Councilman Cournoyer calls for new round of bids on Social Street School

WOONSOCKET — A controversy over the sale of Social Street School has prompted a member of the City Council to call for a new round of bids, saying all interested parties should submit “a final best offer” to City Clerk Christina Duarte no later than March 23.

In a prepared statement, Councilman James Cournoyer said he has drafted a measure for a vote on March 5 calling on Mayor Lisa Baldelli-Hunt to notify all parties who have expressed an interest in the property of the proposed procedures for the sale.

Cournoyer’s comments come on the heels of a tempest that erupted after Baldelli-Hunt notified the council of two offers on the 706 Social St. property, one from Blackstone mason John Lippolis for $65,000 and another from local developer Gary Fernandes, for $50,000. When the council prepared a resolution to sell the school to Fernandes on Feb. 5, Lippolis protested, asking the council why they’d never previously responded to his higher offer of $90,000.

It was the first the council had heard of the $90,000 offer, which Lippolis said was hand-delivered in writing to the mayor in mid-September by his lawyer, Lloyd Gariepy. Baldelli-Hunt acknowledges receiving the bid, but she, the council and Lippolis have been trading charges and countercharges over why it hadn’t come to the council’s attention sooner.

The council was “blindsided” by news of Lippolis’ $90,000 offer, Cournoyer said, asserting that the mayor had “an unequivocal duty” to inform the panel about it, “along with all relevant details.”

Baldelli-Hunt did insists that Lippolis has no one to blame but himself for the situation because he did not give her permission to divulge the details until he had an opportunity to meet with council members to see whether they were will- ing to sell the school without competitive bidding or a new appraisal. She said he changed his offer to $65,000 after one of his partners in the prospective acquisition backed out of the deal. Lippolis disputes the mayor’s version of the story, but the mayor says he’s simply angry because he council appears poised to sell the building to someone else.

Baldelli-Hunt declined to wade into the dispute yet another time yesterday to respond to Cournoyer’s press release, but she did tell The Call that a third individual has now expressed an interest in the property.

On behalf of the city, Cournoyer said he has apologized to Lippolis and others who have experienced setbacks as a result of the questionable handling of their bids for the property. He said he assured them that they will all have “a fair shot on a level and transparent playing field” to purchase the property.