Cultural Arts Center Proposal May Be Decided by a Referendum

MADISON, CT - Talk of turning the Academy School building into a cultural arts center could end up being decided by residents at a referendum.

The Madison Board of Selectmen met earlier this month and discussed the next steps regarding the Shoreline Arts Alliance and a proposal to turn the Academy School building into a cultural arts center, according to meeting minutes.

First Selectman Thomas Banisch said, via very lengthy meeting minutes, that he believes the matter should be decided by residents at a referendum.

See below for a lengthy discussion of the topic and the various steps that are still required before the much anticipated project could possibly move forward, according to last week’s meeting minutes.

DISCUSSION: First Selectman Thomas Banisch stated that he had some thoughts with how the Town and the Shoreline Arts Alliance could move forward to a positive resolution.

He asked Selectman Wilson to review the current status on this topic.Selectman Wilson stated that after the last Board of Selectmen meeting on this topic, he met with the Shoreline Arts Alliance separately and it was a great meeting.

He stated that during this conversation, Eric Dillner reiterated his commitment to funding and the ability to fund the project and the effective catch 22 of not having an agreement with the Town. He added that he had concerns in renewing the letter of intent if it wasn’t serving either group. Instead, Mr. Dillner stated that a lease agreement needs to be brought forward.

The Board of Selectmen needs to bring out what concerns they have and all issues need to be addressed and reflected in a document to present to the Shoreline Arts Alliance, hopefully quickly. The longer the building is left, the worse the condition deteriorates.

He added that his hope was for an honest and open exchange of what the hopes and fears are from both parties and then the process can move forward for a formal agreement with the Shoreline Arts Alliance that helps them to begin their process.

Referendum

First Selectman Banisch added that since the Shoreline Arts Alliance representatives have indicated that they can fund the entire scope of the project he wanted to bring the idea to the Board that the Town enters into a lease with the Shoreline Arts Alliance subject to approval at referendum. The vote can then be brought to the voters and they can have the final say.

Lease conditions:

The conditions of the lease would be as follows: they Shoreline Arts Alliance will take immediate possession and responsibility for the building, assuming all costs going forward including planning, development, design and construction and ongoing maintenance.

The Shoreline Arts Alliance will be offered the opportunity to take over the contract with Centerbrook Architects and begin the process as laid out in the timetable provided by Centerbrook. A lease will be signed for a term of 25 years (renewable) and it will provide for 3 years at no rent while SAA completes their buildout.

The Town will start to charge rent in year 4 on a square foot basis based on the percentage of the building used.

Selectwoman Walker’s concerns

Selectwoman Walker stated that asking the Shoreline Arts Alliance to undertake funding the project and then charging them rent on top of this expense was one-sided. She stated that the Town should instead consider giving the Shoreline Arts Alliance ownership of the building. She asked to hear from Mr. Dillner of his understanding of the conversations.

She stated that as there was nothing in writing from the Shoreline Arts Alliance to confirm what Selectman Wilson stated; she wanted to hear from a representative from the Shoreline Arts Alliance this evening.

A Lease to Move Forward

Selectman Wilson stated that he felt the representatives from the Shoreline Arts Alliance had affirmed that they believe they have a path to raising the funds and this issue of the lease that constitutes support from the Town is interfering with this fundraising effort.

He stated that he discussed that with the affirmation from the Town, a letter of understanding is the wrong vehicle for them. Instead, the Shoreline Arts Alliance needs a lease to move forward with their fundraising efforts.

Selectwoman Walker stated that a member of the Board, and she volunteered to be this member, should negotiate a lease with the Shoreline Arts Alliance, to be approved by the Town’s legal counsel and the Board as whole. This way the process can be moved forward with conditions that are considered fair for all parties involved.

Selectman Wilson stated that until the Board of Selectmen comes to a collective consensus then negotiating a lease is putting the cart before the horse. He stated that because this process has been dragged on for many years, there must be unrecognized objections to the project and it can only move forward if the five Selectmen are in agreement.

He stated that if the Board brings this item to the public for a vote, he felt that it should be with the hope of an approval by the townspeople.

A future meeting

Selectwoman Walker responded that the Board of Selectmen may want to call a separate meeting to hear input specifically from all parties involved and the Selectmen should have an idea of where they were headed.

First Selectman Banisch responded that what he wanted to do was come up with a way to get the process moving along and to bring the process one step closer to referendum.Selectman Hale agreed and stated that they needed to have a unified approach to go forward.The Board discussed if this item should be a regular agenda item to discuss this agreement.

Selectwoman Walker also added that the Board should invite the representative from Centerbrook Architects.

The Board discussed that the two Board members who served on the Ad-hoc committee should be able to answer any questions regarding the architectural services contract. The Board also discussed that more discussions were needed before the Town could vote on when to allow the Shoreline Arts Alliance occupancy, etc. The Board agreed that the architect should be invited to a future meeting, but not the next meeting on May 9th.

Shoreline Arts Alliance Feedback

Kathryn Hunter of the Shoreline Arts Alliance stated that she felt like the process had regressed back a year or two. She stated that there is a Letter of Intent dated March 30, 2015 that provides details of what the lease agreement should be including: that the lease would have an initial term of 25 years, renewable in five-year increments after that; the use would be as a Cultural Arts Center; rent for the initial term would be $1 / year and rent for the renewable periods would be at a rate agreeable to both parties.

She stated that this business term was arrived at after a fair amount of discussion and arrived at based on the fact that the Town would deliver the building to the Shoreline Arts Alliance in some kind of habitable condition and that the Shoreline Arts Alliance would be raising funds between $8-15 million.

She stated that it was unrealistic to expect the tenant to take possession of the building, raise funds to bring the building up to use and then expect a market rate rent. She stated that the Letter of Intent had other provisions such as an option to purchase the building, parking plans, signage and a provision relative to insurance. The Letter of Intent also includes the following language:

“the Town shall not solicit, accept, provide factual information or negotiate any offer to lease or purchase the Premises with any person or entity other than Shoreline”

Ms. Hunter stated that whether you intend it or not, the nature of the conversation held tonight makes it seem that there aren’t already business terms between the Shoreline Arts Alliance and the Town.

She also added that there is a draft lease in existence which was brought to Town counsel for review. She stated that the project has not been stalled because of the lack of a business deal, or lease, but rather there were other reasons.

One being that six months ago, the Town, including three of the sitting Selectpersons decided that for the Town to deliver the number of what the project would cost, the Town needed a further study. She stated that the feeling at that time was that if the Board of Selectmen brought this project to the Town for a vote, they needed to have factual numbers of what funding would be needed from the Town and from the Shoreline Arts Alliance.

She stated that this process ended when the Board of Selectmen voted down the next steps of the process that it started six months ago. She added that the Shoreline Arts Alliance would also like to move forward with the discussions and with negotiating a lease agreement.