On this “In The City” show on WVOX yesterday, Bob Marrone asked Mayor Bramson about the status of the LeCount Square MOU. Two callers then raised the now-passed 7/31 deadline. Below is a link to an mp3 file for those who wish to listen to excerpts from the show; an unofficial transcript follows.
WVOX “In The City” August 3, 2010.
UNOFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT
MARRONE: Mr.. Mayor another recent item is the…just last week at the eleventh hour Capelli Enterprises did start work and also got approval for the work that they propose to do in 5 Anderson Place that keeps their memo of understanding alive by agreement at least though year end and the question that I have been asking of your colleagues and others in the City is “OK, we get to December but the Post Office part of this equation is not solved and it seems so problematic what is the default what happens?
BRAMSON: Well, I don’t have the MOU in front of me but my recollection is that it called for “evidence of substantial progress towards a sale” as judged by our Department of Development, it doesn’t mean that the sale has actually been consummated but if our Department of Development were to conclude that there were real progress and a sale seemed probable that then would probably satisfy the terms of the MOU…
MARRONE: Sale of the Post Office.
BRAMSON: Yeah, sale of the Post Office to the developer. Absent that it was the understanding of the City Council…and I think this was indicated quite clearly and plainly by the developers as well that the MOU would terminate and there is no expectation that we would extend it…now anyone can ask for anything and City Council can act on anything and for that matter…possible that the MOU could terminate and at some future date either this developer or another developer could assemble the same or similar package of options and property holdings and decide to reinitiate the project. So, it doesn’t mean that the project is dead and buried in perpetuity but…I think if we don’t have substantial progress at the Post Office site my expectation when I voted for the MOU and my expectation today is that the MOU will terminate at the end of the year [crosstalk]. So, let’s see what happens. I am hopeful that the pressure of the MOU in its new form will be an inducement for all of the parties to negotiate with greater seriousness and intensity. It seems to have had a beneficial effect with respect to 5 Anderson where I am told the installation of window treatments and so on is imminent and we waited a long time for that so its had a salutatory effect there whether it will have a similar effect on the post office remains to be seen, we’ll find out in a few months.
MARRONE: What about this [time check], before we go, there’s a phone call we’ll go to…what though happens, how do you unwind something like this? So, the memo of understanding is cancelled, there have been investments made, sunk costs, contracts, do they become null and void, do the parties involved have to unwind them?
BRAMSON: Well, agreements you’re talking about are private agreements.
MARRONE: OK
BRAMSON: …between different entities. In general, the City is not exposed to all of the details of [crosstalk] agreement. I would imagine if it would be different in every circumstance when property is owned free and clear, you know, its owned and the property owner can dispose of is as they wish, they can try to release it, they can try to develop it in isolation, they can try to sell it, in the case of option agreements it depends on whether those option agreements are explicitly linked to the existence of the MOU or not.
MARRONE: …so they unwind it contractually is what your saying and that’s that…
BRAMSON: That would be my expectation. Now look, we’re all still hoping for a positive outcome here. I think LeCount Square was a well-conceived project that will be greatly beneficial for New Rochelle. We understand that economic conditions nationwide make a project of that kind more difficult to accomplish than when it was first conceived that’s where we are right now so I don’t want to assume failure here but if we’re just talking about possible…
MARRONE: Just so I understand what happens.
BRAMSON: …if the project does not move forward I think it is certainly in our municipal interest to have a amicable parting of the ways which enables us to proceed unencumbered with all our various economic objectives, enables us to maintain good relationships with investors and developers and stakeholders who work locally and on a regional basis and that would be the spirit in which we would hope to conclude the MOU and that also was reflected in the revised MOU that was approved by the Council a few weeks back. So, I hoping for the best but we should prepare for the worst and that is what the MOU attempts to do.
[time check]
MARRONE: Mr. Mayor we have a call. I know we’ll have to hold him through the break. They still with us? OK. Let’s go to that next call. Good morning your on WVOX.
CALLER 1: Good morning, this is Mark on North Avenue.
MARRONE: Hey Mark.
CALLER: I am calling to find out just what the MOU July 31st deadline was because nothing has been done and it is now August 3rd…
[Break, Return, Exchange with caller continues]
MARRONE: He asked the question…alright 7-31 was the deadline, nothing has happened at 5 Anderson Street …what does the MOU call for?
BRAMSON: It sure is a fair question. Let me try to summarize my understanding. The MOU required improvements to the exterior of 5 Anderson Street to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of Development as a condition for continuance of the MOU beyond July 31st. Now, I am told, based on an inspection conducted by our staff that all the building code violations have been corrected. That includes the removal of graffiti, cleaning debris, replacement of broken glass, eliminating of plywood from doorways, removal of old signage. The remaining piece that has not been physically accomplished is the introduction of storefront designs…basically pictures…that would be in the windows that give it a more vibrant appearance. Now its obviously preferable to have the spaces actually filled but if their not going to be filled there at least don’t want it to have a blighting appearance. We have, in fact, a relatively new City law that requires window installation. And here its just a little bit more complicated. The window installations needed to have the approval of the Municipal Arts Commission and that wasn’t obtained until July 28th because of an ongoing legal dispute between the developer and the property owner and because of the City’s own requirements for publication dates for public meetings and so forth. So we are told that the window coverings are in the process of being fabricated presently and that actual installation is going to begin very shortly and so based on this the Commissioner of Development concluded that the public interest would best be served by letting the process that is already very close to the conclusion run to its conclusion and we’ll actually get the physical improvement we’re looking for and so he has deemed the terms of the MOU to be satisfied provided those installations actually go up within the reasonable time frame that we anticipate. So, that’s my answer to you based on information I’ve gotten this morning from our Department of Development.
MARRONE: Caller, go ahead.
CALLER: Yeah, well the entire side on the Anderson Street is completely boarded up with plywood so the plywood still exists. As far as deadlines go, I thought the MOU was very strict this time because the general public had enough they were just tired of hearing all of Capelli’s talk and we, that’s why we did the MOU the way it was written up. The deadline was the deadline and there were no extensions.
BRAMSON: I appreciate your point but consider this from the perspective of the Commissioner of Development. He could adopt the strictest possible interpretation of the MOU language and terminate the MOU in which case its highly unlikely the window coverings would ever go up and the block would maintain this sort of depressed appearance or he can adopt a more flexible interpretation of the MOU language and we actually get the improvements that the community is looking for but we get them a few days later. So, I think, you know, he tried to adopt a test of reasonableness and rationality and decided what’s in the community’s interest and that is why the MOU is phrased in the way that gives the Commissioner of Development the authority to determine what is satisfactory compliance. So, I think that’s a reasonable test that’s been applied.
MARRONE: Although, Mr. Mayor if I may just pipe in…Mark, I guess this on your behalf I say this…at what points does the Commissioner say “Hey, we gave you guys extra time…if we’re here and it’s August 30….
BRAMSON: My understanding is that he’s been told that the coverings are actually in fabrication right now and based on that you can make judgements about how many days it should take to complete that and then actually install them and if they were not to be installed within the time deemed practical by the Commissioner then I think he would conclude that the MOU conditions had not been satisfied.
MARRONE: Caller?
CALLER: OK. I guess we get an extension on the extension.
BRAMSON: Well, I think we’re talking about a matter of days is my guess so…we shall see…I understand…listen…by the way…I understand and respect your skepticism and I know where you’re coming from and it is precisely a desire to see performance and not just words that led the Council to adopt the changes in the MOU but I do think again some reasonable understanding of conditions and process and keeping in mind how we can actually move the ball forward in terms of what the public and the community wants. I think that ought to be primary in our minds. So, listen, thank you for the call.
CALLER: OK.
MARRONE: Caller, thank you very much for that call.
[time check, another call]
CALLER: Morning Mr. Mayor, James O’Toole.
BRAMSON: Morning James.
CALLER: How are you?
BRAMSON: Good. How are you?
CALLER: Good. I just want to agree with the caller, Mark from North Avenue, because I went to the Municipal Arts Commission meeting last week when they had it and they are using the same plans that they did in May of 2009. These are the same exact plans they agreed to with us to put up that window art. It’s the same exact plan that was supposed to be done in May of 2009. Now, I don’t if you had saw that plan. And every member of the Municipal Arts Commission agreed. They said “this is the same thing that you came with us last year…why isn’t it been done?” And there answer was “well…we’re going to rent out the space”. That was untrue. They aren’t going to rent any of that space out. [crosstalk]
BRAMSON: James,
CALLER: Everything was going forward.
BRAMSON: My understanding James is that the consent of the property owners was required and…
CALLER: …at that time in May of last year they had consent.
BRAMSON: OK. At least as the time of the MOU was adopted back in June the consent was not in place. I’m not taking sides in that private legal dispute…consent was required…
CALLER: I understand Mr. Mayor but I will tell you that I personally handed Mr. Capelli, his officer from his department, the keys last Wednesday to that building. They got those keys after at the meeting, the meeting the next day Thursday they got the keys personally handed from me to them.
BRAMSON: OK
CALLER: They have…so there is no more thing of access.
BRAMSON: No, I agree that is now been resolved…it was resolved in late July.
CALLER: I agree with you there so it shouldn’t take more…What they told the Municipal Arts Council is it should be up this week.
BRAMSON: Well I hope that will be the case
CALLER and I hope it is too.
[timecheck, 4 minutes later]
MARRONE: …we’ve been discussing the memo of understanding and the implications of the deadline and it does seem to me though if this thing goes on a couple of weeks we will have as we used to call it in Brooklyn a bit of a “jackpot” .
BRAMSON: You mean if this goes on for a couple of weeks… if this goes on for a couple of weeks then I would expect the MOU to terminate
MARRONE: that’s what it sounds like to me hearing all this
BRAMSON: This is about you know a reasonable accommodation for practical issues not about providing.
MARRONE: Extending it.
BRAMSON: Not about extending it or providing any kind of favors it’s simply how do we best advance the public interest.
END
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When you lay down with Dogs the potential for fleas is vast!
When you consider that many who have Graduated from Harvard have become leaders in industry, Business, Law Medicine and in Politics you wonder what exactly went wrong here. The networking of fellow graduates alone would bring someone to the top of his game. Bramson has squandered it all on Cappelli Enterprise. I imagine someone should write a Syllabus to be taught in the Political Science Department up in Cambridge where by they Chronicle how not to get stuck within a very weak position politically. I guess its hard to see the Forest through the tree’s but I actually know that our elequent Mayor the guy with so much promise is being laughed at by his own party members. He has crashed burned hit the dirt and is running himself into a tunnel trying to support his very weak position.
I find it sad imagine within his close network is there anyone able to get through and explain Let it go. Move on! How can such a bright potential seem this out of touch. Go ahead strike up MOU 35 for LeCount load him up with IDA pilots. Its like a little boy looking out the window for his dad who left thinking everyday he will return. I almost hope he does come back this is really so sad.