Cheshire Selectmen Approve Youth Center Lease
CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen officially executed a lease agreement with Youth Center Inc. for Cheshire Elementary School.
"We still have to sign the lease," Selectwoman Carol Francesconi said at Tuesday's board meeting.
Last week, members of the Youth Center signed the lease agreement but only one selectman was on hand. Since there was no quorum, the board could not officially approve the lease agreement.
The Youth Center will move from East Street Community Center in Adams to the former elementary school. The center will occupy eight classrooms in the new section of the building and pay the town $1,500 a month.
Town Administrator Edmund St. John IV said there is an amendment included in the agreement that will allow the Youth Center to access the premise before their lease begins to prepare for their August entry.
St. John added that he also spoke with engineers EDM about a fire system the building inspector requested that the town install.
Francesconi informed the board that a resident has asked if they could purchase a town-owned lot on Shadow Land Cove.
"Unbeknownst to me and probably you, we own a lot on Shadow Land Cove," she said. "I didn't even know that but it is about 30 by 100 feet but it is something we could sell if we wanted to.”
Francesconi said the town took the lot for taxes in 2014.
Selectman Robert Ciskowski said if they chose to sell it, it would have to go through town meeting and could not be earmarked for a single person.
Francesconi noted the town also owns land on Ingalls Road in front Superior Spring. With the school's fields being heavily used, the town could install an additional field there.
"I don't know how big of a field you need for softball but we own that land," she said. "The land is our if we can find a use.”
Highway Superintendent Blair Crane said he did not think the area was large enough especially with so many homes around. He added that fly balls could be sent on to Route 8 and noted that it is a very wet area.
In other business, Crane gave an update on the patching work on Route 116.
"It seems to be taking a fair bit of our pothole repair time and we still have another two loads to finish off before we can start going elsewhere," he said.
He said patch work on Ingalls Road and Outlook Avenue will be next.
Tags: cheshire school, leasing, youth center,
