North Adams Preparing Former Plant as Public Services Center
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The city closed Jan. 31 on the former aluminum anodizing plant on Hodges Cross Road with the intent to transform into a public services building.
The price was $995,000, the same amount presented to the City Council last summer. Another half-million also was borrowed for upgrades and renovations to the facility, for a total of $1,498,550.
"We've got a good plan to kind of move this along we're excited about it," said Mayor Richard Alcombright earlier this week. "We're looking at August probably before DPW is committed and moved. ... We think it's a good move for the city long term."
The 85,000 square-foot plant was put forward as a way to consolidate several buildings and facilities spread around the city. Of most import is the decapitated and overcrowded City Yard, last upgraded with the large shell building in the early 1970s. Appropriate at the time it was built, the structure is no longer practical for the large trucks used for plowing and sanding, say city officials.
In addition to the Department of Public Works, the plant has enough room for Parks & Recreation, Cemetery, Building and Facilities, and Highway, and is expected to be the location of a new regional dog kennel. Eventually, the Wire & Alarm division is expected to move along with other needs that can fit there.
The city had hoped a private solar array would provide some revenue but the company has backed off the proposition that had been on hold with Berkshire Anodizing.
"We were apprised six weeks ago that was not going to happen," Alcombright said. "We're disappointed with that ... it would have been a great thing if it could happen."
The proposal to purchase the defunct plant ran into some vocal opposition and some reluctance from city councilors. There were concerns over the cost of the project because it was more than the last owner had paid, that the city was buying more property and that it would take commercial real estate off the tax rolls. The administration put it forward as a pragmatic approach that would allow consolidation and cost less in the end than the millions it would take to rehab several other buildings.
Relocating the departments offer the opportunity for the city to divest itself of several properties, including the aged and obsolete City Yard on Ashland Street. The mayor has frequently pointed to the DPW's home as a blight on a revitalized corridor that's seen a former mill revamped into residential units, a new facilities structure for the college, the renovation of the Armory, and the restoration or demolition of a number of residential and commercial properties along Ashland.
The mayor estimates that selling off unnecessary parcels could bring in nearly $5 million.
Administrative Officer Michael Canales said the city is taking out note for two years that will require only interest payments. Once the some $1.1 million in annual debt falls off in 2020, a new borrowing at 20 years will include the plant and several other capital projects, such as upgrades at the water treatment plant, the dams and retaining walls.
"We'll have slightly larger annual payments but by paying 20 years less, we'll be saving about a half-million dollars," said Canales. The expectation had been $1.2 million in interest over 40 years, but instead, it will be closer to $750,000 over 20 years.
The note will go "the conventional route" through Unibank, said the mayor.
The city had hoped to get low-interest funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and has submitted a pre-application. But late in the process, it was found that a cemetery was not an allowable use, said Canales. Part of the attraction of the plant was its proximity to Southview Cemetery and the potential for expanding the cemetery south onto the undeveloped part of the property.
The USDA was also unsure of its funding commitments with a change in administration at the federal level. "We were at a point we needed close," Canales said.
Improvements contracted through the seller have almost been completed. The final part is the installation of new windows that will be done once they arrive. After that, the city takes over with some $350,000 in interior changes, such as overhead doors to accommodate the big trucks, to transform the largely empty spaces into usable departments.
Public Services has already been moving items to the new location but its expected to take months to prepare the building with the goal of having most of the departments in by August, but definitely before the snow flies again.
"Everything is going smooth so far," the mayor said. "There's still a lot of work to do. We could do it quickly if we hadn't other stuff, like snowstorms."
Tags: city yard, DPW, public services, purchase & sales ,
