Revere’s mayor asked the City Council on Monday, September 28, to authorize $16.5 million in borrowing to pay the settlement of the Wonderland eminent domain case, the last legal obstacle to the new Revere High School on the former greyhound track. The council scheduled a public hearing on the request for Monday, October 26.
The city announced the settlement on September 16. It had paid $29 million for the Wonderland Greyhound Park property when it took it by eminent domain in November 2022. The former owner, CBW Lending, sued in Suffolk Superior Court claiming it was owed $117 million. The case settled on the eve of trial for an additional $16.5 million, bringing the city’s total cost for the land to $45.5 million, according to the city.
What the mayor told the council
Mayor Patrick Keefe, appearing with Chief Financial Officer Richard Viscay, said the council had been briefed on the settlement options in executive session at its previous meeting, and that the city signed the agreement the next day after what the mayor called “a straw poll of approval.” The request on Monday was for “the official bond authorization so that we can execute the first payment effective tomorrow,” Keefe said, with a second payment due within 60 days.
Keefe said savings on the high school project would absorb the added cost of the land. “We’re still under the budget and really good financial standing for the project as a whole,” the mayor said. “Most importantly, we’re really past this stage of worrying about a court judgment that could be really painful.”
What is still unclear
The city’s September 16 announcement said the settlement “will be paid from funds budgeted and available for the City’s high school construction project.” Monday’s request asks the council to authorize borrowing the full $16.5 million. Neither the mayor nor the CFO explained on Monday how the first payment, due September 29, is being made before the council votes on the borrowing after the October 26 hearing, or how the bond relates to the project funds the September 16 announcement described. The request was taken up under a suspension of the rules and there was no discussion before it was set for hearing.
The cost of the high school came up later in the meeting, during a fight over school spending. One councillor, arguing against a city appropriation for the Garfield School, said colleagues had voted to put the high school at Wonderland and called it “a half a billion dollars.”