by Thaddeus Flint
The Grafton Fire District held a public meeting Monday, February 6, to further discuss possible ideas on acquiring the empty Grafton Elementary School from the Berlin School District.
At the January 18 Berlin School Board meeting, Grafton Fire Commissioner Bill Keenan appeared before the School Board to voice that organization’s possible interest in the property and to invite Board members to the meeting held on February 6. No School Board members attended, and nobody seemed to notice their absence.
[private]According to Fire Commissioner Chairman Herbert Hasbrouck, the Grafton Fire District is in the very early stages of putting together a plan for use of property. The building is far too large for the Fire Department alone so it is thought that perhaps other Town organizations could also use the space. “This has to be a community project,” said Hasbrouck. “When we lost this school we were broken-hearted. We need to realize that the time is over for that building as a school.” But the community now has the option to get the building back for other purposes. “We need the input of the community to see what you would like to do with it,” explained Hasbrouck. “What would you like to see this school be used for?”
Unfortunately for the Town of Grafton, there might not be a lot of time to decide what they would like to use it for. At a special meeting of the Berlin School Board on January 31, it was decided that the Grafton Fire District would need to submit a proposal by March 6 detailing what they intend to do with the property. The School Board is also now looking toward bartering the property away instead of gifting it for a dollar. Board President Gina Goodermote has said that this was the way the old school building in Petersburgh was transferred to the Town of Petersburgh; Petersburgh had to provide some 200 hours of community service to the District in exchange. Proposals for the Grafton Elementary School, as well as the Stephentown Elementary School, will be voted on at a March 20 School Board meeting. If the vote is favorable, the matter will be put to a public referendum by July 1.
Hasbrouck said that he would like to present a plan, but he is not sure there is enough time to arrive at something concrete which takes into consideration all aspects of how the building could be utilized by not only the Fire Department but the Town itself. “This does not give us a lot of time to do a study, to do the research,” said Hasbrouck. He wanted to ask the School Board “to slow down a little bit, to give us a chance to plan and to reach out to the community.”
Town Councilperson Barbara Messenger then asked, “What does the Fire District plan to do with the building?”
“We have outgrown our Fire Station,” replied Hasbrouck. Building a new one could cost close to three quarters of a million dollars. If the Grafton School could be acquired for community service hours, savings to the taxpayers could be substantial. “We don’t want to get taxpayers into a mess,” said Hasbrouck. The Fire Department would not need all the space available there, only part of it and a portion of acreage – thought to be over ten acres – to build a garage. Perhaps the rest of the Town offices could also move into the building. In effect what Hasbrouck was envisioning was what the Town of Berlin has just accomplished with its purchase of Berlin Lumber – an integrated Town Municipal Center. Only Grafton would not have to put up the $499,500 that Berlin did.
Messenger questioned the ability of the Town of Grafton to fund such a project. Even with a trade of community hours for the property, a large expenditure would surely be needed to transform the structure into various offices and facilities. She noted that the recent 2% tax cap would hinder any efforts at raising such funds through taxes.
A resident in the audience did note that transforming an old school building into a municipal center had been successful for the Town of North Greenbush. The Wynantskill Elementary School is now used by many town offices. Consolidating several buildings into one certainly can be fiscally successful in the long run. Hasbrouck said he would look into that and provide a breakdown of the Wynantskill space to Messenger. In the meantime the Fire District is having an engineer look the Grafton School over to get a better idea of what is good and what is not so good. Residents are encouraged to submit their ideas, plans and wishes to the Fire District before March 1. “Let’s not let it go to waste,” said Hasbrouck.
The Grafton Fire District’s mailing address is P.O. Box 342 Grafton, NY, 12082.
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