pWATERTOWN — The remaining members of the North Side Improvement League need to form a new version of the organization before they can do anything about the future of their former Mill Street club headquarters. /ppAbout 10 members met for two hours behind closed doors before coming out and saying they are calling for all past and current members to attend a meeting at 6:30 p.m. March 8 at the Best Western Watertown Fort Drum, 300 Washington St./ppLast month, The Times confirmed that West Carthage developer Michael E. Lundy has abandoned plans to swap the Mill Street building for another property, where he would construct a new club for them. Instead, Mr. Lundy has offered to purchase the Mill Street property for $375,000./ppAfter the meeting, the group declined to discuss anything about the proposed deal with the developer. Mr. Lundy could not be reached for comment./ppNo longer having officers in place, the group hopes to put together a new board of directors and then eventually figure out what they can do with the former club headquarters at 633 Mill St./ppThe league needs to basically start from scratch, said organizer William A. Koelmel, whose father was a president of the 104-year-old club decades ago./pp“That’s our goal, at this point,” he said./ppThey plan to send out letters inviting past and current members and have invited anyone who’s interested in saving the league to the meeting. They are working from a list of more than 300 people, organizers said. They are also seeking donations to save the league./ppThey met privately for about an hour with their attorney, David P. Antonucci, before talking about the situation among themselves for another hour. Before the meeting, Mr. Antonucci confirmed that the league does not have a signed contract with the developer under either scenario./ppThe land swap deal fell apart after it was discovered that a former repair shop at 494 VanDuzee St. has environmental problems. That agreement ended in July. The league also has not signed the contract for the purchase offer, Mr. Antonucci said. /ppHe advised his clients that they could not publicly discuss the land swap, citing the contract has a confidentiality clause, but there is nothing preventing them from talking about the purchase offer./pp“It’s up to them,” he said./ppBrenda and Joseph Parker, former board members who were involved in signing the original contract with him, did not attend the meeting. Mr. Parker has told The Times they were no longer actively involved in the league. /ppThe state attorney general’s office will have to recommend the sale and the state Supreme Court must sign off on it because the league is a nonprofit organization. The attorney general’s office has to make sure the deal is equitable to the league, which once played a prominent role in local politics. /ppThe group also acknowledged time is running out to arrange a deal with another developer because the two-year cycle for the property’s tax sale certificate runs out in June. The taxes must be paid by then or they lose the property to local real estate investor Brian H. Murray, who holds the tax certificate. /ppThe group members said they would need to find someone to pay the back taxes, adding they believe the amount is about $30,000. /ppMr. Lundy and the league had been working on a deal to find a new home for the organization since the league was forced to close its club in 2013 because of its debts./p
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