Town Council Approves 10-Year, $1.2 Million Lease For Fire Maintenance Building

After years of practically no cost to the town to house fire maintenance equipment, the Town Council voted last week to enter into a 10-year, $1.2 million lease with the Quonset Development Corp. for what’s known as the Bostitch building on Callahan Road.

Several weeks ago, Town Manager Michael Embury told the Council he was negotiating with QDC on a long-term lease for the old Bostitch building on Callahan Road. QDC approved a 10-year, $1.2 million lease on the building, with Town Councilors Liz Dolan and Richard Welch (who also sit on the QDC board) abstaining.

The Council, however, voted 2-3 in June against the lease option, with Dolan and Carol Hueston voting for it and Welch, Kerry McKay and Kevin Maloney voting against.

In last week’s vote (on Aug. 5), the vote went 3-2 in favor of the lease agreement, with Kerry McKay switching to the Yes column.

Councilman Dick Welch voted no again saying he was frustrated because the council had requested information about the estimated costs to renovate the Bostitch building but that information had only been released on Aug. 5, the day of the meeting.

“I will not be voting in favor of this lease,” he said at the meeting. “Getting this tonight is not timely.”

“The fact of the matter is, these numbers were finalized last week,” explained Town Manager Mike Embury. “We had a meeting this morning to make sure they were as tight as they could be, so the quickest way was tonight.”

He added, “I didn't want to get castigated for having soft numbers if I gave you those to you last week.”

Embury said everyone knew the town needed a building to store fire maintenance equipment but that other projects (schools, mainly) took precedence.

“So we played roulette with letting that building go as long as we could,” Embury said. “Staff can make all the recommendations that we want, but you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.”

The building is to house not only the fire maintenance equipment but also golf carts for the municipal golf course at Quonset, and document storage. Still, Mahoney thought the building was oversized for the jobs it was needed for.

"This is good news for the department, good news for the town," said Fire Chief Fen Gardner after the vote. "It will certainly accommodate multiple facets for the town. We're appreciated of the efforts of the public works director, the town manager and the council."

In a nod to those on the council with questions, Fen said, "We certainly appreciate the due diligence of some council members to make sure it's cost effective. That's the process."