34 South Main St., Attleboro, MA - Directions - (508) 222-7000
cars | jobs | place an ad | subscribe
Home News Sports Features classifieds milestones services photos tvlistings cars jobs realestate subscribe
News

Bad news no surprise
BY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Thursday, November 20, 2008 9:58 AM EST






Top Headlines
Norton find helps unravel mystery

Decision due Thursday on key point in North trial

Truck hit by debris leaks 70 gallons of fuel in SA

Police accuse residents of thefts with keys

Police arrest couple at I-95 tourist center on drug charges

Print this story
Photo Reprints
RSS
Forums
 AddThis
ATTLEBORO - Redevelopment authority Chairman Benton Keene III said Wednesday that when he became chairman several months ago he told Mayor Kevin Dumas the authority's industrial park project was "upside down" and should be sold.

"I told him we should get rid of it," Keene said in reaction to a special task force report that found the project is insolvent and the city should not put any more money into it.

Keene said it would probably be difficult now to sell the park because the real estate market and economy are so bad.

He said that although the authority had received $15 million in grants for the project, the high cost of acquiring land for the park has caused most of the financial problems.

Keene said he is unsure if the authority will have to pay back the grant money if it does not complete the park.
Authority Executive Director Michael Milanoski said the findings of the report were no surprise.

He said the authority informed the city in August after it lost a lawsuit involving a land taking that the project was insolvent.

The authority has already taken some of the steps the report recommends, such as seeking administrative help from city hall, looking into selling some land for house lots, trying to find a tenant for one available business lot in the park and scaling back on the project, he said.

"The report confirms a lot of the things we have been talking about," Milanoski said.

He also said it is important to remember that the industrial park is the sole source of financial problems for the authority.

Other projects, such as redeveloping a Swank factory, rebuilding County Square and developing plans for a downtown renewal project, have all proceeded well, he said.

What the authority is looking for now, he said, is suggestions on how to go forward with the industrial park.

Authority members Donald Smyth and Max Volterra declined to comment Wednesday, referring questions to Keene.

Dumas said he was withholding comment on the report by the task force he appointed.

"I am in receipt of the report and will be reviewing it. My recommendations will be forthcoming in the near future," he said in a statement.
Others were less reluctant to comment.

City Councilor George Ross, who opposed the industrial park from the beginning, said Dumas should ask the authority members to resign.

"It's time for them to fold up their tent and move south," he said.

Ross said the fact that the authority and the industrial park is insolvent comes as no surprise to those who followed the project.
Return to Previous Page  


 


*Member ID:
*Password:
  Forgot Your Password?
 
View Comments » No comments posted. « Hide Comments

Post Your Comments test4

Casino1 wrote on Nov 20, 2008 5:10 PM:

" what amess. I don't blame The City Council. Expept Mr Ross maybe as he seems to be the only one who knew somehow that the ARA was going to go belly up. I blame him for not speaking up, and sitting like a bump on a log waiting to ajourn the meeting. Milinoski, and Ross shold leave town. Volterra, and Smyth need to do some heavy soul searching to cost the city this much money & dispair. Guess the ole leap of faith was off a cliff after all. No wonder they never wanted to answer Bowles questions, and wanted to drum him out of town. OMG "

Report Abuse

Auk wrote on Nov 20, 2008 5:09 PM:

" Bring back the public stockade. It was good enough for our ancestors, its good enough for me. "

Report Abuse

ricknkim wrote on Nov 20, 2008 4:19 PM:

" With all due respect, how is it that the chairman of the ARA does not know whether or not the grant money would need to be repaid? Assuming he knew the IBP was upside down, wouldn't anyone in a similar position look into any and all options long ago? This just seems like common sense to me and having the lack of contingency plans is an unforgiveable failure to any manager/executive/project manager. "

Report Abuse

sam snead wrote on Nov 20, 2008 3:38 PM:

" I think a six flags would go very nicely there. "

Report Abuse

attlebrockton wrote on Nov 20, 2008 2:55 PM:

" Keene said he is unsure if the authority will have to pay back the grant money if it does not complete the park. Authority Executive Director Michael Milanoski said the findings of the report were no surprise.
Arroagant even on his way out the door,you the man Mr. 107K, you are the man. "

Report Abuse

attlebrockton wrote on Nov 20, 2008 1:29 PM:

" I se they are going to clone mamouths why not a little Jurasik park ,or is this case LedgeLand "

Report Abuse

baldone66 wrote on Nov 20, 2008 1:17 PM:

" I agree that there has been substantial mismanagement and a lack of foresight on the part of the ARA. Question is, what to do now? How can we make lemonade out of the pile of lemons we had to buy? Is there something in the way of a tourist attraction, or alternate type of business that could make good use of the land and location? (I hear that movie studios are coming to Mass. in droves... A major development project is under way in Plymouth right now... ) Or maybe some sort of family amusement center (everyone fondly remembers Jolly Chollys!)... Think, people, think! What can we do to turn this around? "

Report Abuse

attlebrockton wrote on Nov 20, 2008 12:52 PM:

" you got me there Jose.. .i love to hate these guys. They are the kind of ppl who keep telling you how hard they are working etc. To keep thwe super hero analogy would it make them what the Joker? All LOL's aside they have ripped off the city & taxpayers. "

Report Abuse

jose21 wrote on Nov 20, 2008 12:27 PM:

" attlebrockton - I gotta give you props for consistency. I don't think I've ever seen you post on a story not related to the ARA, but when those 3 letters are printed, you're right on the case. If you were Batman, these stories would be the giant bat spot light. "

Report Abuse

Reason wrote on Nov 20, 2008 11:30 AM:

" June 28, 2008
"We have millions of dollars for capital costs, but those can't be used for operations," he said. "If we do not get additional funding, the IBP will stop in August." In June when he was requesting money for administrative costs. "

Report Abuse

Reason wrote on Nov 20, 2008 10:26 AM:

" doug, curb repair should cover the job creation requirement of the downtown grant money. "

Report Abuse

doug wrote on Nov 20, 2008 10:20 AM:

" This is certainly a pitiful ending to a more than predictable blunder. I don't know how others feel but my discust and dissapointment in those responsible for this mess, starting with ex-mayor Robbins,turns to anger. We trust our "leaders" to look out for our interest.....they have failed in this instance. The ARA board is directly responsible....and should issue a public apology for their failure in leadership. This boondogle is a prime example of how to missfit people to jobs. Lawyers and bankers have no professional experiance that qualifies them as developers or overseers of development.I'm refering to Mr. Volterra and Mr. Smyth. Nice guys,well meaning....as a lawyer and banker respectively....but missfit to this project! Let this be a hard lesson to our mayor Dumas.
Anyone familiar with Ide's Hill has known all along that it would make a perfect habitat for mountain goats!
We should now turn to how Mr. Clover, our man in charge of our roads and plowing etc. will pay for equipment and curb damage this winter. Those jut outs at intersections in the center will offer some challange to our plow drivers. "

Report Abuse

ricknkim wrote on Nov 20, 2008 9:29 AM:

" I think the key here is the $15m in grants, and will they have to be repaid??? I'd say of course they will. Grants are always made with strings attached. You don't use them how the grant stipulates, they'll come a calling.

Therefore, we'll be stuck with a half-finished IBP and a boatload of debt . . . good thing that collector demanded payment of that $.01, cause we'll need every penny and more!

Mr. Keene seems to be employing the great old political Cover Your Arse tactic. Hold on everyone, here comes a lot of finger pointing with a hot potato that nobody wants to touch. This is when it is always good to have an audit trail of what you said, to whom, and when you said it. "

Report Abuse

sam snead wrote on Nov 20, 2008 8:29 AM:

" I am still trying to figure out if the city will be responsible for the ARA liabilities if they are dissolved. That could mean we need to restructure ARA with a whole more oversight and control by our elected officials. No more doing whatever ARA wants to do with no reprecussions. "

Report Abuse

been there wrote on Nov 20, 2008 8:16 AM:

" Mr. Ross should also resign. He may have voted once upon a time against this, but never lifted a finger to support those who've lost so much under Milanoski's reign. For him to quote the many who have been writing regularly for the past decade to stop this madness is repulsive "

Report Abuse

attlebrockton wrote on Nov 20, 2008 8:16 AM:

" I agree SAm dissolve the ARA !!! And open the books on all their land deals both IBP,Swank & Downtown renewal, find out who is getting paid ,lay out all the cards. "

Report Abuse

sam snead wrote on Nov 20, 2008 8:08 AM:

" So basically Mr Milinoski has been either lying or withholding information for quite some time now. He must go and the board of directors are also at fault for not demanding financial reports at monthly meetings. "

Report Abuse

attlebrockton wrote on Nov 20, 2008 5:59 AM:

" Authority members Donald Smyth and Max Volterra declined to comment Wednesday, referring questions to Keene.
Where is all there chest thumping bravado now? The Trust us ,from our heart ..BS ???They proped up the straw man and this is what we got. "

Report Abuse

*Member ID:
*Password:
  Forgot Your Password?
 
 or