The Finance Committee of the Town of Needham voted unanimously during its meeting to enter executive session to discuss the purchase, lease and value of real property at the Stephen Palmer building, 83 Pickering Street in Needham.

The chair of the Finance Committee moved that “the finance committee enter executive session pursuant to exception 6 to discuss the purchase, lease, and value of real property, in particular, the residential dwelling units located at the Stephen Palmer building on 83 Pickering Street in Needham,” and said that “an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the public body.” The chair added, “I so declare the finance committee will not return to open session.”

The committee took a roll call vote after a second was requested; each member present voted yes. Committee members recorded on the roll call included Ally, Barry, Paul, Carol, Joe, Tina and Steve; the chair also voted yes. The chair declared the motion approved and the committee entered executive session without returning to open session.

The motion invoked “exception 6,” and the chair explicitly described the reason as protecting negotiating position in matters related to purchase, lease and valuation. No discussion of the substantive terms, dollar amounts, parties or timetable was made part of the public record in the transcript. The transcript does not identify who made the motion or who seconded it by name, nor does it include any public statement from outside parties.

Because the committee moved into executive session and said it would not return to open session, no further public deliberations on the topic were recorded in the meeting transcript provided.