Foxborough Restaurant Plan For Old Firehouse Delayed

FOXBOROUGH, MA — The selectmen indefinitely postponed discussion and a vote on proposals for new businesses at the site of the former Foxborough fire station/funeral home because of potential conflicts of interest with three out of five selectmen. Over the last month, Foxborough's economic development committee reviewed four proposals to sell the property of the former firehouse to developers planning on a building a restaurant with residential apartments above. The committee narrowed the choices to three developers, which the selectmen were scheduled to discuss on Tuesday.

Right before the meeting started, the board decided to postpone the vote until after the town election on May 6.

"The decision to postpone the discussion and potential vote on the 'Downtown Mixed Use Project' was made just prior to the start of the Board of Selectmen meeting for the purpose of ensuring the integrity of the RFP process and to give the project the best chance to succeed....," Town Manager William Keegan said in an email to Patch. "New information had been provided that would indicate that three out of the five members of the Board may have conflicts that would prohibit them from voting on the project."

With three out of five members of the selectmen having potential conflicts of interest, the board held a meeting with town counsel Kate Connolly. The selectmen explored their options for moving the project forward, Keegan said.

"Attorney Kate Connolly has opined that the town would be best served if the Board could postpone action on this matter until after the May Town election. At that point, we will have a quorum of Board Members with no potential conflict who can act on the Project.

Selectman James DeVellis is not seeking a fourth term, and given that the selectmen race is unopposed, former Police Chief Edward O'Leary is expected to be elected in May and would represent a third vote without a potential conflict of interest.

After the town election, the selectmen will have three development proposals to review.

The proposal, which was submitted by Douglass A. King Builders Inc., of North Easton, was ranked as the economic development committee's favorite of the three proposals it reviewed, the Sun Chronicle reported. If the King proposal is approved, the developers plan to partner with Shovel Town Brewery in Easton to build a second location with some of its own unique beers and food items exclusive to Foxborough. The developer's bid to buy the property came in at $405,000.

A proposal by Gibson Corner Realty Trust, of Foxborough, ranked second, while the committee pegged MPZ Development LLC of Milton/Traggorth Companies LLC of Boston as third. Gibson is proposing partnering with Kitchen Partners LLC, the same company that opened the Union Straw restaurant at the former American Legion Hall on Mechanic Street. The company's bid came in at $250,000. MPZ's proposal is more of a concept, not specifying a specific partner at this time. MPZ's bid came in at $400,000.