North Adams Council Gives Final OK on DPW Building Borrowing
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday approved the final reading to authorize borrowing of $1,498,550 to purchase and renovate the former Berkshire Anodizing building on Hodges Cross Road as a public service building.
The borrowing covers about $1 million for the property outright and another half-million for upgrades and interior construction to make the wide-open plant suitable for different departments.
The council has extensively debated the proposal over a number of meetings, and that continued over another 40 minutes until the final 7-1 vote. Councilor Ronald Boucher was absent.
Councilor Robert M. Moulton Jr. again argued against taking commercial real estate off the tax roles, a cry that was taken up by several of the regular attendees at council meetings.
"I believe there are other options and I don't like the price," he said. "There are other options I don't think have been explored. ... This in my opinion is totally backward."
Moulton pointed to the $58,000 in property taxes that would be lost and insisted that after speaking with people in the business, he believed a new, smaller structure could be built economically.
The loss of commercial property and the price — because the building had been valued at less than the $995,000 price tag — had fueled the bulk of the objections. Others decried the potential effect on taxpayers, with residents Mark Trottier and Michael Chalifoux urging the council to reject the borrowing.
But the administration has pointed to the strengths of the plan: room for all the public service departments, equipment and supplies in one building; room for more uses, such as the long-delayed dog pound; land for future expansion of Southview Cemetery and access to the cemetery; and the opportunity for leasing to a commercial solar array.
The consolidation of services in the 85,000-square-foot building will also allow the city to begin divesting itself of other properties, including the City Yard that is already is attracting interest.
"The property is worth what it's worth for a potential purchaser," said Mayor Richard Alcombright. "[The other elements] creates value to the city that isn't necessarily in the price of the real estate."
Public Services Commissioner Timothy Lescarbeau said the 20,000 to 30,000 structure Moulton was describing would cost more and wouldn't solve all the issues of his departments. And questions about heating, repairs, and structural needs have all been answered, he said, and this building would solve the department's issues for the next 40 years.
"We haven't gone into this willy nilly," he said. "We've been working on this since March."
Councilor Lisa Blackmer, however, said she would "feel more comfortable" if the city had an outside review of the building prior to sealing the deal.
Alcombright said the city had gotten an estimate from engineers Tighe & Bond of $28,500 to do an architectural analysis but the cost made them pause. Lescarbeau and Building Inspector William Meranti were confident the structure was in good shape and had brought in engineers to informally look it over.
The city already has a preliminary approval with U.S. Department of Agriculture for a low-cost loan, so USDA suggested the city do a self-assessment.
"We can put together what we have and have their engineers review it and see what else they need," the mayor said.
Blackmer wasn't convinced so Alcombright said if the council wished, he would go back to Tighe & Bond to see if there was room to move and find funds through the borrowing.
"We can always find money to do that but I would like the latitude to do that from the borrowing," he said, getting tacit if not formal approval.
Environmental reviews had found no issues on the property or around the location where a transformer had been located. Should the architectural analysis uncover problems, or other unanticipated issues arise, the city would not complete the purchase, the mayor said.
The 40-year loan at 2.5 percent through the USDA would cost the city about $61,000 a year, about or $12 a year on the average tax bill.
Several councilors said they were satisfied with the plans, with Councilor Nancy Bullett saying it had been "vetted multiple times," and reiterating her concerns over the deficient and dangerous conditions in which Department of Public Works employees were working.
"I think they've done due diligence," said Councilor Eric Buddington, who was satisfied after reading the environmental report. "I think this is a reasonable price ... I think it's really worthwhile."
Tags: DPW, municipal borrowing, municipal buildings, public services, purchase & sales ,
