Hampton Firehouse sale looms

You are currently viewing Hampton Firehouse sale looms

By Joshua Bassett

Barring someone petitioning for a public referendum within 30 days of May 20, the Hampton Town Board intends to sell the Hampton firehouse to the fire department.

Supervisor Dave O’Brien said the sale would occur no later than July 31, unless the board and the fire department agree to a later date.

If a petition for a referendum is filed with town clerk Rebecca Jones, the sale of the firehouse would go to a special vote of Hampton residents, O’Brien said.

“I think it’s a benefit to the community,” said O’Brien of the proposed sale, adding “I’ll even donate the buck.”

The reason for the sale is to qualify the department for funding to repair the building. The department cannot receive any grants without owning the building.

“At least you have a chance and that’s a risk people have to take,” said board member Don Sady.

For the sale to be completed, the building had to be assessed by a Realtor and sold for fair market value. The property was assessed at $76,000 but is being sold for one dollar, according to the purchase agreement, and in consideration of the value of services and assistance the fire department has provided to the town – such as during bad storms – and will continue to provide.

Leonard Reed, part of Hampton’s board of assessment review, questioned a section of the resolution for conveyance of the firehouse sale that would require town approval if the fire department ever wanted to sell the property to either build a new firehouse or obtain new equipment. Reed disagreed with the wording of the phrase “provided that any such sale must be approved by the town board” because he felt it should say acknowledge, not approved.

Board member Tamme Taran said she did not have a problem with changing the wording and the change was made, along with other small changes such as spelling changes.

Meanwhile, O’Brien told the board that he feels some of the tombstones at cemeteries around the town should be repaired, as some are very old and from the Revolutionary War.

O’Brien said a way he thought of fixing the stones is to sell plots at some of the cemeteries in Hampton for somewhere between $200-300 and using that money to repair some of the stones.

“I would like to find a way to fix the stones and not penalize taxpayers,” O’Brien said.

Before any action, O’Brien said, the town would have to determine the cost of repairs and whether there are any open parcels in the cemeteries, which O’Brien said he was fairly sure there is because of the layout of the land.

Hampton has two different mailing addresses, one of which is Hampton and another that is Whitehall, O’Brien said, even though the properties are in Hampton. O’Brien said he is investigating whether he would be able to do that for the residents of Hampton because he feels it would unite the town and residents would appreciate it.

Bonnie Hawley, the town’s planning board chairman, said that occasionally she will type in her address and it will not show up on GPS or Google.

“It says I don’t exist, because we are half and half,” Hawley said.