This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
08/30/2024 01:34 PMThere will be a public information session on the potential sale of the Pierson School on Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. Additionally, a special town meeting will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 25, for residents to formally approve the pending sale of the school for $500,000. The exact time for the town meeting will be set at a Town Council meeting on Sept. 4 (after press time).
In May, the town and developers Xenolith Partners and HOPE Partnership agreed to a purchase and sale agreement to turn the former middle school into a mix of senior housing and senior programming while the Town retains some of the space for community use. At a special meeting on Aug. 27, the Town Council heard an update on the potential sale from former Clinton Town Manager Karl Kilduff, who has continued to work on the project despite no longer working for the Town.
Kilduff told the council that while the developers continue doing their due diligence on the property, both sides had agreed to a potential sale. Under the agreement, the Pierson School property would be sold for $500,000. The developers would have until August 2026 to close on the property.
Current Town Manager Michelle Benivegna told the council that at the next town council meeting, which is scheduled for Sept. 4 (after press time for this article), a motion would be made to set the town meeting date on Sept. 25.
Benivegna also said a public information session would be held Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. Benivegna said that representatives from the developers, as well as Kilduff, will be on hand to answer questions at the information session.
Besides the sale, Kilduff advised the town about a new proposed affordable housing tax abatement ordinance that the town had worked on. In general terms, tax abatements are useful for develops taking on a project such as an expansion or new development but have limited capital in the beginning of the project. It’s common for developers to ask for an abatement on some tax payments until the development is open and making money. The idea is to help developers out at the beginning of a project, with the expectation that, in the long term, the development will benefit the town.
Kilduff said the proposed ordinance in Clinton would have narrow parameters and apply only to nonprofit entities. Kilduff said the abatement would allow for the Town Council to negotiate specific terms with any potential developer that fits the parameters, but the town would not be obligated to grant an abatement.
“This would set in motion the ability to negotiate the abatement with Xenolith Partners,” Kilduff explained during the meeting.
The council unanimously agreed to set a date for a public hearing over the ordinance for 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 18 at town hall. Residents can speak for, against, or neutrally on the topic.
Finding a new use for the school has proven to be a long and arduous task. In 2018, Clinton’s Board of Education voted to close the school at the end of the 2019 school year after a facility-needs study conducted by the school system found that closing the school was smart in the face of declining enrollment and rising operational costs for the building. The school housed the district’s fourth and fifth graders and had been open for 80 years at the time.
Since the school closed, the town has conducted feasibility studies, held public outreach events, and discussed the school in executive sessions.
Interest in the building was reignited in December 2023 when the Town Council first announced the potential sale to Xenolith Partners and HOPE Partnership.
Deed Restriction Remains a Concern
Despite the possibility of a sale, one long-time obstacle to redeveloping the property remains.
When the Morgan Fund Trustees sold the property to the Town in 1953, a deed on the property from the sale stated that the premises must always be used for the education interests of the residents.
Since 2019, the Town has pursued ongoing legal action, officially called a cy pres, which would lift the deed restriction. Town officials learned about the deed restriction after the decision to close the school was made in 2018.
At the meeting on Aug. 27, Kilduff said that while there is no timeline for the deed restriction to be lifted, he in in the process of setting up a follow up meeting with the state Attorney General’s office to further discuss the pending sale and hopefully move the process along.