Let the voters decide.
Residents will vote in late November or early December whether the Town of Hyde Park can go forward with a plan to purchase a Boice Road building for use as a police and courts center.
Several decisions on the project were made at Monday night’s Town Board business meeting. Foremost among these was a unanimous vote to authorize Supervisor Yancy McArthur to enter into a contract to purchase the 10 Boice Rd. building, a former branch of Rhinebeck Savings Bank.
That vote was followed by a decision to hold a mandatory referendum on the bonding to finance the purchase. The board could have opted for a permissive referendum, requiring a petition of at least 5 percent of the total town votes cast in the last gubernatorial election.
McArthur said there would be public information sessions before the referendum.
“We will have public forums detailing the costs to taxpayers, the financial impacts of refurbishment and the reasons why we are moving forward. We’re not just going to throw it out to the public,” said McArthur.
The owner of the building, Yonkers-based Four RRR, LLC, has agreed to sell the building to the town for $850,000 if the deal is closed prior to Dec. 30 or $875,000 if it is consummated after that date. If the deal fails to close by Feb. 15, 2006, either party can cancel the agreement.
The bond referendum for $932,000 includes the purchase price and incidental costs, such as engineering fees, the possible higher purchase price, taxes and title insurance.
Town architects Liscum, McCormack and Vanvoorhis are studying the cost of retrofitting the building for police and court use.
Brad Cookinham, a town police officer and vice president of the Hyde Park PBA, said the cost of acquiring and refurbishing the building was a necessary investment. He said the current police headquarters on Route 9G is in a dilapidated state and presents major liability issues to the town.
“Ninety percent of our clientele is not law-abiding. The parking lot is unpaved and my fear is that someone who is not law-abiding will slip and fall and cost the town millions of dollars,” he said.
Cookinham listed numerous other problems with the current leased police facility, including a leaking roof, lack of locker room space and plumbing problems.
Councilwoman Barbara Potter (R-Ward 4), who co-chaired a search committee for a new facility, said the Boice Road building has been refurbished in recent years, including new wheelchair-accessible bathrooms.
“We are a first-class town and we should have a first-class facility for the police and courts. We are pouring thousands of dollars into a building that we don’t own. I hope people will vote this in,” said Potter.
Councilwoman Victoria Kane (D-Ward 2) and Councilman Robert Linville (D-Ward 1) both corrected what they described as a misconception that they opposed the Boice Road deal.
“That never was the case. The costs of rental, maintenance and morale, with people possibly leaving the department, are at least as great as purchasing the Boice Road building,’ said Kane.
Following the provisions of the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the town declared that the use of the building as a police and courts center would not have a negative impact on the environment.