Andover scrambles to buy Phillips Academy boathouse

Sept. 17--ANDOVER -- Town officials are scrambling to come up with $1 million to buy the old Phillips Academy boathouse on the Merrimack River after the prep school said last week it has an offer for the property from another buyer.

On Monday night, selectmen went into secret session to discuss whether to put a bid on the property on behalf of the Conservation Commission, using money approved at last May's Town Meeting for property acquisition.

But it's unclear whether a decision was reached, and now town officials are unsure what's going to happen. The Andover Companies, which is adjacent to the boathouse property, made a $1 million offer on the property to Phillips several weeks ago. The town has wanted to buy the property for the last two years but never made an offer.

"We don't know what Phillips is going to do," said Assistant Town Manager Steve Bucuzzo, who is serving as acting town manager while Buzz Stapczynski is out of town at a conference. "News of the sale of the boathouse came out of the nowhere. They are trying to force the town into some sort of deal that the town isn't in a position to make because of state law."

Members of the Conservation Commission attended the Board of Selectmen's meeting Monday night, hoping to be heard on the matter, to no avail.

Commission members stood in the hallway during the executive session until one of them got a text message from someone inside the meeting, saying their testimony wasn't needed.

Selectmen Chairman Dan Kowalski would not comment because the matter was discussed in closed session.

For the last two years, conservation officials have had their eye on the boathouse property, located on the Merrimack River adjacent to the Andover Companies, an insurance company located at 95 Old River Road. The 8-acre site for years was the location for the Phillips Academy boathouse, where the school's crew team kept and launched their boats. Two years ago, the school moved to a new facility across the river in Methuen.

Since then, the property, which is also adjacent to town-owned conservation land, has been available.

At last spring's Town Meeting, conservation officials were able to convince voters to approve a warrant article that would allow the town to use $800,000 for the purchase of conservation property. A list of potential sites was included in the warrant article, with the boathouse property at or near the top of the list.

According to Conservation Commission member Floyd Greenwood, last Friday the town was told by someone at the Andover Companies that it was interested in purchasing the property for around $1 million.

Over the weekend, Phillips Academy let it be known that the town had one week to come up with a counter offer.

The news came as a shock to Conservation Commission members, who were under the impression that the property would eventually be sold to the town.

"I don't know anyone who wasn't surprised," Greenwood said. "We have until Friday."

Greenwood said that in addition to the $800,000 approved by Town Meeting, there may be other conservation funds available to bring a full offer price closer to $1 million.

Phillips Academy Head of School John Palfrey confirmed Tuesday the school did get an offer from another buyer.

"Phillips Academy has been very interested in selling the boathouse property," he said. "I'd love to sell it to the town for conservation purposes. We are considering another offer for the property. We have long welcomed an offer from the town to acquire the boathouse."

Palfrey said there are also other issues at play between the school and the town. In particular, the school would like to purchase two, small parcels of land near the school from the town.

"We have expressed an interest in acquiring those properties and would be open to an arrangement that involves them," he said.

In addition, he added, the school has been in negotiation with the town over voluntary Payments in Lieu of Taxes, known as a PILOT program.

"We've been very open with the town, and we are open to increasing the voluntary payment to the town," he said, "whether that's related to the boathouse property or not."

Selectman Paul Salafia said he had been dealing with Phillips for a year negotiating a PILOT and that talks were ongoing.

Bucuzzo said the town would be willing to sell the two, smaller parcels of land to Phillips.

"There have been discussions about a piece of property Phillips would like to purchase from the town on South Main at Dwight Street," he said. "It's a triangular piece of land that probably could be built on. The town would have to seek Town Meeting approval to dispose of that, in accordance with Chapter 30B."

Salafia said the town is still interested in purchasing the 8-acre boathouse property.

"Everything is on the table," he said. "We have a funding source."

Bucuzzo said one of the problems with buying the boathouse property was that the warrant article was written in such a way that the $800,000 could only be used to buy property for passive recreation. If the property were to be used by an Andover High School rowing team, for example, then that might not be construed as passive recreation.

Salafia, however, said that was not true and that the town could spend the money on the property because boating is considered passive recreation.

The fire chief has also expressed interest in using the property because it would provide the only access to the river for town rescue boats in case of emergency.

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