NORTHBOROUGH – The Select Board recently accepted and signed the deed for the Old Town Hall.
During the 2022 Annual Town Meeting, voters decided to appropriate $10,000 to acquire the property at 4 West Main Street. The town had sold the Old Town Hall property in 1983, but it had the option to repurchase the building after 40 years.
During the Select Board’s June 26 meeting, Chair Mitch Cohen said the board had walked through the property several weeks prior.
“What the town will do with it later will be determined. We don’t have any use for it, but … we can’t wait longer to purchase it back because the 40 years runs out,” said Cohen.
According to a 2006 Telegram & Gazette article, the building served as Northborough’s Town Hall from 1868 to 1978. In the 1980s, Town Meeting voters allowed a developer to purchase the building under the condition that it was renovated.
The building burned to the ground in 1985 during the renovation.
According to Interim Town Administrator Bob Reed, there have been conversations regarding easements.
“Counsel feels that all those questions have been answered. Easements that have been granted by the property owner will go away with the transaction,” Reed said.
Parking has been a concern of some Select Board members, he said.
“There have been some concerns that parking, whether it’s through easements or agreements, were related to this transaction. They’re not,” Reed said.
He said the property owner was interested in maintaining or having access to some parking spaces in the lot across from Blake Street. Reed added that he hadn’t had “definitive” discussions with the property owner, and said it may be a conversation among the Select Board on how that parking lot will be used.
Reed said he wasn’t aware of an agreement that guaranteed the businesses or property owner would have rights to any of the parking lot.
According to Cohen, Select Board member Lisa Maselli, Reed and Northborough’s counsel have done research. That research indicated that in 1985 there was an easement granted by the town to the property owner, tied to the building, that gave them use of the parking area, Cohen said.
Attorneys for the town and property owner have agreed that that easement will no longer exist, Cohen said.
“I think the parking there is really unrelated to this transaction tonight,” Reed said. “If there are going to be additional discussions on that or additional concerns about how it’s used, who would have use for it, those would be discussions outside of the signing of the agreement tonight.”
Once the deed is transferred, the parking lot will be owned by the town, Maselli said, adding that she would like to have lines, trees and signs at the lot and “help to start making the downtown look a little bit more attractive, regardless of whatever happens at 4 West.”
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