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01/02/2018 11:00 PMThe deadline for proposals for the Academy School property was Dec. 18. Out of 10 prospective developers who had indicated interest in responding, five actually did. Of those five, four contained actual proposals for development of the property and the fifth discussed what might be done there or could be done there as a vision for the property, but did not actually make a firm proposal. This type of submission may be helpful to the other developers moving forward.
Now that we have some viable ideas in the form of concrete proposals for development of the building and the property, accompanied by offers of what each company would actually pay for the opportunity, we can start to analyze them for presentation to the public and then for consideration by the Board of Selectmen. As promised, this will be a very open process, so the residents of Madison are given every opportunity to understand what is being proposed and what the benefits or drawbacks of each proposal may be.
I’ve received feedback from some people who are concerned that this process is taking place during the winter, when the “snowbirds” are out of town. That has never been the intention, and we’ll do whatever we can to keep all citizens and taxpayers informed during this process. However, I don’t think we want to drag out the process unnecessarily. Since we took the direction we are currently pursuing relative to the disposition of the school, it has taken a year and a half to go through the process to get where we are. The process has been inclusive and informative and has included an online survey where we heard from more than 1,000 respondents. We’ve had public hearings and a presentation that gave residents an opportunity to provide feedback in the form of face-to-face, two-way communication with the town and each other.
All the proposals call for some sort of residential development and they all use the entire five acres, which means that the two baseball fields would no longer be located there. Plans are being considered for replacement of the fields elsewhere, on property that we already own, should it be determined that those fields are necessary. That determination will also be an open process with input from all the stakeholders (Little League, Men’s Senior Softball, etc.).
One thing, I think, is for certain: It’s time that someone breathes life back into Academy School and makes it, once again, a vital and vibrant part of our town. I believe that the proposals that we received will help us to achieve that goal.