Letter To The Editor – The Need For Office Space Still Exists
January 29, 2010 by eastwickpress · 2 Comments
To the editor:
Apparently the Town of Berlin is in dire need of adequate office space. I understand that inclusive of Ann Maxon’s basement, all important Town records are now stored within 580 sq. feet of storage area. In many instances our vital records are now vulnerable to water damage, mold, etc. Gosh, not what I think a 21st Century community should have to deal with. Probably an “advisory committee” should be established to initiate a search for adequate storage facilities for these Town records.
But…wait a second….I just came up with a brilliant idea! The Town of Berlin could purchase the former Berlin Lumber Co. property on Rte 22, now on the market at an asking price well below market value and well within the Town’s budget, with funds already in the bank for just such an expenditure.
Ooops!!!….wait a minute. Now that I think of it, wasn’t that what Rob Jaeger’s original concept was….the one that was proposed to us in the recently defeated referendum. The one that was vehemently downgraded by the current members of our Town Board as being much too frivolous. Oh well, there I go again, being too philosophical.
Back to the future.
Bob Rubin
Cherry Plain
Let them use modular units. Or alternatively, they can store their paperwork in the soon to be unused Grafton Elementary School. In a new wrinkle on “a mind is too good to waste”, the ex-school will “mind your waste paper”.
Well John, it would just be silly to use the Grafton school to store records for the town of BERLIN. I think you’re venting your anger at the Berlin School District towards a Berlin TOWN issue. Remember, they are two totally different things.
As for Mr. Rubin’s complaint about the citizens and tax payers of this town voting in a majority not to purchase the Berlin Lumber property, welcome to democracy! I personally am interested in this idea, but I voted no because there were so many unanswered questions about it. Where was Mr. Jaeger’s financial evaluations of what it would cost on top of the purchase price? Renovations? The cost of annual upkeep and maintenance of the property? I never saw it. In fact, the only numbers I saw came from the town board members who you put down. The facts are that we would be purchasing the property and then would have to make some serious renovations to the different buildings on the property. This would not all be covered by the money we have in the bank already. And don’t forget the cost to keep these buildings running and nice. That is not covered by a single penny in the money we have saved already. That is an increase in our taxes. I for one don’t think that the Berlin Lumber purchase is a horrible idea, but I sure do feel like certain people tried to push it through as fast as they could, without providing all of the information that should have been available to us. We are in a tough economical time, so I don’t see anything wrong with that money sitting in the bank for another year, gaining interest, increasing our balance while we think things out thoroughly. Let’s be honest…$569,000 is the price they have on it right now. No one is going to come rushing in to buy that huge property out here. Wait a year and not only will we have more money, but we’ll also have a more motivated seller.