VALLEY PATRIOT WEB EXTRA
VALLEY PATRIOT WEB EXTRA
>>Valley Patriot>> |
Developer Battles Petty
Politics The housing sub committee of
the Lawrence city council harassed and harangued local
developer Ken Daher last night during a discussion of
Daher’s $115,000 bid on city owned property at 3
Providence St.
Council president Patrick Blanchette was originally lobbying for his friend, Lawrence resident William Hale to purchase the property for $5,000 over Daher’s significantly higher bid, but Hale withdrew last week after media reports surfaced about process. The following retaliation ensued:
Daher was the highest of the three bidders on the property, valued at $77,000, and promised in writing to pay for any potential cleanup if environmental contaminants are found on the site. But that wasn’t enough for Council President Patrick Blanchette and Nilka Alvarez, who, along with fellow ally Nick Kolofoles made endless speeches and hurled veiled insults at both Daher and Lawrence planning director Michael Sweeney.
Long after being assured by Daher and Sweeney that any contaminants found on the site would be cleaned up by Daher if he was sold the property, Kolofoles and Alvarez asked a series of open ended questions to nobody in particular, wondering out loud whether Daher would “stick the city” with the property, intimating that the he was being dishonest about the shape of the property and strongly hinting that 3 Providence St. was a potential superfund environmental disaster.
Daher
sat quietly through most of the speech making and
political posturing as Kolofoles shamelessly asserted
that he “knew of some neighbors” near the
former garage who had “cancer” wondering aloud
if they got the disease from the disputed property and
projected a "half million dollar clean up"
despite Daher's test results.
Kolofoles admitted he had no specific knowledge of toxins on the site but then quickly reverted back to Blanchette's party line about the city "getting stuck with the property," and how the site was "potentially" contaminated. “As you know councilors, environmental contamination does not respect property lines," Sweeney tried to inform the councilors. "If that site was contaminated, there are several three-decker houses directly abutting the property that would also be contaminated. Mr. Daher said he tested the site, he is going to pay for any potential clean up if contaminants are found and he has done so in writing.”
Sweeney said he contacted the Environmental Protection Agency and that the property was not listed as a contaminated site.
Yet, Alvarez and Kolofoles continued to speak about the property as an environmental hazard, taking their cues from Blanchette who seemed to be directing an orchestra as each of them took turns repeating and re-repeating the charges of a "potential" environmental disaster on the land.
At one point Daher threw up his hands in frustration and said he was going to withdraw from the property before Councilor DiMarca tried to inject a little sanity into the one sided discussion. “With all due respect to my fellow councilors, this is ridiculous. Mr. Daher is the highest bidder on this property, has agree to clean up any environmental problems, he put it in writing... what is the problem here?” Interviewed after the meeting, DiMarca said that he was frustrated by the “personal and political agendas” of his fellow councilors, “It is so obvious what is going on here,” DiMarca said.
"They are giving this poor guy the runaround because Blanchette’s pal didn’t get the property for a song. Now they're bogging down the process, treating a professional business person like dirt, and questioning his credibility and commitment to the project. How come other developers don’t get treated this way? It’s really sickening. I don’t hear these grave concern for the environment when one of their buddies are bidding on a project though," DiMarca added. "I really wish someone would expose what is going on here. I felt so bad for Mr. Daher, if he pulls out now that property will site there for another 20 years and the city will be out all that revenue.”
Councilor Jorge Gonzalez said he would be happy of the city attorney would strengthen the language in the agreement between the city and Daher holding Daher responsible for any clean up of the site once it is purchased. Gonzalez said that Daher had done "everything he was asked to do by the city" and "deserved to get the property." The housing committee finally recommend Daher as the purchaser of the land pending the stronger language from city attorney Charles Boddy. If granted the property by the council, the city will not only receive $115,000 for the purchase of the land but will reap the benefits of property being returned to the tax rolls immediately.
The matter will come before the full city council when they meet on May 2nd to discuss the matter even further.
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