New City Council Will Decide Fate of Sullivan School
.jpg)
Cohen, at her final meeting as a councilor, was given a caricature as a going away gift by Council President Keith Bona. An artist, he also gave the other councilors a group drawing at a previous meeting.
The decision to again postpone a vote on Sullivan School was a repeat of the last meeting in November when it was felt there weren't enough votes to pass.
The current council is ending its term and had hoped to deal with the issue of Sullivan School before the new City Council takes office on Jan. 1. But only five members were able to vote on the sale of the closed school because two members were absent and two had to step down because of conflicts.
"You need a minimum of six people are for this to pass," said Councilor Wayne Wilkinson. "You will don't have six people voting. So it either dies or you postpone it."
The offer being recommended by Mayor Thomas Bernard was to sell the vacant school building on Kemp Avenue to a newly formed advanced manufacturing training organization for $1.
Since the $1 bid is well under the assessed value of the property at nearly $2 million, the council would have to approve the sale by a two-thirds vote of the full council, which would be six members.
But both Eric Buddington and Joshua Moran — both of whom did not run for re-election — were absent from the special meeting; Councilors Keith Bona and Benjamin Lamb stepped into the audience because of personal or professional relationships with the two bidders on the property.
The council had easily approved sales of Johnson School and land in Vermont that were below assessed value. But they had been unsure of a proposal for a startup technical training school in the 50-year-old Sullivan School.
Berkshire Advanced Manufacturing Training and Education Center, or BAMTEC, is pledging some $14 million in investment in renovations and equipment but having only recently organized, has only a plan and promises of capital at the present.
Several councilors, including Wilkinson, had sharply questioned the ability of BAMTEC to make good on its plan, the effect of the school on the neighborhood and potential zoning conflicts over businesses possibly using the school's equipment.
Overall, however, the council had seemed generally been positive to the concept of a training school.
"I'd just like to take a moment just to thank everyone on the City Council for all the work that you folks do during the year," said Michael Therrien, BAMTEC's president, during hearing of visitors. "Your dedication to your job and your position is commendable. So regardless of how everything goes for us tonight, I just wanted to say that."
Wilkinson, who had at first moved to deny before agreeing to postpone, thought the councilors should tour the building. It's been vacant since the opening of Colegrove Park Elementary School four years ago and has been vandalized and had fires set within it.
"I'm sure the building is horrible," he said. "I did a quick little analysis and the land is worth — the building wasn't there — about $65,000. The demolition of the building is close to $650,000. So it's not viable as a building anymore."
Wilkinson, a commercial appraiser, said he didn't like the idea of selling anything for a dollar but thought he might be "persuaded" by the condition of the building.
In any case, the decision to sell or rebid the school will be up to the incoming council with three new members that will take their seats on Jan. 1.
In other business, the council postponed action on a new fee schedule until the first meeting in January. Finance Committee Chairwoman Marie T. Harpin said her committee had only received the new fee schedule and analysis by Dec. 5 and had not had time to meet to discuss it.
A proposed policy for inquiries to the city solicitor was discussed and referred back to General Government Committee to tighten up the language. The former solicitor had been on retainer, local and had an open line to councilors; KP Law specializes in municipal law but charges per hour. Inquiries had been directed through the mayor's office but councilors noted that the charter specifies that City Council have access.
Tags: Sullivan School,
