Scimone Acreage Sale May Add Homes to Monsen Road

Frank Scimone still finds it a little hard to talk about the sale of a portion of the family farmstead that sprawls from Old Bedford to Monsen roads.

But this week, two of Frank's family members offered the approximately five-acre parcel that used to be farmed by his brother, Tony, to the town as a requirement of the state law, chapter 61A that stipulates that if farmland changes use, it must first be offered to the town.

The selectmen said at their Monday meeting that certain parts of the Purchase and Sale Agreement needed to be modified in order for the town to buy the land. But the board, at the same time, wants to be fair to the Scimone family, a long-standing and respected farm family for generations.

Frank said his brother's parcel, at the end of the Monsen Road cul de sac, is not planted this year, and he regrets the division of any of the rich farmland next to the Great Meadows.

"I hate talking about it," said Frank this week.

There is a buyer ready to develop the land, Frank said. The Planning Board is expected to make a recommendation on the agreement to sell to Bentley Builders Corp.

"It would be an extension of Monsen Road," he said, with about six homes. When Frank's father sold the land to Irvin Monsen in the mid-1950s, an access road was preserved so that eventually Monsen could loop around instead of stopping at Scimone's parcel.

There is a barn and shed on the property now, with an old tractor deep in the woods down a dirt road that is overgrown with weeds.

The selectmen said "contingencies" in the Purchase and Sale Agreement "make it not a good faith offer."

The board said it did not want contingencies to the offer, "but we do not want to prejudice the Scimones if the town does not buy" the land, said board Chairman Jeff Wieand.

The selectmen decided to leave the right of first refusal on the table while other boards in town read the P&S agreement. The board will continue the matter until its July 26 meeting.

"We have boards interested in giving opinions," said Wieand.

He said the town would "waive our rights" or ask that the contract be revised.

"We have a right to say 'hold off' and revise the contract or waive our rights," said Wieand.

He said two weeks "would not imperil" the Scimone's plans.

"Two weeks is a reasonable amount of time for us to get opinions, and the Scimone's to think about changes to the offer," said Wieand.