A 2d try to raise the barn

Town Meeting, which convenes Monday, will act on proposals to devote $595,448 in proceeds from the pending sale of two town-owned lots on Sleeper Drive to the barn construction, and to authorize the town to borrow another $300,000 for the project.

Town Meeting in September rejected a proposal that the town borrow $800,000 for the barn project, part of the ongoing restoration of the historic 6-acre site acquired by the town a decade ago.

“We are very hopeful it will pass this time,’’ said Nick Rubino, chairman of the Grand View Farm Advisory Committee, which is overseeing restoration of the Center Street property that was historically used as a farm and at one time as a tavern.

Rubino said a key reason the pro posal in September was defeated — it received a majority vote but not the two-thirds vote needed — was that many Town Meeting members were uneasy about the town borrowing without a sure way to repay the debt.

Prior to the September meeting, town officials intended to fund the project through the sale of the Sleeper Drive lots and one or both of two lots on South Bedford Street. But the town received no offers on those lots when it put them out to bid last summer. So the plan put before the September meeting called for the town to borrow the money and repay it through the eventual sale of the properties.

Rubino said that plan, put forward by his committee, Town Administrator Robert Mercier, and the Board of Selectmen, was intended to capitalize on low interest rates and construction bids that had come in at $800,000, well below the cost estimate.

But Rubino said the sentiment among many at Town Meeting was “sell the lots and then come back to us.’’

Since then, Rubino said, the town has reached agreements to sell the two Sleeper Drive lots. It also attracted bids for the two South Bedford Street lots, both from the Guttierez Co., but the offers involve a land swap that requires further negotiations.

While acknowledging talks have not concluded on the South Bedford Street lots, Rubino said the borrowing request this time is smaller than in September, and that the sale of those lots, whether to Guttierez or some other parties, will cover the debt cost.

“The good news for us . . . is that the bids were $300,000 apiece for the South Bedford Street lots,’’ said Mercier, noting that the town had set $250,000 as the minimum price on each. But he said even if no agreement is reached with Guttierez, he is confident the lots will sell.

The town, meanwhile, recently re-bid the barn project and is scheduled to open the bids today. Mercier said he expects the price will rise from last time, but still expects the cost to be in the $800,000 to $900,000 range.

From the time it purchased the historic site in 2001, the town’s plan was to restore the property and use it as a function and meeting facility, and to fund the work with proceeds from the sale of six single-family lots that came with the acquisition.

The sale of the first two of those lots funded the initial phase of the restoration, which involved exterior repairs to the main house. It is also paying for an upgrade to the building’s mechanical systems that students at Shawsheen Valley Technical High School are now undertaking with teacher supervision.

If any money remained from the sale of the final four lots after the barn project was completed, it would go to the final stage of the restoration, which calls for landscaping and other outdoor work.

The town originally hoped to restore the barn. But Rubino said it became clear that the structure could not be preserved, so the plan shifted to building a replica. The old barn was dismantled several years ago.

Rubino said construction of the replica is an integral part of the restoration, adding that part of the site’s historic value is that it is a “fantastic example’’ of the connected farmhouses that were common in the 19th century.

Selectmen on Jan. 10 voted, 5 to 0, to support use of the proceeds from the Sleeper Drive lots for the barn project. They voted, 4 to 0, with Selectman Dan DiTucci abstaining, to support the $300,000 borrowing request.

DiTucci, who opposed the September borrowing request because he felt it left the town too exposed financially, said he had similar concerns about the $300,000 request, noting that there is no assurance the Guttierez deal will go through.

But given that the borrowing request is much lower than last time, he said, he abstained to let Town Meeting judge whether to go along with it.

Ralph C. Patuto, the board’s chairman, is hoping for resolution. “Let’s get the project done up there,’’ he said. “We’ve spent enough time and energy getting this done, and I think the Grand View Farm Advisory Committee did a good job putting this together.’’

But Patuto said he is “not overly optimistic’’ Town Meeting will agree to the borrowing article because there is no agreement yet in place on sale of the South Bedford Street lots.

Rubino is more hopeful, saying, “We’ve been calling Town Meeting members and we’ve been getting a good response from them.’’