AFTON – After a majority of Afton residents showed favor for a proposal to relocate their town hall offices to a newer, more efficient building, town officials say they’re ready to move forward with the project. That is, when all the money’s finally at hand.
In 2014, the Town of Afton was awarded $100,000 in grant money through the Office of State Senator Tom Libous for the purpose of buying and renovating an 8,000 square foot property, formerly owned by the company IVCI. The new location would house town business offices as well as the Afton Town Court offices.
In a 377-101 vote earlier this month, residents favored a proposal that the Afton Town Supervisor enter a contract to purchase the building. But so far, no contract has been signed and town officials say they’re still waiting to have all their financial ducks in a rowe before taking the next step.
The holdup: the town has yet to receive the $100,000 awarded by Senator Libous.
“Right now, we’re waiting for the grant that was approved before we sign a contract,” said Afton Supervisor John Lawrence. “We don’t expect that the wait will be much longer. It’s one of those ‘The check’s in the mail’ situations, but we don’t want to put ourselves in a position where we spend that money until we receive that money ... We fully expect to enter a contract for purchase after we secure all funding.”
The proposal to buy and renovate the IVCI building is an estimated $393,500 undertaking. The Afton Town Board intends to use the Libous grant to leverage $200,000 which the town already has in a building reserve account, and another $40,000 which it set aside after selling a parcel of town-owned property to the Afton School District in 2006. The township also plans to use a $40,000 state grant received last year for the purpose of modifications to its court facilities.
At present, Afton splits court and town functions between two buildings. The 1860’s building in the town’s historical district accommodates business offices while court offices are located in the town’s highway and maintenance building, which also houses the Afton Police.
Hopes are to combine all town and court offices in the IVCI building, said Lawrence, thereby saving taxpayers the cost of maintaining the outdated 1860’s building. What’s more, town officials have an unwritten agreement with 88 Blue LLC, current proprietor of the IVCI building, which has shown interest in purchasing the 1860s building for $30,000 after the town offices have relocated. Selling the 1860s building would have a two-fold purpose, said Lawrence: add to the money available for purchase and restoration of the IVCI building (bringing the total for the project to $410,000), and restore another property to the tax roll. It would also save the town the cost and hassel of using a realtor to market the building, he added.
In addition to being a cost savings measure, the move will bring the town into compliance with state and federal mandates for improved handicap accessibility into town offices as well as satisfy judicial mandates for more space at the town court.
“After the vote went through and voters approved signing a contract, many town personnel said it was about time that the town move forward in this type of endeavor,” Lawrence said. “Consolidating town offices is something they believe will create better opportunities and save money by reducing upkeep on existing buildings.”