Lynn to sell public properties : Council president pushes sales

By David Liscio -- The Daily Item
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
 

According to Cowdell, the job just is not getting done in an expeditious manner, and the list of properties for sale is not always available to all those who might need it.

Ward 5 Councilor Richard Colucci concurred with the council president on some key points, but stressed that progress has been made in identifying the public lands the city wants to sell.

Cowdell said the dozens of city-owned lots, some larger than an acre and others merely a few hundred square feet, could be generating revenue if they were sold and put back on the tax rolls. The council president said he wants all parcels on the list submitted to city department heads for their review over the next 21 days to determine if they have any need for them.

Additionally, Cowdell wants to ensure that city hires an auctioneer to sell off the remaining properties, but not before each is reviewed by a real estate attorney to eliminate any potential problems with the sale. The buyer would pay for the auctioneer's commission. Under Cowdell's recommendations, an auction would be held every 30 days.

"A lot of these things have already been done, but the process is just going too slow," said Colucci, who supports the hiring of an auctioneer.

"We have met with department heads, set aside the small lots for the Add-a-Yard Program, and started to sell some properties. So in that respect, we have been implementing the plan. But there's a hold-up at the Building Department. The properties just aren't being advertised fast enough."

Colucci said more than 35 lots of city-owned land have been scheduled to be sold in October.

"We identified those properties months ago. It should not have taken this long to get them ready for sale," he said. "We have to address why this plan isn't being implemented right after the list goes to the Building Department.

"We only sold three pieces of land in August because the others that we had identified weren't even advertised. If we're going to get rid of these properties, it has to be done in a timely fashion. Maybe it has to be given to a different department."

Kevin Donahue, executive director of the Lynn Area Chamber of Commerce, said the city's merchants and community leaders who are members of the chamber support the plan. "We have to eliminate blight," he said.

Last fall, the Lynn chamber invited a Salem attorney to address members of the city's business community and local officials to talk about how he was able to sell many of Salem's public properties at auction.

The event generated enthusiasm among the Lynn leaders and the City Council drafted a plan of action. However, the plan has not produced the anticipated results, according to Cowdell, who is seeking his colleague's support to revamp the process.

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