SOUTHAMPTON — A group of town residents are asking the Select Board and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s office for an investigation into whether the town was granted its right of first refusal to buy 50 acres on College Highway that is protected under a state conservation program.
The June 1 complaint stems from a piece of property formerly owned by Frank Wayne, which is located near Gunn Road in Southampton. Classified as Chapter 61 protected forestland, the property owners receive a lower tax rate in exchange for stewardship and forest management of the land.
On March 1, Eugene Labrie, a co-owner of J&E Precision Tool, bought the property for $1.2 million. Labrie submitted an affidavit to the assessors stating his intent to keep the property in Chapter 61 use.
Six residents take issue with the sale and in a June 1 letter allege that the town’s Select Board members “do not fully appreciate the possible breach of public trust that may have occurred, resulting in the Town’s loss of a large tract of land that abuts the Greenway and would be suitable not only for a new public safety complex but also for future municipal uses, such as a senior center, some affordable housing, and a new school, as the need arises,” wrote Barbara Laflam, Kristina Madsen, Lucinda A. Palmer, April West, Gail F. Santoro and Patricia A. Fabozzi.
The letter also alleges that Labrie’s purchase of the land may have scared away an anonymous donor who offered, through a letter from Easthampton attorney Donald Abel to the Select Board, to give $1.2 million to the town to purchase the entire property in late November 2017.
Labrie said he found out about the anonymous donor a few weeks after he signed a purchase-and-sale agreement for the College Highway property and offered to step aside and assign his rights of the purchase-and-sale agreement to the town so it could purchase the property with the donated funds.
Then chairman of the Select Board, Charlie Kaniecki, said he set up an escrow account for the town for the funds to be deposited, but no money appeared.
Kaniecki said that he has not had any contact with the anonymous donor or their attorney since the funds failed to show up in the escrow account. He doesn’t think there was any impropriety in how the College Highway land was purchased by Labrie.
He said his discussions with Labrie have been solely about the creation of a public safety complex in conjunction with a parking lot along the Greenway.
Kaniecki said that questions about whether Labrie’s purchase of the land scared away the potential anonymous donor are “hypothetical conjecture” and said he is “disappointed” by the letter filed with the attorney general and the accusations it contains.
Laflam said she thinks the property would be a good location for a new senior center, and said the town has a strong record of supporting capital improvement projects. For that reason, she believes the town would have been able to purchase the College Highway property if given the opportunity.
Town Administrator Ed Gibson said there are a number of ways such a purchase could be financed, potentially through capital improvement funds, the town’s stabilization fund or a Proposition 2½ override. However, given the town’s record on overrides and current financial situation, Gibson said that a $1.2 million expenditure would likely be difficult for the town.
At the 2018 Town Meeting, voters turned down a citizen petition to accept the $1.2 million gift from the anonymous donor, because it was pointed out that the way the petition was written, if the donor’s funds didn’t show, the town would still be responsible for borrowing or coming up with the money to purchase the property.
Labrie said that he only purchased the property because of the opportunity to donate land for the public safety complex. Now, he said, the land is in Chapter 61, not Chapter 61A as he had originally thought, so his plans for hay and livestock are on hold. He said he plans to “sit tight” on the land for now and has no plans for development. He said he will not take the land out of Chapter 61 and said his sole focus is still on donating the land for a public safety complex.
“I want to do what’s best for this town,” Labrie said. “I’ve been here in this town my entire life, 60-plus years, and I really want what’s best for it. I love this town.”
The letter to the Select Board and state attorney general also alleges that Eugene Labrie’s brother James, a co-owner of J&E Precision Tools and member of the Select Board, did not actively pursue the purchase of the land by the town, perhaps to favor his brother and his own financial gain.
In a statement from James Labrie presented to the Select Board by his wife Kathy on May 15, he sought to “clear up perceived misconceptions involving land for the public safety complex. The Select Board did not move forward on discussing the purchase of the land with the property owners due to its large acreage, expense and the need for three separate appraisals that would cost the town approximately $3,500 each,” according to his statement.
In his statement, James Labrie stated that he recused himself from all Select Board meetings and discussions involving the property after his brother moved forward on purchasing it.
“In keeping with our desire to see a much-needed public safety complex become a reality in Southampton, we would like to publicly announce at this time that he would like to donate the plus or minus three acres, needed as a site for the construction of this complex,” read Labrie’s statement, a copy of which was provided to the town administrator.