By Katie Farrell Lovett
NEWBURYPORT — The city will take the waterfront property owned by American Marine and Boat Storage through a hostile eminent domain taking and will pay $1.1 million in damages for the land.
The City Council agreed to take the Water Street property, with plans to use it as part of the wastewater treatment plant upgrade. The property, located next door to the plant on the banks of the Merrimack River, will be used for a staging area to hold the equipment and supplies for the project. Once the project is done, administrative offices for the plant will be built on a portion of the land.
City officials have said they hope to use the rest of the property for open space or a park.
Councilors agreed to the eminent domain taking in a 9 to 1 vote. Ward 2 Councilor Greg Earls voted against the taking. At-large Councilor Tom Jones recused himself from the discussion and vote. The vote was taken after the council convened in full session, after calling an executive session, or a closed-door meeting, with the mayor and the city's lawyers to discuss the issue.
Contacted yesterday, Earls said he could not comment on his vote, citing the executive session. Under executive session rules, the dialogue discussed in the meeting must remain private until the matter is fully resolved.
The city is forced to do an eminent domain taking of the property because the appraisal of the property is more than 25 percent higher than the average assessed value of the property, Mayor John Moak has said. Since that is the case, under the state law, the city may only acquire the land by a "friendly" or "hostile" eminent domain taking.
Kopelman and Paige counsel Mark Reich said Monday that it was the hope of the city to do a friendly taking, but there was "no meeting of the minds" during negotiations for a price for the property. With a friendly eminent domain taking, a purchase price for the land and all other conditions are negotiated between the two parties.
American Marine and Boat Storage is owned by Anthony and Richard Vorias. They can challenge the eminent domain and award for damages in land court for up to three years, Reich said.
Rick Vorias said yesterday he was unaware of the city's decision to move forward with the taking.
"Didn't have a clue," Vorias said. "We've been talking to them; we talked as recently as yesterday," he said. "I'm not aware that they moved forward with an eminent domain taking."
Without any information, Vorias said it was too early to say how the business will proceed.
In a separate vote, councilors voted 10 to 1 to agree to give the American Yacht Club a "permanent, non-exclusive easement" on another portion of the 115 Water St. land from where their current easement is located.
In April, the City Council agreed to a request to fund the $26.4 million rehabilitation and renovation project for the aging wastewater treatment facility. Over the last several months, some economic stimulus funding has been secured for the project.
The plant started operating in 1963 and was upgraded in 1984. It is beginning to show its age; the roofs and much of the equipment — compressors, pumps, motors, drives — are falling apart or outdated.
