EASTER SEALS PROPOSES TO DEVELOP A FRENCH HALL-CENTERED "CAMPUS"
The THIRD meeting of the Lands and Buildings Committee was held on April 20, 2004. The Hackett Hill Master Plan was not considered, but another item related to the Hackett Hill (former UNH) property was on the agenda. The item concerned the March 9 approval by the Manchester Housing and Redevelopment Corporation of an Easter Seals NH proposal to purchase and develop the French Hall portion of the property. Easter Seals NH had offered $1.3 million for the property and proposed to rehabilitate the existing building, construct a 40,000 sq. ft. addition, and undertake extensive landscaping at a total cost of over $7.5 million. Easter Seals NH would like to relocate and expand their educational classrooms, residential student facilities and recreational programs that are currently operating at its Zachery Road facility near the East Industrial Park.
Representives of Easter Seals NH and The Manchester Housing and Redevelopment Corporation explained the plans in more detail and answered questions from L and B Committee members. It was suggested that Easter Seals, a non-profit organization, would provide annual payments to the City of Manchester "in lieu of taxes." Several members of the L and B Committee were reluctant to approve the arrangements and to forward the proposal to the full Board of Mayor and Aldermen, since they felt that the City should also obtain more space for the Manchester School District at the Easter Seals facility on Auburn St. as part of the "deal." The issue was subsequently tabled by the Committee.
The FOURTH meeting of the Lands and Buildings Committee was held on May 10, 2004. Easter Seals had written a letter to the L and B Committee saying that it was not possible to give up more of its Auburn St. facility to the Manchester School District. In another letter they listed the services they provide to Manchester residents, and stated that they hoped these services could be considered "in lieu of taxes" for a facility on Hackett Hill. It was noted that the costs for the facility's construction have risen substantially. However, the committee members stated that it was the City's hope to obtain actual tax dollars from the property. Alderman Gatsas suggested that French Hall might be sold to someone who would pay taxes and also rent to Easter Seals. This suggestion will be explored further, and the issue was tabled.
The FIFTH meeting of the Lands and Buildings Committee was held on May 26, 2004. Previously tabled items were considered near the end of a long agenda. It was announced that Easter Seals of NH had withdrawn their offer to purchase and expand French Hall, and to move their Zachery Road facility to Hackett Hill. There was a unanimous vote to leave the Hackett Hill master plan for a business/industrial park on the table.
A proposal for the use of French Hall for environmental education programs had been suggested previously in topics on this Web site - "A Rational Alternative to Hackett Hill Development" and "The Rational Alternative Seems Highly Appropriate."
THE HACKETT HILL MASTER PLAN IS FINALLY APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF MAYOR AND ALDERMEN AND THE BMA TRIES AND FAILS TO SELL FRENCH HALL TO BROOKS PROPERTIES
The MacKenzie-Hills letter primarily referred to the February 17, 2004 meeting of the Lands and Buildings Committee - a meeting where Sierra Club member Peter Flood, a developer, builder and realtor for over 30 years, had criticized the master plan's pro forma. Flood contended that the city's taxpayers would be harmed, rather than helped by development of a Hackett Hill business park, since the cost of city services was not included in the pro forma. Flood's critique of the master plan was based on information included in the book, "Better Not Bigger" by Eban Fodor. MacKenzie and Hills contended that Flood's assumptions were based on a rural situation where additional residential development must take place to accommodate new jobs, and that Manchester was developed to the point where municipal services and systems already exist. Their argument is not seem to be valid because actually much of the information in Fodor's book is derived from an economic case study of Boulder, Colorado, a city where in recent years growth has been extreme and growth control measures have been under consideration.
The letter noted that Flood's calculations that the average number of school-aged children per Manchester household was "high" at 0.67, whereas it was actually 0.588. This difference can hardly be of major importance, and it actually seems remarkable that Flood's estimate was so close to the actual value.
MacKenzie and Hills also made a number of other points related to Flood's conclusions. They noted that residents of Manchester who work outside of the city now would prefer to work at a Hackett Hill business park, that employees moving to the area to work at the business park would prefer to live outside Manchester rather than within the city, or that there were existing units that could absorb the new employees. However these points are all speculative. Peter Flood and the Sierra Club contend that an independent outside consultant, possibly Eban Fodor, should be hired by the City to evaluate the proposed construction's impact on the community. Thus a more objective and accurate assessment could be made of the situation.
At the beginning of the meeting, Jane Hills spoke to the Chair of the Lands and Buildings Committee, Hank Thibeault, and requested that the master plan not be taken off the table, despite the fact that both Hills and MacKenzie were present at the meeting. Her request was honored and the master plan remained on the table.
The published agenda for the meeting is customarily accompanied by attachments pertinent to the items to be considered during the meeting. The November 15th meeting agenda was accompanied by considerable documentation that concerned the French Hall sale and Hackett Hill master plan, including the MacKenzie-Hills letter mentioned above. However, a letter from the NH Sierra Club that had been sent to the Committee on March 18, 2004 and was also related to the July 27, 2004 meeting, was not included as an attachment. The letter provided considerable evidence why the master plan should not be adopted and is copied on this Web site as March 18 letter to Members of the Lands and Buildings Committee.
At the November 15, 2004 meeting of he Lands and Buildings Committee, just as the Committee was about to take up the Brooks Properties offer, it was announced that another offer had been made for French Hall. The offer was made by the Herrington Corporation, a catalog company presently located in Londonderry. The Committee decided to have both offers presented to a meeting of the full Board of Mayor and Aldermen on the following night. At that meeting, the Board went into a non-public session to seek legal advice on the matter. When they emerged, Alderman Ted Gatsas announced that no decision had been made, and the two competing offers, as well as any previous and new offers, would be reconsidered by the Lands and Buildings Committee.
The Lands and Buildings Committee met again on November 30, 2004 with both the French Hall sale and the Hackett Hill Business Park Master Plan on the agenda. When the agenda appeared online, at the request of the Sierra Club, the letter mentioned above appeared as an attachment. However, when discussion of the Hackett Hill issues took place, there was no mention made of the letter.
ALTHOUGH THE PUBLIC IS PERMITTED TO PROVIDE PERTINENT INFORMATION OF THIS SORT, A PROCEDURE THAT GIVES THE APPEARANCE OF FAIRNESS AND DEMOCRATIC BEHAVIOR, IN ACTUALITY, SINCE THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IS NOT DISCUSSED, OR EVEN RECOGNIZED AS HAVING BEEN RECEIVED AND READ, CITY GOVERNMENT ACTUALLY IS OPERATING IN A FASHION THAT IGNORES PUBLIC INPUT!
Under obvious pressure from the Mayor and two aldermen-at-large who participated in the meeting, the Lands and Buildings Committee responded to this "full court press." They bounced the ball for decision-making on the French Hall sale back to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, and voted to recommend approval of the Hackett Hill master plan to the BMA.
At the BMA meeting on Dec. 8, 2004, the aldermen voted to sell French Hall to Brooks Properties for $1.2 million, largely as a result of a recommendation of the Manchester Housing and Redevelopment Authority, and also voted approval of the master plan for the business park. Numerous comments were made that indicated that the sale is considered to be the first step in the road and building construction outlined in the master plan. It speaks poorly of Manchester's city officials that no thought was given to the possible use of French Hall for environmental educational purposes, and that City-owned land in the vicinity of the building, which could have been used for a "living laboratory", will instead be deforested, and wildlife habitat converted to buildings, parking lots and roads.
Brooks Properties was said to be undergoing "due diligence" procedures before the finalization of the sale. However in the spring of 2005. Brooks reneged on its offer and French Hall was put back on sale. Although The Herrington Corporation may still have some interest in the property, this company would apparently remodel French Hall into a building with a warehouse-type appearance. A structure of this nature seemingly would not set the stage for the "high quality business park" that the City has proposed.
THE CITY ANNOUNCES ITS "PROTECTION" OF THE NATURE CONSERVANCY'S ECOLOGICAL PRESERVE
At its January 10th, 2005 meeting, a majority of the Lands and Buildings Committee voted to recommend to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen: (1) that the Manchester Housing and and Redevelopment Authority assume the responsibility for the proposed Hackett Hill development project; and (2) that the Lands and Buildings Committee have oversight responsibility for the project. There was considerable discussion as to how the project would provide the most financial reward to the City, and the manner in which potential developers would agree to conform to the guidelines for development of 140-150 acres, as outlined in the project's master plan. However, the fact that it is planned to locate a large part of the development in close proximity to a nature preserve was not mentioned specifically. Nevertheless, the MHRA, the Lands and Buildings Committee, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and any developers who show an interest in the property should be forewarned: Sierra Club members and friends will continue to contest the development and to generate public awareness that the integrity of the preserve is threatened.
Previously, at a January 25, 2005 meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, there had been a "Discussion Relative to the Creation of a Special Committee to Work with MHRA regarding Hackett Hill Development."(These words appeared on the screen of the videotaped proceedings.) The Mayor called on Betsi DeVries, alderman from Ward 8, to initiate the discussion. She, in turn, deferred to the City's Planning Director, Robert MacKenzie, who noted that some of aldermen, in a discussion of the Hackett Hill Master Plan, had expressed concern about the impingement of the development on the TNC Preserve. MacKenzie announced that after a discussion with Alderman DeVries, he had put together a recommendation that "any development of buildings, structures, driveways, or parking lots within 50 feet of the natural areas go to the Conservation Commssion for review." He also recommended that the matter be referred to the Lands and Buildings Committee. A motion was made by Betsi DeVries to approve the recommendation, and it passed by a voice vote.
The Lands and Buildings Committee met on April 18, 2005, in part, to consider Bob MacKenzie's recommendation. Alderman Osborne (Ward 5) asked Mackenzie if there would be blasting involved in any development that might occur on the Hackett Hill property. He was told that blasting may occur - which is actually to be expected since property is largely comprised of ledges and extremely thin soils. The Committee voted to recommend approval of MacKenzie's plan to the full Board of Mayor and Aldermen. At the next meeting of the BMA the recommendation was approved, although the Manchester Conservation Commission was not notified of the recommendation until after all of the above events had occurred.
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