The Methuen City Council on July 7 approved a $40,033.96 payment to Ambient Temperature Corporation for emergency heating repairs at the Searls Estate, but the decision prompted debate among councilors over whether the city should continue to fund ongoing maintenance on the property while it remains under municipal ownership.

The motion to approve the emergency heating-repair invoice (C25-97) was reconsidered and placed for a roll-call vote. The council recorded a 6–2 vote in favor of payment with one member absent. Councilor Campagnon, who moved reconsideration, said he did not want to “penalize the vendor” because the company provides HVAC and related services to multiple city buildings. Councilor DeZaglio urged a different approach: he suggested unpaid invoices tied to the estate be addressed “at closing” and argued that “our tax dollars should not be used or expended on this property any further.”

Mayor Beauregard said the Department of Economic and Community Development has completed a draft RFP for the Searls Estate consistent with the framework the council previously approved; the draft is under legal review with the city solicitor. The city solicitor told councilors that once the RFP is finalized and posted it must appear in the Central Register and that the bureaucratic timeline will require approximately 30 days prior to opening and another roughly 30 days before closing the solicitation, meaning the full process will take about 60 days in addition to the time needed to evaluate proposals.

Councilors discussed prior small invoices and payments to the same vendor since the city's acquisition; the CAFO and other staff provided an invoice history in response to questions. The CAFO said a subset of earlier invoices were below the council threshold for approval and had been paid; the $40,033.96 item in front of the council exceeded that threshold and required approval. Councilors also recalled that the council amended the minimum sale price in the RFP process previously from $3.5 million to $4 million to account for potential carrying costs and repairs.

Councilors asked the solicitor to expedite the RFP process. The solicitor estimated a draft RFP could be ready in “within the next week to 10 days,” but emphasized the statutory posting and bidding timelines that follow. Several councilors argued for holding any future Searls Estate invoices until the sale proceeds are received; others said delaying payment risked interrupting vendor services for other city facilities that use the same company. The council voted to proceed with the emergency payment while staff continues to finalize the sale solicitation and related work.

The administration also said it plans to release to the council all proposals received once the RFP is issued and to host public tours of the estate so residents can view its condition prior to proposals being considered.