Reading Has Option To Buy Meadow Brook Lots

READING, MA — Meadow Brook Golf Club has negotiated a deal with a potential buyer to purchase five lots of land for about $2.25 million, but the town has the option of buying the lots itself for the same price.

It would be an "all or none" deal, meaning Reading could not buy just one or two parcels and would have to pay the full negotiated sale price, Town Manager Bob LeLacheur said at a Select Board meeting Aug. 10.

The Board considered a few options for the land, including building an entrance to the Town Forest and easing the parking burden of residents on Strout Avenue. But building off-street parking could be costly and would require buying more land, LeLacheur said.

A short-term solution for parking could be the water treatment center beyond the compost center.

"DPW is convinced that adding people down there is not a problem," but it needs MassDEP to sign off as well, LeLacheur said.

"If you are able to get the parked cars off of the road, you'd thrill the neighbors down there for sure," he said.

The town has until October to make a decision about the property. Some members of the Board said the town's priorities lie elsewhere for now.

"It's hard, we have other things on our to-do list with designing Burbank property, senior community center, we have a lot more things – not that this isn't a priority – but killing money, I'm not sure how much the residents would support spending more than $3 million for an entrance to Town Forest," Select Board member Carlo Bacci said, pointing out that it would cost more than just the $2.25 million to develop the land.

"I'm not saying I'm against it, but that's going to be a hard sell," he added.

Select Board Chair Karen Herrick and LeLacheur will meet with Town Counsel to discuss the parameters of a potential purchase, such as whether the town could resell some lots if it decided not to use them. The item would most likely be on the Board's Sept. 14 agenda, LeLacheur said.