Officers Preston Kelly and Stephanie Mirante, with Police Director Michael Cozzaglio, right, were sworn into the force at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday approved the borrowing of $1,498,550 to purchase and renovate the former Berkshire Anodizing building on Hodges Cross Road as a public service building.
The vote to move to a second reading and publish as required by law was 8-1, with Councilor Robert M. Moulton Jr. casting the lone nay vote. Moulton expressed his concern at previous meetings of taking a commercial site off the city's tax rolls.
The administration has pushed to buy the vacant 85,000 square foot building and its accompanying 30 acres as a way to alleviate numerous space and condition issues in the city's current public services buildings.
The borrowing covers about $1 million for the property outright and another half-million for upgrades and interior construction to make the wide open plant suitable for different departments.
The anodizing plant closed last year and was openly put on the market earlier this year. Berkshire Anodizing was the only bidder for a request for services bid the city published last winter in seeking a solution to its building deficiencies.
Public Services Commissioner Timothy Lescarbeau said the anodizing plant would be able to accommodate the Department of Public Works and the cemetery, building, water, and parks and recreation departments. There's also enough room for salt and sand, inside storage for plows, sanders and paving equipment, and mechanical and tool shops. Plus, there are several working bathrooms, locker rooms, meeting rooms and offices.
Relocating the departments will allow the city to divest itself of several properties, including the aged and obsolete City Yard on Ashland Street. The mayor has frequently pointed to the city's property as a blight on a revitalized corridor that's seen a former mill revamped into residential units, a new facilities structure for the college, the renovation of the Armory, and the restoration or demolition of a number of residential and commercial properties along Ashland.
The mayor has indicated he would put the City Yard up for sale, and is looking to do the same with the Windsor Mill, which is being used for city storage in addition to hosting commercial businesses. Also down the line, the administration wants to sell off the Notre Dame property and the now vacant Sullivan School.
Councilor Ronald Boucher thought the borrowing order was about $41,000 higher than initial borrowing estimate in August. Administrative Officer Michael Canales said the amount was based on estimates for capital improvements and an $18,000 contingency. The number in Tuesday's order was the same as the grand total provided to the council on Aug. 23.
Mayor Richard Alcombright said he would provide an updated itemization list prior to the next meeting and final vote.
There was no change, he said, in the $995,000 purchase and sales agreement the council approved last month.
Prior estimates for building new or revamping other structures for the DPW were in the $2.7 million-plus range. Lescarbeau said most of those scenarios — building a new salt shed or moving some departments up to the old landfill property — would not solve all the public service departments' space issues.
Canales said the city was preapproved for a 40-year loan through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At 2.5 percent, the annual debt would be $61,000.
Councilor Lisa Blackmer said that longer-term loan would mean an extra $200,000 on the borrowing and asked if the city could change to bonding or pay ahead.
"If down the road we decide to do a 20-year amortization, we can do so with no penalty," said the mayor. The city could switch to municipal bonds, pay ahead or pay off.
"There is a chance to lump sum that down with the sale of the City Yard if the council approves," he said. "The USDA is the best way forward for us on the project."
Conventional bonds at 4 percent are estimated to cost $110,000 a year for 20 years or $85,000 for 30.
In other business:
• Stephanie Mirante and Preston Kelly were sworn in as police officers. Both the city's new officers come from the Williamstown Police Department. Mirante, the force's second woman officer, was both a dispatcher and special police officer; Kelly is a 14-year police veteran whose experiences "will really allow him to really hit the ground running," the mayor said.
• The mayor read a proclamation for "Lights On! Afterschool," a collaboration with the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership being celebrated on Oct. 20.
The nationwide event acknowledges after-school and out-of-school time programs and the educational and developmental opportunities they provide children, families, and communities. Superintendent Barbara Malkas spoke to the council about the event and the importance of after-school activities.
• Councilor Eric Buddington submitted a request from Public Arts Commission for a change in its enabling ordinance. The matter was referred to the General Government Committee.
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