Affordable‑housing purchase off after environmental testing; $500,000 ARPA allocation must be reallocated, finance members say

The Concord Municipal Affordable Housing Trust has decided not to move forward with the planned purchase of 91B Main Street after environmental testing raised contamination concerns, Finance Committee Chair Lois Wasoff reported at the committee’s meeting.

Lois said testing on a nearby property — a former gas station that operated through the 1980s — showed gasoline in the soil and that 91B is downgradient from that site. “They discovered some gasoline underneath the soil when they were doing testing,” she said, describing the report as the reason the Trust declined the purchase.

The Trust had expected to use approximately $500,000 in ARPA funds toward the acquisition. Those funds remain available but must be used for another eligible purpose before the ARPA program's obligation deadline of Dec. 31, the committee was told. Committee members asked town staff to monitor potential alternative uses and to brief the Finance Committee if a reallocation is proposed.

Committee members noted they do not yet have a detailed environmental or remediation estimate in the meeting record and said staff should supply options and cost estimates before any further commitment. The meeting did not include a presentation of the environmental report itself; Lois described the finding as coming from a report on a nearby property rather than testing on the parcel under consideration.

What’s next: Town staff and the Housing Trust will consider other eligible ARPA uses for the $500,000 and report back to the Finance Committee; any change that affects warrant articles or appropriations will be brought to the committee before town meeting or by warrant amendment as required.