NAHANT — Town Administrator Tony Barletta and the Board of Selectmen announced that the town has closed the sale on one and is on the verge of closing on another of the lots that were once Coast Guard housing properties on Castle Road and Goddard Drive.
Nahant purchased the Coast Guard housing land from the federal government in 2004. The town still owes $1.8 million, which is due by January, on a loan used to purchase the property, and plans to pay off the loan through the sales of the properties.
According to Barletta, the two sales bring the total amount owed on the loan down to approximately $915,000. However, he acknowledged the likelihood that the remainder of the lots would not be sold prior to the loan’s deadline. Therefore, the Board voted unanimously to request the use of special legislation to extend the deadline of the loan with the cost of accumulating additional debt as the loan remains unpaid.
“Looking at the real estate market, mid-November to mid-January tends to be a slower time for selling property,” Barletta said.
Prior to the vote, Barletta named two other alternative options to pay the balance of the loan. One is using town funds to supplement the loan and hope to recuperate the money through sales of the lots in the spring.
“Floating the $915,000 with our own cash is risky for the town,” Barletta said. “We could look at a deficit at fiscal year-end.”
The second option he proposed was using a bond to pay the loan; however, he named interest and taxes as the risk of selecting that method. Ultimately, the Board decided attempting to extend the due date was the most logical choice.
“We’re not changing course,” Barletta said. “The other option is to reduce the pricing and try to do a fire sale. We don’t want to do that.”
