Okay, it is Friday.Well it was Friday when I started this piece. So where are we today? Can't answer for you, but as for myself, exactly the same spot as yesterday.
At some point soon, we as a town need to decide what to do with the tow former elementary school buildings. Keep, sell or lease are essentially the three available options. Keep does not seem to be realistic. Financially we don't have the money to restore and then maintain these buildings for town purposes. At least I don't see how to do it. Not with what exists today and what is on the horizon.
Always open to suggestions however it doesn't seem anyway has a viable suggestion in the "keep" scenario.
Sell or lease which can be considered sub-parts of the same option. Any lease would essentially have to be very long term. Any lessee, unless they had a ton of disposable money is going to have to sink a boat load of money into either buildings and therefore will be looking to have the up front costs considered as part of the overall rental.
The sale, well depending on the "business" of the buyer, you may or may not reap the benefit of having the properties place on the tax roll.
Simple fact is existing zoning, size of buildings and lots, condition of the properties all factors that substantially negate the sale and lease value. Through in restrictions on reuse that some desire, well you should get the picture.
I know, similar statements have been posted. Yet before anything happens shouldn't we decide what we want to happen?
On another front, and what happens there ...
The chatter on the state budget is a bit less audible this year than ion past years. There apparent has been a consensus agreement upping revenue projections, but there also is news that the state is going to increase its funding into its pension plan. You can look forward to another attempt to tax candy and soda it seems though. Some hint that you will see some fees increase.
All idle chatter until everything is released next Wednesday though. Kind of why there is no chatter here right now about the budgets locally released last night. Time enough to deal with the reality that is and will be.
Seeing lots of new titles being applied around town. Heck just in the last week I have discovered three such designations I didn't even know we had designations for. My bad I suppose for not keeping up enough with things. Titles don't change reality though, nor are they a grant of any authority.
Anyway ...
The one area I think we really can and should be focusing on spending wise is government access. Why can we in a tight budget year. Because of the terms of the cable contract, the fees collected and the fact the law requires those fees to be used for very specific purposes.
Some are arguing for the rebirth of public access. Knock your socks off on that one.
I want to focus my attention on bigger and better government access. Better sound equipment for the video broadcast. Enough cameras and staff to cover every single meeting of every single board and committee. We can start using that third channel we have a right to to show the extra coverage. If not, guaranteed it will be a sticking point in the next contract, along with the amount of the franchise fee being paid.
No doubt we can do better. This is not a knock on the present staff either. With the "budget", equipment and part-time nature of it all, I think it is a pretty good result.
Just seems to me when you are collecting money that has to be, AND NOTE "HAS TO BE" used or specific limited purposes, either use it or be done with the matter of collecting it form the rate payer.
Anyway ...
That is all for today.
Be safe.
Just seems to me when you are collecting money that has to be, AND NOTE "HAS TO BE" used or specific limited purposes, either use it or be done with the matter of collecting it form the rate payer.
Anyway ...
That is all for today.
Be safe.
What is done with the buildings/properties will be no doubt influenced by the information forthcoming from the study committee. Keep or lease options will demand future funding. Selling will have an emotional cost. But having the buildings sit vacant is costing us too. If people had really wanted to keep Rogers as a school, they could have fought for it. Remember, as much as the logistics of doing so were not as easy or beneficial as the Wood site, the option was presented. It would be disappointing to see the buildings removed from the sites. But it's also disheartening to see them sit vacant if there's no use for them. Besides the security and electrical costs, what are we paying to insure them?
ReplyDeleteThe electrical costs??? The town gets cheap rates from the wind turbines. I'm not worried ever again about electrical costs in any town buildings. People did fight for the Rogers school. They just lost.
ReplyDeleteI remember it as people being too consumed with fighting for the 2 school option rather than one site over another. Those who wanted to keep Rogers were in truth, fighting to keep 2 schools open. There were some very influential parties in the Rogers area. The 2 school option wasn't going to win. There wasn't enough effort in support of the Rogers only plan. And now we have to make a decision of what to do with that building and property. Even if you want to consider the electricity to be 'free,' it doesn't benefit the town or the neighborhood to leave the buildings vacant forever.
ReplyDeleteBut... There is no "free" electricity in all Town buildings. The wind turbines provide power to offset electricity use at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The solar array at the dump provides power to Hastings.
ReplyDeleteThey don't really power all Town buildings, so there are actually measurable electric (and other utility) costs for other Town buildings.
Unfortunately, not quite how it works. Neither project has direct tie ins. Each project has a different revenue mechanism. You are correct as they don't power all, in fact any buildings of the town directly.
ReplyDeleteWhen the new school was planned it should have included plans for the disposal of the old schools.The electricity derived from the turbines,or purchased fromNE utilities,or the wholesale market are used by all town buildings.The combined price of all the sources are shared by all the entities they use it.The two power source like the turbines an solar panels supply the nearest town buildings for convenience of distribution.
ReplyDeleteThe topic of most concern ought to be the buildings we're left with. Regardless of the consumption or cost of electricity for either of them- we have to do something before a major problem, like a leak in the roof or window casings occurs. The last thing we want to do is have to put money into buildings we have no plans to use.
ReplyDelete