Nahant to hold special Town Meeting on Coast Guard housing

NAHANT-The town’s warrant has been set for the Nov. 10 special Town Meeting and the only article deals with the disposition of the former United States Coast Guard Housing property.The warrant asks Town Meeting to authorize selling the parcel to a developer and to authorize selectmen to enter into a sale agreement in accordance with guidelines set forth in the Request for Proposals.The RFP specifies the development would include eight single-family homes in the vicinity of Castle and Gardner roads and it allows for no more than 20 multi-family homes in the Goddard Drive area.Selectman Richard Lombard said the Coast Guard Housing Committee did an excellent job preparing the Request for Proposals.?Hopefully it (sale of property) passes at the special Town Meeting,” he said. “The Committee has done a great job. This is a win-win situation. It will be great to get the property back on the tax rolls. It will help bring some much needed tax revenue into town.”Town Administrator Mark Cullinan said when the project is complete it would be an asset to the town in a number of ways.?It will be an improvement to town in terms of increased housing stock,” he said. “It will bring in approximately $200,000 a year in additional tax revenue to the town.”Cullinan said if Town Meeting approves selling the property the project could be completed as soon as January 2011.?Assuming everything goes as planned, the developer hopes to begin site work in August 2009 and expects it will take 12 to 16 months to complete,” Cullinan said.