Charles Woodward, chairman of the Newburgh Housing Authority board, listened to comments at Tuesday's meeting while attorney Alan Lipman looked on.
By Nancy Peckenham
The Newburgh Housing Authority voted Tuesday to accept an agreement worked out in court that is expected to lead to Mountco Construction and Development purchasing the troubled Burton Towers senior housing apartments and ending its competition with the city of Newburgh.
Last Friday, lawyers reached a tentative agreement in the suit that pitted the NHA against Christine Bello, the city councilwoman who sued the NHA to stop its purchase of the problem-plagued building.
In the settlement approved on Tuesday, the housing authority will end its joint venture with Wilder Balter Partners to purchase and renovate the seven-story apartment building on Cerone Place and it will end its bid to exercise a right of first refusal. Mountco Construction, which was chosen by the city council as its partner in the purchase and renovation of Burton Towers, will move ahead with its plans.
The building was slated to go to foreclosure auction if neither the city nor the NHA could agree to withdraw their competing bids. If neither withdrew, they would forfeit a chance to be excused from a two million dollar debt to HUD for the unpaid mortgage. That money can now be used for repairs and upgrades to a building that is home to low-income seniors and disabled people.
Bello filed suit against the housing authority in late August, claiming that it did not follow the open meetings law when it voted to create a joint venture with Wilder Balter. The city later joined her as a plaintiff. As part of the settlement, the NHA is upgrading its procedures for holding open meetings and the session on Tuesday evening included a lengthy public comment period.
“I am pleased with the settlement and especially pleased that the residents of Burton Towers will soon enjoy renovations and a better quality of their apartments because that will improve the quality of their lives,” Councilwoman Bello said after the tentative settlement was reached. “It was good for the NHA too and they will be a better organization as a result.”
After the Tuesday’s vote, NHA board member Gay Lee, a Democrat who is running for city council, stood by the authority’s executive director, Marc Starling, and criticized the city for spending money on the lawsuit that had been initiated by Bello. “I thought it was a very poor way to spend the city’s time and money,” she said. “I am very happy that we were able to come to some resolution because it seemed to me the only people truly impacted by this standoff were the residents of Burton Towers.”
As part of the settlement, the NHA would still play a role in issuing the tax-free bonds needed to finance Mountco’s purchase and renovation.
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