by Alex Brooks
The Grafton Town Board held a special meeting to discuss renewal of the lease on the Senior Center. The current agreement with the County expires on April 30. County Attorney Stephen Pechenik was onhand, and Carol Rosbozom, the Commissioner for Unified Family Services, which includes the Dept. for Aging, and some other County officials. GraftonTown Attorney Sal Ferlazzo was also present.
[private] The Board immediately went into Executive Session because they were involved in “negotiations.” The County officials went into the session with them. About a half hour later the County people came out, and the Grafton Town Board continued deliberations among themselves. After about fifty minutes they came back into public session, and Ferlazzo said they had hoped to reach an agreement that very night, but it turned out not to be possible, so they hope to resolve the matter at the regular Town Board meeting on April 13. He said this will be a long term lease, so “we have to get it right.”
He said the Board needs more information. They want to get the County’s expenses over the last few years, and Ferlazzo said he wants to check the terms of the grant that was used to build the Senior Center some ten years ago. He said a new structure is being proposed for the lease, and he wants to make sure the terms of the original grant are compatible with the new structure.
He said the Grafton Board will make a formal counter offer within a week or so. After the meeting was adjourned, Ferlazzo sat down with the County officials present, and had a conference about the lease negotiations.
Grafton has been leasing the building to the County for $1 per year, and the County pays the expenses. But in recent years the County has said that some of the expenses ought to be paid by the Town, and there has been an ongoing dispute about who should pay several bills related to the building.
It appears that Grafton now wants to get more than $1 per year in rent, but the substance of the negotiations has not been disclosed. Grafton still has a significant mortgage on the property, on which it makes payments of approximately $25,000 per year. [/private]