according to Kerbel, came from Fran Dwyer of Dwyer Century 21 and Dick Welch of Apple Construction. The men had proposed to purchase the land and use it to construct affordable senior housing.
According to Dwyer, the men had bid $60,000 on the property, but the town turned down their bid.
"They really didn't give us too much of an answer," Dwyer said. "It was a disappointment to us. We were really hoping to build the senior housing to contribute to the goal of 10-percent affordable housing in town."
"We did have an appraisal done prior to the sale," Kerbel said. "We then offered it in a competitive process for sale- it went out to bid."
When asked why, if the property was assessed at over $500,000 it was sold for only $60,000, Kerbel said that a number of factors went into the final decision.
"When the property was sold to SORICO there was another building on the site," he said. "They paid for the demolition of that building, but I'm not sure of the exact cost of that. They have also made significant improvements to the site." Kerbel also said that the property's location near the Camp Avenue Dump also affects its value.
"The fact that it is located near a hazardous waste site affects its marketability," he said.
Kerbel also said that he thought the assessment for the property sounded high, but that the property has been significantly improved upon since SORICO purchased it.
"They took what was an eyesore and turned it into an asset for the town," he said.
At the May 3, 2000 work session, Kerbel had outlined four advantages to the town for the transaction, including: the fact that the annual cost of insurance alone is over $5,000; it would mean eliminating a facility that is difficult to maintain and expensive to demolish; the property would be put back on the tax roll; and the town would assist SORICO with the consolidation of their facilities.
Kerbel also said at that time that the proposal for senior housing would require a zone change and that there was a question of the density being acceptable under the town's residential zoning districts.
There are also a number of other issues the Avanzatos and Mudge say they will be bringing to the attention of the Attorney General, including issues surrounding the roofing projects at the elementary schools, issues surrounding the funding of the high school and various budget issues.
Telephone calls to Lizann Gibson Executive Director of SORICO were not returned by the Standard-Times' deadline.


©The Standard Times 2004