County lawmakers vote to purchase West Athens firehouse

ATHENS―The Greene County Legislature has approved moving forward with purchasing the West Athens-Limestreet fire station to house the county’s Building and Grounds Department.

Located at 933 Leeds Athens Road, the firehouse was built in the early 1960s and no longer meets the needs of the department, particularly due to its bays that are undersized for modern apparatus. As a result, the fire department has been constructing a new, larger firehouse on Schoharie Turnpike.

Last week, county lawmakers voted to establish a capital project authorizing the purchase of the firehouse for $550,000. But that price raised some initial eyebrows.

At a committee meeting earlier this month, Catskill resident and former legislator Joseph Izzo questioned whether there was an appraisal, noting that the 2.1 acre property is assessed at $363,000 with a full market value of $422,000.

“If you had somebody who appraised the property and said, ‘You’re right, it is undervalued and it is this value.’ Then that is fine. I’m questioning what was used to come up with the price and who negotiated the price,” Izzo said.

Greene County Administrator Shaun Groden replied that $550,000 was the asking price and there were no negotiations.

Legislator Greg Davis (R/C-Greenville) added that assessment numbers aren’t always an accurate reflection of market value.

“Those assessment values really do not come into play very often when there is a sale of real estate because those numbers are out of date,” said Davis.

Still, legislators Michael Lanuto, Matthew Luvera, Thomas Hobart and Harry Lennon cast initial “no” votes when the project moved through committees.

Before last week’s final vote of the full board, lawmakers spent about 20 minutes in executive session at the request of Legislator Michael Bulich (R-Catskill) for clarification on pending real estate contracts. When they reconvened, the resolution passed with only Hobart voting against it.

According to that resolution, the legislature “has determined that based upon the type, size and condition of the structure(s) erected on the [firehouse property], that it will appropriately house Buildings and Grounds personnel while providing ample garage space necessary to store required vehicles and equipment.”

The property “contains enough land to erect a building to serve as a future site for Greene County Records Management, (subject to approvals); and… a 30’ x 30’ ‘Butler’ building erected thereon which can be dismantled and relocated to the site of Greene County Veterans’ Affairs, (subject to approvals) to be used for veterans outreach program and Vet to Vet operations,” the resolution further states.

The capital project, as approved, is for $1 million. The money is to be transferred from a previously approved $24 million capital project for a Community Services Building in Cairo at the old county fairgrounds property. That project, which also went out to bid this month, will provide new offices for Greene County Mental Health. County officials had also considered it a potential location for a new Records Management building that is now part of the plan for the Leeds Athens Road firehouse site.

Currently, Building and Grounds works out of 90 Allen Street in Catskill, property that is owned by the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT).

According to the legislator’s resolution, “Buildings and Grounds seeks to relocate its operations due to the restrictions imposed by DOT and because the structure has become obsolete due to wear and tear and minimal maintenance.”

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