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Questions linger in run-up to Haymarket budget vote
When the Haymarket Town Council returned from its second executive session last Friday, there were no votes or pending discussions regarding the sale of the Haymarket Town Center.Instead, the council simply voted to end the meeting and is scheduled to reconvene on Monday to discuss the next fiscal year's budget.
What is ultimately included in that budget though will depend on whether the town settles on the $2.3 million deal with commercial developer Gerry Kennedy sometime soon.
Earlier this year, the council voted 5-1 to approve of the sale of the Town Center property to Kennedy. A clause in the legislation stated the sale was supposed to settle by the end of February.
When that did not happen, the council voted to give Kennedy a 45-day extension while he cleared up loose ends on the business side of things.
The project to turn the Town Center into a series of small businesses as well as to preserve four historic buildings is no stranger to delays; it has been pushed back for various reasons at least six times since the beginning of 2008.
Now with budget negotiations about to begin, it's officially crunch time for the Town Council as it will need to have the money in its coffers soon.
"There may be two budgets; I find that to be a horrible thought that you would publish two budgets based on a contingency," said Council Member Bob Weir. "I want the budget nailed down one way or the other."
If the town decides to go the route of two budgets, one would include the sale of the Town Center property and the other would not.
"And if that deal isn't signed, sealed delivered with a check delivered, I'm not going to sign off on the budget," said Weir.
Weir has been the constant voice of dissent regarding the Kennedy project since 2007, even temporarily resigning over it last year though the council rejected his resignation request. He ended up running for re-election in May anyway and won another term.
Kennedy himself pulled the project once when delays in the Haymarket Planning Commission meant his plan would not meet his self-imposed Haymarket Day deadline last September.
But due to what he what he cited as public outcry, he resubmitted the plan and the council voted in favor of it one final time this past February.
During that time, numerous work sessions have been held along with executive sessions regarding the property. Holding a meeting like last Friday's costs the town more than $1,000 as the council members, mayor, attorney and staff must be paid, and former council member Jay Tobias stated such publicly before the executive session began last week.
Vice mayor John Cole offered to put such concerns in context as he mentioned "extraordinary efforts" have been taken by the town to make sure the deal is done correctly.
"But we have to always continuously weigh what is best for the town. These are not easy decisions," he said.
At this point, there is not much the town council can do to speed up the settlement process as it has already voted to authorize the sale of the property. And additional meetings, despite unrecoverable costs, only amount to a small fraction of the $2.3 million deal.
The town is in a fiscal pinch, however, and Weir stated that he would support cuts to the budget like eliminating the $8,000 summer party or cutting $7,500 for a part-time planner if he thinks the town could not afford them.
Without the money from Kennedy, the town will need funds for more basic items, Weir explained, like refurbishing the existing Town Hall.
That renovation money would likely come from transferring meals tax funds designated for capital improvements under the Street Scape plan.
"I'm just hoping nothing goes bad," said Weir. "We're going to have to take a long and serious look at that budget."
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