By Mickey Friedman
September 18, 2014
Remember being told the old firehouse was a serious hazard to the town employees who worked there and the citizens who came to consult them?
So why are our town employees are still working there?
Being told we should get rid of the building. So that we wouldn’t have to heat and maintain it?
Now we’re renting space there for $2,500 a month for at least five years. That’s $150,000.
And we’re responsible for paying the current insurance policy. Responsible for “all utilities, included but not limited to fuel, electric, water, sewer, snow removal, lawn and grounds maintenance and trash removal.” (RIDER C of the December 2012 Purchase & Sales Agreement, Pages 12, 13)
Town Manager Jennifer Tabakin estimated these expenses at $19,700 for heating oil, $11,812 for maintenance, $3,953 for property taxes, $1,800 for electricity, $1,100 for water, sewer, hot water etc. That’s $38, 365 a year. $38, 365 + $30,000 rent.
Aren’t you glad we got rid of it?
Terry Cowgill of The Record assumed these were a one-year expense but it seems to me the Agreement states these expenses are ours as long as we lease the same amount of space. And if or when we no longer use either the first or second floor, our share of expenses will remain no less than half that, about $19,000 a year.
Remember being told it would be great to get the Castle Street Firehouse back on the tax rolls?
Would you be surprised to learn that the building will be evaluated for many years at far below the market value?
The December 2012 Purchase & Sales Agreement sets the evaluation of the property at $50,000 during the six years we rent space in the building, “followed by a ten year value schedule as follows: years 1-4 – $50,000; years 5-7 – $300,000, years 8-10 – $500,000, after which the premises shall be assessed at their full and fair value as determined by the General Laws.” (Page 12 of RIDER C.)
And why are we being so accommodating? Because the 20 Castle Street LLC Proposal of February 9, 2011 says they will perform a historical restoration of the building then create ArtWorks, “a facility that will house a mix of entities that will have a programmatic focus on education, vocational training, jobs, and career counseling; directed at being a catalyst for employment growth in the Berkshires.”
Sort of like the Great Barrington version of the 21st Century Education our $51 million renovation of Monument Mountain HS promises?
Plus there’s “The Wooden Yankee” and “The Local Canvas.” “The Wooden Yankee will operate a for profit business, split between paid for fine wooden furniture and cabinetry classes and vocational training in all aspects of home building and remodeling. The later focus will be toward young adults …
“The Local Canvas, a for-profit café utilizing the farm to table concept shall serve breakfast, lunch and dinner …Unique to Local Canvas will be its educational and training component. It will have an enlarged kitchen to be utilized for culinary classes …”
Then “Hope Hall, a non-profit organization will occupy approximately 600 feet of the large meeting room to provide career, vocational and employment counseling, as well as specific classes to educate in the basics of starting and running your own business. Also on the second floor there will be a small for profit retail store and office space.”
Sort of like the $51 million …
Some believe that given the costs of cleanup and/or demolition it made sense to do whatever it took to get rid of the building.
Remember the 2013 Annual Town Meeting when we voted to spend $270,000 for the cleanup? Maybe you assumed that was our full share?
A fair assumption considering the minutes of the December 13, 2013 Selectmen’s Meeting very clearly state that the Town will pay $270,000 for the environmental remediation of the Castle Street Firehouse, and “the Buyer will pay remediation costs beyond $270,000.”
I owe thanks to Congressman Bill Shein for pointing out that that might not be the whole story. Back to RIDER “C” which states that while we are responsible for the first $270,000, “The Buyer will pay for additional remediation costs which exceed the $270,000 up to a total cost of $320,000. Remediation costs that exceed this amount shall be paid by the Seller. Seller must obtain approval for funding at Town Meeting.”
$270,000 from us. $50,000 from them. Then the rest from our pockets.
Disclosure: “the act of making something known; the act of disclosing something.”
Just maybe we weren’t told everything we should have been told.
Fudge: “to fail to deal with (something) in an open and direct way; to speak or act in a way that is meant to avoid dealing with a problem directly; to change (something) in order to trick people.”
Our New Fire-To-Farm-To-Table House.
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The Documents
Purchase & Sale Agreement Castle Street Fire Station