By Sharon Challenger
(December 15, 2023) — Along with other business, an executive session regarding the sale of the Rossi property and Haddam Elementary School was listed on the agenda for the December 11, 20923 Board of Selectmen meeting.
This generated a flurry of comments and confusion on one of the many town Facebook pages.
A question was raised in a post titled, “Have You Heard?” It referred to the sale and leaseback of portions of the HES property. (Note: the agenda for the meeting had a typo – lease back, rather than leaseback).
The author of the post seemed unclear as to why an executive session was to be held regarding the matter. They felt that the land deal discussion held behind closed doors served to keep people “in the dark.”
In an attempt to get a better understanding of why an executive session was called, HK News reached out to Haddam’s First Selectman, Bob McGarry.
His response is as follows:
“As was correctly pointed out in the Haddam-Killingworth Now comment on Facebook, the Executive Session at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting was to discuss the sale of the Rossi property and the sale and leaseback of HES. As you may know, the town posted requests for proposals from qualified developers for both properties.
“Some of the proposals we received included options, such as a sale and leaseback, that we had never considered. Some of those options had significant advantages that deserved to be discussed. I wanted the thoughts and guidance of my fellow selectmen on how to proceed.
“Since our discussion would include financial and other considerations under negotiation with the potential developers, it wasn’t appropriate to have it in a public setting. Our legislators who passed Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) knew there are limited times when government bodies have to be able to hold discussions behind closed doors and allowed for them in the act.
“Following the June open house we held at HES we hired two architectural firms; one to design a playscape and park on the grounds and one to evaluate the feasibility of moving some or all municipal offices into the school. I have a progress meeting with each firm next week.
“I expect to present an update on HES and a proposal for the Rossi property at the January 8, 2024 Board of Selectmen’s meeting. After that, the update and proposal will be discussed at the following public meetings:
- Economic Development Commission, Wednesday, January 10, 2024.
- Public Hearing, Tuesday, January 16, 2024 following our Annual Town Meeting.
- Planning and Zoning, Thursday, January 18, 2024.
- Town Meeting in late January or early February, 2024 to vote on the proposal for the Rossi property in order to meet a deadline just imposed on us by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development. They administer the environmental clean-up grant we were awarded for the property.”
