At the last Board of Selectmen meeting the board discussed a request to advertise sale of and refer the sale of land by the Town of Greenwich acquired through foreclosure to the Planning & Zoning Commission for municipal improvement status.
Assistant town Attorney Owen Weaver presented the request, which was a second read.
Camillo said he had not heard concerns about the proposal, tough a realtor had made an inquiry about the listings.
There are 7 properties the town has obtained through judgement in the foreclosure actions the town has been prosecuted for the past year
Weaver said he’d received a half dozen phonecalls about the topic.
“It’s a drawn out process to some degree. As the board knows, it starts here and the first step is to get the Municipal Improvement referral. As soon as that happens, it will come back to this board to approve and advertisement – whether that will be a notice to solicit bids or an actual RFP, we’re still working on it. That’ll come back to the board. Assuming that gets approved, we’ll post it and offers will come and this board will pick which one. You have to pick the highest bid for the properties but you can condition it on the conditions you see fit.”
Weaver said ultimately the BET approval will be required at the end of the process.
Ms Khanna asked about the bid process and how real estate agents will be appointed and who can apply to be considered.
Mr. Weaver said the process would not require involvement of a real estate agent.
The Selectmen voted unanimously, 3-0, to make a municipal improvement to the P&Z commission to determine whether the properties should be sold.
During the previous first read, attorney Barbara Schellenberg said the town had not gone through this process in many years, but there was an opinion written by former town attorney John Wetmore in the late 1990s describing the process.
Schellenberg reviewed steps that would follow a second read and favorable vote to refer to P&Z:
Properties will then be appraised and minimum selling prices for the properties established.
A legal notice for the sale of the properties will be written and placed in the paper of record to run at least one day.
Interested parties will be sent the information on the properties.
A sign will be posted at the properties showing ownership by the Town and to make reference to inquiry for the Selectmen.
Bids received will be opened and reviewed by the town purchasing agent and then submitted to the Selectmen with a recommendation.
If the recommendation is to sell and the Selectmen agree, then the sale will need to be approved by the BET.
The town of Greenwich obtained title over the past year to the following properties through judgments in tax lien foreclosure cases:
