Town records confirm Shibleys own restaurant building

At the deliberative session of the town's annual SB-2 process on Wednesday night, Selectmen Pete Shibley told the small gathering of 60 residents that he and his family own the building where the Shibley’s-by-the-Pier restaurant is located. He made the point during discussion of a warrant article that would authorize town officials to sell the lot the building sits on to members of his family. And he made the point to refute a Daily Sun article published on February 7 that stated both the land and the building were currently town property.

Shibley was correct.

At the deliberative session, this reporter stated that Town Assessor Tom Sargent had provided him with the information included in the story in question. In fact, a second, closer examination of the tax card on file in the assessors office revealed the information printed on it — as well as Sargent's comments — had been misinterpreted.

According to that record, members of the selectmen’s family own the 2,614-square-foot building the restaurant is in, although the .06-acres of land it sits on is leased to them by the town for the past 15 years. The seasonal structure, which is currently valued for tax purposes at $177,500, is owned by David and Anne Shibley and they pay property taxes on it. David Shibley is the selectman's son and chef at the restaurant.

The land, which is valued at $226,400 is owned by the town and in 2006 the Shibleys paid $5,244.18 in rent.

However the lease agreement runs out at the end of this year and that’s why the matter has suddenly become significant.

The petitioned warrant article reviewed at the meeting would allow the Shibley's to buy the land their structure sits on at its fair market value, which would be established by two independent appraisers. It also stipulates that the Shibleys would pay all costs associated with the transaction.

But some people present were concerned about the proposal, especially when the issue of whether the town owned the building and the land was raised in a confusing manner. Town officials at the meeting said they did not have definitive information about the property at their disposal since the meeting was held at Prospect Mountain High School, not town hall, and the article was not sponsored by the Selectboard.

Selectman Alan Sherwood successfully pushed for an amendment that would insure that any sales transaction involving the transfer of the property would go through the standard process of any land sale in town, including an appearance before the Planning Board.

Selectman Shibley complained that several years ago, when he tried to secure a much smaller piece of land next to his other Alton Bay business — Shibley’s Drive-In on the opposite side of Route 11 — he was forced into a complicated and expensive legal process that he eventually won. He said it took him years to resolve the issue — he even resigned his seat on the board to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest — while other land buyers in the area had their cases resolved in a matter of months.

He said adding Sherwood’s amendment could do nothing but again delay his sale.

Selectman Pat Fuller asked for a secret ballot vote on the amendment and by a large majority, 46-16, it passed.

Another amendment proposed that the funds from the sale — which Shibley estimated could go as high as $300,000 — be put into a capital reserve fund to someday buy a large town beach, easily passed on a voice vote.

But the warrant article still concerned some residents.

One asked if the widely different appraisals the School Board had recently gotten from three appraisers on pieces of land the district may purchase for expansion of the Alton Central School facility might occur on the lakefront property where the restaurant sits.

A member of the Budget Committee explained that appraisers typically give both low and high estimates, with the latter based on the “highest and best use” of the land.

But resident David Lawrence was not satisfied with the answers he heard from Shibley and other town officials. “This whole thing smells fishy. The people who are going to buy the land are same ones who are paying the assessors? Something about this just smells bad.”

Final votes on warrant articles are not in order at deliberative sessions.