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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

New Bedford Committee on City Property Meeting - February 19, 2026

Default View — Thursday, February 19, 2026

BodyNew Bedford, Massachusetts

SessionDefault View

DateThursday, February 19, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:35:36

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

2:31

Good evening, everyone.

2:32

Welcome to the committee on city property.

2:34

The date is February nineteenth, and the time is seven o'clock PM.

2:41

Welcome to the city council chambers.

2:44

I'm joined tonight by my colleagues in government.

2:47

Councilor at large, Ian Abrew, Councillor of Ward Two, Scott Pemberton, Councillor of Ward One, Leo Choquette, Councillor of Ward Five, Joseph Lopes, Councillor at Large, Brian Gomes, Councillor of Ward Six and City Council President, uh Ryan Pereira, Councillor at large, James Roy, and Councillor at Large, Naomi R.

3:09

A.

3:09

Carney.

3:10

I'm Sean Oliver, the Ward 3 City Councillor, and the Chairman of City Property.

3:16

Please note that this meeting is being live streamed and recorded.

3:20

City Council and Committee meetings can be viewed on the City of New Bedford's homepage under quick links, then meetings.

3:35

Dear Chair Oliver and honorable members of the committee, I'm inviting to inform you that I am unable to attend tonight's committee meeting due to another commitment.

4:20

All those in favor say aye.

4:22

Aye.

4:23

Opposed?

4:24

The ayes have it.

4:25

Number two is a written motion, Councillors Pemberton and Oliver requesting that the committee on city property meet to begin the process of the disposition for the Phillips Avenue Elementary School located at two forty-nine Phillips Road.

4:37

It was a third here on January eighth, twenty twenty-six.

4:47

Seconded by Councillor Shokett.

4:49

All those in favor say aye.

4:51

Aye.

5:00

Uh I guess uh do you have anybody that you'd like to speak to first?

5:04

So we just bring up Josh uh Amerall or we can just bring up Josh of first, yeah.

5:08

Thank you.

5:09

Mr.

5:09

Ammo.

5:14

Good evening, counselors.

5:16

Good evening.

5:17

Uh I guess just kind of an overview of what's happening with that property.

5:23

Yeah, absolutely.

5:24

Thank you.

5:24

Uh as you know, in the Building New Bedford housing plan, we set out to dispose of a number of city buildings for housing.

5:30

Uh Phillips Avenue School is one of those that's been on the list for a long time.

5:33

Obviously, there's a history with that building and previous attempts at that.

5:37

Um we've tried to prioritize those that have uh in our view and what we see from the development community, the most demand for housing development.

5:45

And so uh given the previous history at Phillips Avenue, uh that one fell kind of on the list below the Kempton and Taylor School dispositions, which we put out last year.

5:54

Um those need to be redone.

5:56

So we've been strategizing on how to do that this year.

5:59

Uh we do have a Phillips Avenue RFP drafted and ready to go, uh, as we do Kempton Taylor.

6:04

Uh we've also been looking at the armory uh and other municipal buildings, and so uh we plan to file those uh within the next couple weeks, including Phillips Avenue School.

6:13

And um given the council's interest in that, we can certainly prioritize that uh as one of the first ones that we issue this year.

6:20

Um we've had a lot of conversations internally about you know trying to get approval for all those and then staggering them throughout the year.

6:25

I think we learned last time uh there are advantages and disadvantages from doing all of those dispositions at the same exact moment, right?

6:32

Uh it's not a uh totally crowded development market, and so uh we want to make sure that there's uh equal opportunity and access to those RFPs from you know a variety of sources that uh seem to want them.

6:43

But Phillips Avenue School, I think, lends itself well to housing development and uh is one that we'd like to see uh what the market uh wants to do with.

6:52

Colleagues, any questions for Mr.

6:56

Emerald?

6:57

Council Abram?

6:58

Thank you, Mr.

6:59

Chairman.

6:59

Good evening, Josh.

7:00

Good to see you.

7:01

Uh you know, without naming names, have there been any uh developers or any possible builders who have reached out to your office inquiring about this property?

7:10

Uh it's been a little while since someone's reached out specifically about it.

7:13

I want to say maybe two years ago, uh there were some some developers that were interested, and we walked through the building uh with the help of DFFM.

7:21

Uh there wasn't an active procurement at the time.

7:23

It was more uh for us to gauge you know level of interest and how feasible it was.

7:28

Um I was you know pleased that the building appeared to be in good enough shape for redevelopment.

7:33

I think from a developer's perspective, it's it's a relatively small project.

7:38

Uh I think even the proposal that had been considered here before was something like 15 or 16 units.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Economic Development█████████████████████████████████33%

Procedural████████████████████20%

Public Infrastructure█████████████████17%

Engineering And Infrastructure████████8%

Fiscal Sustainability██████6%

Workforce Development█████5%

Parks and Recreation███3%

Public Engagement██2%

Community Engagement██2%

Summary of Proceedings

New Bedford Committee on City Property Meeting - February 19, 2026

The Committee on City Property met on February 19, 2026 at 7:00 PM in the City Council Chambers, chaired by Councillor Sean Oliver. The meeting was live-streamed and recorded. It covered two major agenda items: the initiation of the disposition process for the former Phillips Avenue Elementary School and the selection of a developer for the Whaling City Golf Course Advanced Manufacturing Campus (AMC). The meeting adjourned at 9:02 PM.

Consent Calendar

The committee approved a written motion (Councillors Pemberton and Oliver) requesting a meeting to begin the disposition process for the Phillips Avenue Elementary School at 249 Phillips Road, referred on January 8, 2026. A motion was passed to notify all department heads to determine if the property is needed for municipal purposes (pursuant to Section 265 of the city code). Vote: all in favor.
Items 3, 3A, 3B, and 3C (communications and draft RFPs for the Whaling City Golf Course AMC) were received and placed on file by a motion (Councillor Pereira, seconded by Councillor Abrew). Vote: all in favor.

Public Comments & Testimony

No public comments were recorded during the open session. The committee entered executive session from approximately 7:30 PM to 7:53 PM to discuss appraisal and pricing of the AMC property (under G.L. c. 30A, §21(a)(6)). The motion passed by roll call 9-0.

Discussion Items

Phillips Avenue Elementary School Disposition: Josh Amaral (Community Development) provided an overview. He noted the school has been on the list for housing redevelopment, with prior interest but no successful procurement. A draft RFP is ready. The building is similar in scale to Dunbar School (14 units). Amaral described marketing efforts via BidNet and direct outreach to developers. Councillor Abrew asked about proactive marketing; Amaral detailed the process. Councillor Oliver asked about the building’s condition; Amaral stated it has not been inspected in about two years but does not believe it has drastically deteriorated.
Whaling City Golf Course AMC – Developer Selection: Neil Mello (Chief of Staff) introduced the item, noting it has been nearly ten years in the making. State support includes two site readiness grants and a $600,000 MassWorks grant from the Healey Administration. The evaluation committee unanimously recommended Charter Development LLC. The committee heard four presentations:
1. Charter Development Presentation: Robert Delholm (President/CEO), Mason Sandel, and Lucas Cohen presented. Charter is a brownfield redevelopment firm with 30 years of experience. Their concept: two phases delivering ~1.1 million square feet of advanced manufacturing space. Phase 1: 600,000 sq ft on ~40 acres, requiring 300,000 cubic yards of earthwork. Phase 2: additional 500,000 sq ft. Estimated total private investment: $500 million. Permanent jobs: 800–1,000; construction jobs: 650–800. Annual property tax revenue: ~$2.5 million. Charter committed to adhere to the New Bedford Works policy. They plan to use $6 million equity and $6 million public funding (MassWorks). The golf course will be reconfigured to 18 holes. Questions from councillors addressed union labor (Charter stated they follow New Bedford Works, but no Project Labor Agreement is anticipated), job projections, community outreach, fill sources, and partnership approach.
2. RD Consultants Presentation: Andrew Julian summarized the RFP process (two-tiered: RFI then RFP), evaluation criteria, and scoring. He highlighted Charter’s “patient capital,” experience with complex sites, and collaborative partnership approach as key strengths.
3. Evaluation Committee Statement: Molly (likely a staff member) confirmed the unanimous recommendation to award to Charter, citing tax revenue and job goals, robust experience, and patient capital.
4. Golf Course Architect Presentation: Robert McNeil (Northeast Golf Company) explained the plan to maintain an 18-hole course with a temporary reduction to 9 holes during construction. The course can remain open throughout the process. No full closure is expected.
Financial and Infrastructure Discussions: Councillor Pereira requested a cost summary of external attorneys, consultants, and appraisals. Neil Mello indicated most costs were covered by state grants and promised a cost sheet from the CFO’s office. CFO Bob Edstrom explained state law restricts use of sale proceeds to capital improvements or debt retirement. He modeled using the estimated $1.85 million to pay down the outer years of the planned $8–10 million general obligation bond for golf course improvements (hole relocation and clubhouse renovations). He estimated annual debt service of $300,000–$400,000. Councillor Lopes asked for a phase one tax evaluation (not just full build-out); Edstrom said it is doable. City Engineer Sean Said confirmed that infrastructure work (road, utilities) would be subcontracted and designed to city standards, with minimal impact on golf course operations.

Key Outcomes

Motion to select Charter Development LLC as the successful proposal for the Whaling City Golf Course AMC property (95.54 acres off Hathaway Road). Motion by Councillor Abrew, seconded by Councillor Choquette. Passed 9-0 by roll call.
Motion to authorize the Mayor and City Solicitor to negotiate necessary contingencies and execute a purchase and sale agreement substantially pursuant to the attached proposal, with the final agreement to be submitted back to the committee for review. Motion by Councillor Abrew, seconded by Councillor Pereira. Passed 9-0 by roll call. The item remains in committee.
Next steps: The administration will negotiate exclusively with Charter. Any resulting purchase and sale or development agreement must return to the committee and full council for final approval.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the committee on city property. The date is February nineteenth, and the time is seven o'clock PM. Welcome to the city council chambers. I'm joined tonight by my colleagues in government. Councilor at large, Ian Abrew, Councillor of Ward Two, Scott Pemberton, Councillor of Ward One, Leo Choquette, Councillor of Ward Five, Joseph Lopes, Councillor at Large, Brian Gomes, Councillor of Ward Six and City Council President, uh Ryan Pereira, Councillor at large, James Roy, and Councillor at Large, Naomi R. A. Carney. I'm Sean Oliver, the Ward 3 City Councillor, and the Chairman of City Property. Please note that this meeting is being live streamed and recorded. City Council and Committee meetings can be viewed on the City of New Bedford's homepage under quick links, then meetings. Dear Chair Oliver and honorable members of the committee, I'm inviting to inform you that I am unable to attend tonight's committee meeting due to another commitment. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Number two is a written motion, Councillors Pemberton and Oliver requesting that the committee on city property meet to begin the process of the disposition for the Phillips Avenue Elementary School located at two forty-nine Phillips Road. It was a third here on January eighth, twenty twenty-six. Seconded by Councillor Shokett. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Uh I guess uh do you have anybody that you'd like to speak to first? So we just bring up Josh uh Amerall or we can just bring up Josh of first, yeah. Thank you. Mr. Ammo. Good evening, counselors. Good evening. Uh I guess just kind of an overview of what's happening with that property. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Uh as you know, in the Building New Bedford housing plan, we set out to dispose of a number of city buildings for housing. Uh Phillips Avenue School is one of those that's been on the list for a long time. Obviously, there's a history with that building and previous attempts at that. Um we've tried to prioritize those that have uh in our view and what we see from the development community, the most demand for housing development. And so uh given the previous history at Phillips Avenue, uh that one fell kind of on the list below the Kempton and Taylor School dispositions, which we put out last year. Um those need to be redone. So we've been strategizing on how to do that this year. Uh we do have a Phillips Avenue RFP drafted and ready to go, uh, as we do Kempton Taylor. Uh we've also been looking at the armory uh and other municipal buildings, and so uh we plan to file those uh within the next couple weeks, including Phillips Avenue School. And um given the council's interest in that, we can certainly prioritize that uh as one of the first ones that we issue this year. Um we've had a lot of conversations internally about you know trying to get approval for all those and then staggering them throughout the year. I think we learned last time uh there are advantages and disadvantages from doing all of those dispositions at the same exact moment, right? Uh it's not a uh totally crowded development market, and so uh we want to make sure that there's uh equal opportunity and access to those RFPs from you know a variety of sources that uh seem to want them. But Phillips Avenue School, I think, lends itself well to housing development and uh is one that we'd like to see uh what the market uh wants to do with. Colleagues, any questions for Mr. Emerald? Council Abram? Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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