NAHANT – Selectmen Vice Chairman Richard Lombard said Northeastern University should compensate Nahant for the 40 years its Marine Science Center has operated from East Point.Lombard addressed the issue last Thursday at a Board of Selectmen meeting when Town Administrator Andy Bisignani said Northeastern would be giving a $20,000 scholarship to a Nahant prospective student.Lombard said it wasn?t enough. “Northeastern has been getting away with not paying any taxes for the last 40 years. Twenty thousand seems like a large amount of money but they owe us,” he said. “We asked for full scholarships, not partial, and they only gave us one. We should be looking for a minimum of five full scholarships. We should push and vote for this.”Chairman Michael Manning said he disagreed with Lombard. “Northeastern is a tax-exempt organization, as is the Village Church and the Knights of Columbus. On those properties there is no tax owed by virtue because they are charity,” said Manning.Lombard countered, “This is not the Catholic Church or the Village Church – they sneak by with the little donations they have. But Northeastern is in the interest of making money, don?t kid yourself. They haven?t given us a dime until we pushed, and they give us $20,000. I think we need to push harder and get caught up, and that?s the way I feel if we can help, instead of just one, maybe five students.”Bisignani said the university?s property in Nahant would normally bring in $20,000 a year in taxes if it wasn?t a nonprofit, and therefore the scholarship was enough to cover one year of taxes.Lombard said he guessed that other cities and towns where Northeastern has classrooms are being better compensated in lieu of taxes. He added that in the 40 years the Marine Science Center has been in Nahant, it has expanded its classrooms and brought more traffic with buses and cars full of students. “We give them fire, police. We give them a lot of services,” he said. “I think we are entitled. I think they owe us.”Lombard said he wanted to do some “investigation” into what cities and towns housing Northeastern classrooms are being compensated, and he “looked forward to negotiation” with the school.Selectmen Secretary Perry Barasso said since this is the first time Nahant has asked Northeastern for compensation, the university couldn?t be blamed for not offering scholarships in lieu of taxes in the past.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].