Barclay sale is delayed

Delay may result in loss of revenue for municipal budget.

By: Josh Appelbaum
   The Township Committee will not be able to use $1.9 million it expected to receive from the sale of the Barclay properties in its 2005 municipal budget.
   Arthur Danser, who was the high bidder in an October auction of the land — the Barclay North and South properties — has not entered into a contract with the township for the purchase of the land. Mr. Danser had until Dec. 20 to do so, but the Township Committee has decided not to take action until after it reorganizes Jan. 3.
   Mr. Danser challenged the October auction, saying the township improperly extended the deadline for bidding. However, Judge Joseph C. Messina of the Chancery Division of state Superior Court in Middlesex County ruled Nov. 19 that the auction was legal. Judge Messina granted a stay of his decision until Dec. 3.
   Township Attorney Trishka Waterbury said the Township Committee decided Dec. 6 in closed session to allow Mr. Danser until the end of the business day on Dec. 20 to sign a contract for the land or to appeal Judge Messina’s ruling.
   Township officials have said that if the $1.9 million payment for the Barclay properties is delayed beyond the end of the year, the township would not be able to use it as revenue in the 2005 municipal budget. The township was planning to use the money to pay down its open-space debt.
   According to Ms. Waterbury, Mr. Danser is in breach of his contract under the terms of the auction and could stand to lose his $50,000 deposit on the land.
   She said the township had not received a contract from Mr. Danser and that the township is within its legal rights to retain his deposit, compel him to buy the property or re-auction the Barclay parcels and sue for damages for expenses the township would incur from holding another auction.
   Ms. Waterbury said no decision had been made on which course of action to take.
   Attorney Robert Hagerty, who represents Mr. Danser, said Wednesday he and Mr. Danser were still mulling options on how to proceed, but that he was in contact with the township and was discussing terms of an alternate resolution to the legal matter. He would not comment on the terms discussed.
   The Barclay properties, and the Wright North and South parcels that were sold at the same auction, are covered by deed restrictions limiting them to agricultural use. Mr. Danser has lived on the property since 1929.
   Mr. Danser challenged the auction, saying the township improperly extended the deadline for bidding. He filed suit and asked that he be awarded the property at the original minimum bid of $1.2 million because he would have been the only legal bidder had the original deadline not been changed.