Committee passes over White Cliffs lease and TIF until Select Board reviews final agreement

Terry Halloran moved that the Appropriations Committee recommend Articles 4 and 5, which relate to the White Cliffs lease and sale and an associated tax-increment financing (TIF) arrangement. Committee members raised concerns that town meeting voters would not have access to the underlying agreements at the time of the vote.

Chair Scott Rogers explained that the Select Board planned an executive session on April 6 to review a final agreement and that, once Select Board review concludes, committees could receive the final documents and update their recommendations. Scott Rogers said the committee could vote tonight and then reconsider if necessary, but members preferred to pass over the articles until full documentation was available.

The committee chose to pass over Articles 4 and 5 at this meeting. Several members signaled they would abstain on recommendation until they had reviewed the final documentation; the committee recorded no final recommendation tonight and asked staff to circulate final agreements after the Select Board executive session so the committee could reconsider prior to town meeting.

Terry Halloran acknowledged he intended to abstain on a final recommendation tonight because he had not yet seen sufficient documentation, and other members echoed the need for full agreements before a recommendation. The committee recorded the pass-over and noted the Select Board’s April 6 executive session as the next opportunity to review details.

Next step: staff (finance/town administrator) will provide the final agreement to the committee after the Select Board executive session so the Appropriations Committee can reconsider and, if appropriate, issue a recommendation before town meeting.