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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-11-14 Joint MeetingJOINT MEETING GROTON VILLAGE BOARD, GROTON FIRE DEPARTMENT, GROTON TOWN BOARD MONDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2016 AT 7:30 PM AT THE VILLAGE ROLL, 143 EAST CORTLAND STREET, GROTON, NY Those Present: Village of Groton Mayor, Chris Neville Village Board Members Mike Holl, Jean Morey, Jeff Evener, and Betty Conger Village Clerk/Administrator, Charles Rankin Groton Fire Chief, Lance Coit Fire Department Members, Lester Coit, Lee Shurtleff, and Ben Nelson Town of Groton Supervisor, Don Scheffler Town Board Members, Randy Jackson and Sheldon Clark Town Clerk, April Scheffler The Groton Fire Department had requested a meeting with the Village and Town Boards to discuss the future plans for the Fire Department. They have been making plans to expand for many years and have been looking at several properties. Knowing that all budgets are tight, they want to move forward with guidance from and the blessings of the Village and Town Boards. Fire Chief, Lance Coit, presented scenarios for three different properties: 1. 108 East Cortland Street. Plans were originally brought to the Village Board in 2003-2004 which consisted of turning the property over to Groton Fire Department Volunteers Inc. This would be a complete restructure and renovation of the current building including taking down the current office wing and adding a full truck bay, expanding the current bays, adding offices in the current parking lot, extending the second floor, adding bunking quarters, and making it handicap accessible. They would tear down the building out back, extend the parking lot to that area and address drainage issues. Property issues would need to be worked out with adjoining landowners. Rough estimates from 2003 were around 2.2 to 2.4 million dollars, which did not include any asbestos abatement which was estimated at $125,000.00 at that time. The plan incorporated the Groton Police Department as requested by the Village. Site work and drainage could possibly be done by the Village DPW to help defray some costs. Drawbacks were that they would still be restricted on space and therefore the size of the expansion would be limited and four bays would still have height restrictions. Because of the height restrictions, new fire trucks have to be special ordered with just the chassis costing about $100,000.00 more than a standard chassis. 2. 308 Main Street. In 2015, the First National Bank of Groton offered the property at 308 Main Street for $300,000.00. Due to the building condition and extensive renovations that would be needed the building committee felt that a complete tear down was required. Contento's gave the cheapest estimate at $160,000 plus a $30,000.00 asbestos abatement. This did not include testing for underground contaminates that could exist in this location. The bank said that they would not do any testing but might lower the price to $295,000.00 to help cover that cost. There was also some concern about the flood plain and whether or not there would be problems with that. On a plus side, they would have the opportunity to build taller and longer bays, have a single story building, and have plenty of room for a banquet room, kitchen, offices, and bunk space. However, they felt that the initial investment of around $500,000.00 to just get the bare lot was excessive. Rough building figures for costs are from $150.00 to $200.00 per square foot. Needing roughly 14,000 square feet puts the building cost at 2.1 million for a total project cost of 2.6 million. This plan does not include housing for the Groton Police Department. Mayor Neville asked if there had been remediation of ground contaminants done on the property in the past. Lee Shurtleff said that he understood that it had been done in the area completely surrounding the building but not under the building itself. There is some concern as to what may be under the building. 3. 101 Gerald Moses Drive. The Board of Wardens has been approached by Rob Walraven in regards to the Plastisol building. The property is assessed at 1.78 million, was built in 2006- 2007, and is 27,000 square feet. It could be a 98% turnkey operation if the decision was made to purchase it. The short-term plan would be to use the assembly area for the truck bays and the loading dock area as the meeting room/banquet Holl. It already has a locker room with shower, night quarters for staffing, kitchen in the break room area and five existing offices. Additional expenses would be a complete floor drain system with holding tank and a kitchen area for the banquet Holl. With the surrounding property, there would be enough room to hold large fundraising events. The downfalls are that it is on the hill and it is 7 -tenths of a mile from the current fire house. Walraven stated that he would sell the property for 1.4 to 1.5 million depending on what existing equipment the Fire Department wanted which includes a 2014 tanker pumper, cranes, tooling, shelving, etc. Chief Coit said that they were looking for advice and direction from the Boards. It was asked if the Fire Department had a strong feeling towards one of them and they said they really didn't. Lee Shurtleff said that they had started the building fund back when he was chief, somewhere around 1991. At one point they looked at the lot next to the Express Mart but decided against it. They are really very limited with what they can do with their current property. There is a lot of pressure on them from some of the business community to go with the 308 Main Street property because they want something done with the lot and also want to keep the Fire Department downtown, but it is an expensive proposition. The Plastisol building is an option that is more affordable and meets their current needs although it is up the hill. They do not want to move forward with any of the options without the full support of both Boards because help will be needed to cover the expenses. Mayor Neville asked if they had considered incorporating the Police Department if they went to the Main Street property and having a public safety building. The Village will have decisions to make about the current building once the Fire Department moves out, how they will house the Police Department, and expenses tied to this building. The Fire Department had not considered including the Police Department. Mr. Rankin pointed out that from the Village's point of view the problems with the Plastisol property was that it is up the hill and also that it would take 1.7 million dollars off the tax roll which would be a loss to both the Village and the Town. After further discussion, the Village Board indicated that it would be their preference to keep the Fire Department downtown and were most in favor of the Main Street property even though it is significantly more expensive. However, before proceeding, additional discussions and negotiations are needed with the Bank, as well as ground testing and possibly a buy-back clause should contaminants be found. There may also be a possibility of further negotiations on the Plastisol property, if the people are really ready to unload it. At the end of the meeting it was decided to set up a meeting with Steve Gobel and Gary Watrous from the Bank. The meeting was scheduled for Monday, November 28tH April L. Scheffler, RMC Town Clerk