Berlin Lumber Price Drops $25k

by Kieron Kramer
On Thursday, March 31, the attorney for the sellers of the Berlin Lumber Property in Cherry Plain contacted Berlin Town Attorney Don Tate with the news that the sellers would donate $25,000 towards the purchase price of the property that many Berliners hope will be the new municipal center if the Board will drop all its contingency requirements and vote at its April 14 Town Board meeting to proceed with the purchase. If the Board delays the purchase again, as it did at the March meeting, the sellers indicated “that they would walk away” from the deal, according to Berlin Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger. The donation would drop the purchase price from $499,500 to $474,500.
Jaeger said, “The public should be aware of this [development]; we couldn’t ask for a better situation.”
At the March meeting the Laberge Group, engineering consultants, presented a report to the Board. Laberge had assessed the structural integrity of three of the five buildings on the Berlin Lumber property, proposed recommendations for potential future use of the buildings with cost estimates to bring the buildings into code for use and occupancy, including handicapped accessible entrances and bathrooms, and provided estimates for future maintenance and energy costs for the three buildings. The results of the assessment met the contingencies for the physical plant set out at the special meeting on October 20, 2010. Laberge “found very little on site that would cause environmental concerns.” However, they found a closed floor drain, a kind of drywell, that has no records. Laberge suggested that soil testing be done in this area. This would require a Phase II environmental assessment which may cost around $6,500.
Perhaps the most important contingency set at the special meeting was that the costs for purchase and renovation should not exceed the $587,000 in the Capital Reserve Fund at that time. The Laberge report gave rise to dueling figures, one set put forward by Supervisor Jaeger and one set put forward by Board Member Sheila Hewitt. Hewitt’s figures showed that the project would cost $90,000 more than the amount in the Capital Reserve fund; Jaeger’s figures showed that it would cost $16,000 less. (A detailed description of some of the differences appear in the March 18 issue of the Eastwick Press and can be accessed on our website at www.eastwickpress.com.) Obviously using his figures, Jaeger said, “This $25,000 gives us quite a cushion.”
With the unfortunate death of Board Member Richard von Schilgen, four Board members, Jaeger, James Saunders, Hewitt and Becky Giumarra, will vote on the issue at the April meeting. The replacement for von Schilgen will be discussed under new business at the April meeting with the vacancy to be filled by Board vote at the May meeting, Jaeger said. Jaeger will recommend to the Board that they ask each political party in Town to nominate one individual to fill the seat. “This procedure, used some time ago, was  described to me by some old-timers,” he said.
It seems that the deal is dead if the Board doesn’t accept this latest offer on April 14. Jaeger does not know if Berlin’s deposit of $10,000 will be returned by the seller. He said, “This is open to interpretation by the attorneys.”