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Post-Standard,
The (Syracuse, NY) April 17, 2003
TOWN BOARD VOTES TO PURCHASE FORMER IGA STORE AND HAVE IT DEMOLISHED. Sara Errington Staff writer Borodino's Four Corners
will get greener and cleaner this summer when the former IGA store at the
intersection of routes 174 and 41 is demolished.
The Spafford Town Board voted April 10 to purchase the store
from the heirs of Doris Gulino for $30,500. The long-anticipated purchase was delayed for months as
fuel-contaminated earth at the site was dug up and cleansed. No
underground fuel-storage tanks were found.
"There were a lot of things that had to be taken care of," Ireland
said.
The Department of Environmental Conservation oversaw the cleanup.
Attorney Bernard Reagan advised the town board that all the
conditions that had been holding up the sale of the property have been
satisfied.
The town has advertised for bids to remove asbestos from the
building and demolish it.
The building should be down by May or June.
The town received a $90,000 community development grant to turn the
site into some kind of community center.
Grange building improvement discussed
Town officials and members of the Spafford Area Historical
Society discussed the terms of a 10-year lease that would allow the group
to use community development money to improve the Borodino Grange
building.
The town must legally control the building to be eligible for the
money, Ireland said. An application has been submitted for $100,000, but
awards won't be announced until fall.
Historical Society member Laurie Clark said that the group's board
of trustees hasn't voted on whether to accept the lease.
She said some members are concerned that future town boards might
not take the same hands-off approach to the Grange building advocated by
the current board.
Joyce Barnett, a consultant to the historical society, had
suggested language in the lease that would give the society more control
over the building.
"I'm just afraid it's going to scotch the whole deal," Reagan said,
explaining that he thought the community development office might reject
such changes to the lease.
Ireland said that extent of the town's control will be to keep a
key to the building at the town hall.
"We have no ambition to go up there and put a program together," he
said.
Society president Linda Sanders said the group will discuss the
lease further and consult their lawyer.
Ireland asked the group to decide by April 24, or he will withdraw
the grant application.
"If you don't want to follow through with it, that's all right with
me," Ireland said.
Four Corners problems addressed
Ireland asked Doug Staley, of Life Safety Consultants, to crack
down on junk cars in the Four Corners area, and to check on some
dilapidated properties that were brought to the town's attention.
"I don't expect you to run all over town like a wild man, but if
we've got to do some things, we don't have a choice in the matter,"
Ireland said.
Staley, who advises the town on codes and construction issues, said
that the state's new building code, which took effect in January, is
tougher on blight and property upkeep issues.
"It will give us more teeth," he said.
Staley also recommended that the board start to work on a
long-range plan that would guide development and zoning laws.
Spafford is changing, he said, and the town could use the
plan to shape that development.
"I'm amazed at some of the cost of your homes," he said. "I've got
a couple that are two to three million dollars." | ||