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North Adams Finance Committee Recommends Building Purchase
By Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
11:57PM / Monday, September 12, 2016
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Councilor Nancy Bullett said her focus was on the employees working in substandard conditions. But others in the audience who spoke were concerned with the price and its impact on taxpayers.


Councilor Robert M. Moulton Jr. asked about putting up a new building after the Finance Committee asked its questions.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Finance Committee on Monday grilled administration officials on the proposed purchase of a defunct anodizing plant for use as a public services facility.

After two hours of questioning by committee and audience members, the three-person committee voted to recommend a purchase-and-sales agreement of $995,000 for the building at 59 Hodges Cross Road to the full City Council on Tuesday.

"I'm sure we'll have another lengthy conversation tomorrow," said committee Chairwoman Lisa Blackmer.

Committee member Keith Bona made the motion; fellow member Ronald Boucher seconded, saying "I came in here tonight thinking it would be wise for the city to negotiate ... It's a good deal."

Tuesday's council meeting will be the fourth discussion of the proposal to consolidate all of the city's public services departments, supplies and equipment in one building. Berkshire Anodizing, operating as 59 Hodges Cross Road LLC, was the only applicant to the city's request for proposals for property due last March.

The 30-acre property also comes with an expansion of nearly 4 acres of land for Southview Cemetery and a leasing agreement for a solar array currently on hold.

Councilors agree that the Department of Public Works and other departments are in dire need of new quarters - many of the buildings are dilapidated and unsafe, and expensive equipment is left outside in the weather.

The former anodizing building would cost $1.5 million to purchase and revamp and would hold everything from public services with room for more, including potential sharing with other communities.

But the price for the 85,000 square foot building has been sticking point for some councilors and a number of residents.

One vocal opponent has been resident Alice Cande, who said she was "baffled and shocked beyond belief" that the city had not negotiated the price down. "It's a fact that no one wants it," she said.

Blackmer said her feeling was that the city should have it appraised and make a counter, pointing out it had sold for $600,000 in 2010. Many of the comments she had received from residents also revolved around the price.

Mayor Richard Alcombright, however, said the city had been in negotiations for months, with Public Services Commissioner Timothy Lescarbeau and Administrative Officer Michael Canales taking the lead. The talks were about work and conditions, not price, which was submitted as the bid.

Lescarbeau estimated that it had cost the owner $74,000 to remove the tanks and other standing equipment, and another $10,000 to remove debris, $5,000 for fixing the roof vents, an unknown amount for other fixtures removed and $20,000 to $25,000 for an environmental report.

On top of the preparations for selling the building, the owner has agreed to do painting and other repairs for $107,000, work that would have cost the city double because of having to pay prevailing wage. A large concrete tank will also be demolished and used to fill in drains in the section being planned for salt and sand; the contractor will also level the floor.

Five overhead cranes were also asked to be left behind; Lescarbeau had priced out a similar crane at $80,000 and the owner's real estate representative, Nathan Girard of Greylock Realty, said they had an offer of $45,000 apiece for two of them. Some 50,000 square feet of roof, more than half the main building, had been done since 2010 at a cost of $150,000.

Alcombright said the building may have been recorded at $600,000 but owner Arthur Grodd had also purchased the business in it for a total of $1.132 million. The price, he said, "is kind of reflective of what he paid for the business."

The property has been taxed on an assessment of $1.5 million and its structure ranges in age from the 1960s to the 1990s.

"It appraises out vacant without a business in it at $1.15 [million] that did not include a $360,000 potential solar lease," Girard said. "That solar lease adds to the value of the building."

He argued that the idea that building was sitting with no interest was wrong, claiming there had been several inquiries since it officially went on the market last October for $1,095,000. It was one of only two industrial building of this size in the city, he said, with the other being the Sprague/Vishay building.

According to Girard, eight light commercial/industrial building have been sold in the county since the end of 2014 with an average price of $22.26 per square foot in poor to average condition.

In comparison, the new $2 million, 12,000 square-foot facilities building at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts came in at $167 a square foot. Another building the same size is being built in Williamstown for $1.5 million, or a $125 a square foot, said Councilor Joshua Moran.

Moran, citing that and other new buildings as having much higher costs, said the former plant was a bargain at $17.60 a square foot. However, he said, the city must maintain better than the current City Yard.

"When we see a 100 years of neglect for these buildings, we need to put a line item in the budget year after year to upkeep this building ... so we don't do this again," he said.

Councilor Robert M. Moulton Jr. again expressed concern over losing a property that could produce jobs and revenue, and buying a building that was 50 years old. He suggested the city again to look at options on property it owns, an idea that Finance Committee member Ronald Boucher also asked about.

Alcombright said rough estimates to build new or rehabilitate a structure at the transfer station being used for recyclables or on the salt shed land in the $2 million to $3 million or more range and wouldn't encompass all departments.

"If you want to give me $3-4 million for a new building I'd love it," Lescarbeau said, but noted, "none of those prices include prevailing wages."

Councilor Nancy Bullett said her main concern were public services employees working in these deteriorating buildings.

"The working conditions they work under: deplorable," she said. "We are setting ourselves up for potential injuries, so that's a concern."

The committee also reviewed the findings from the city's consultants Tighe & Bond, which had two notes on the environmental report: one recommending the plugging of drains and the other for soil testing where a former transformer had been located. Canales said any soil remediation would be on the seller.

City Solicitor John DeRosa also answered a question brought up at the last meeting about the city already owning a section of the property. Two parcels had been sold to Northern Berkshire Development Corp. more than 40 years ago to help stimulate industrial growth on that corner. The land was then sold to General Cable Corp., but the city retained rights if a rail siding had not been built within 10 years. But those rights lapsed after another 30 years, which happened to end on Jan. 26, 2010, when Berkshire Anodizing purchased the property.  

Alcombright said other assets owned by the city would be put up for sale, including Sullivan School, the Windsor Mill and the City Yard. But he cautioned residents and councilors of putting too much emphasis on market value and appraisals.

"We're not buying a home, we're not buying a business. ... We're not putting an asset on the books. We're buying a solution for the city," he said. "Is that what it's worth? I don't know ... I don't think you could get an appraisal of the true value of what it's worth to the city.  

"It's about what we would pay for this in order to find a solution."

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