The town of Amenia should consider itself lucky. Not only did it get its hands on the Amenia Elementary School (AES) building — a gorgeous, historical and stately structure any municipality would be proud to call its Town Hall — for just a buck, but it somehow managed to extend its stay at its present digs for nearly another month. Without that extension town government would be in a pretty tight spot, homeless, in fact, due almost entirely to its own poor planning.
Gratitude and thanks should be showered upon the Amenia Fire Company, for its generosity and good will. That’s because it’s the fire company that is allowing the town to stay in its current space, at 36B Mechanic St. (on the lower floor of the firehouse), until Oct. 29; initially the town was supposed to be moved out by Oct. 1. The town learned of its good fortune just last week; prior to that it had been served with a lease termination notice to be out by the first of October.
In all of the excitement of moving to AES, which understandably could distract even the most disciplined movers, town Supervisor Wayne Euvrard underestimated all of the time, energy and hard work it would take to get the Town Hall to transition from Mechanic Street to Route 22. Earlier in the summer he said it could be done by the end of July; his colleagues on the Town Board expressed doubt. Clearly, they were right, as were the residents who voiced concern about the rushed timetable.
But Euvrard remained optimistic, if not very realistic, until it came down to the wire and he finally had to speak with the fire company about an extension. Now, with no time left on the clock, the town has even gone so far as adopting a resolution declaring the move an “emergency� for legal purposes, allowing it to move forward with the more urgent parts of the move while bypassing the normally mandated and frequently lengthy competitive bidding process. Throughout much of this drama the town didn’t even have the deed to the building in hand, which made the antics seem even more bizarre. Fortunately, that has now been taken care of and the quit claim deed officially filed with the county clerk, thus completing the transaction with the North East Central School District (known around these parts as “Webutuck�).
Now that the building is Amenia’s, Councilwoman Darlene Riemer is working with an outfit called Alternative Designs, which will be project manager for the move. A scope of work is being developed and organized into phases which will then go out to bid. That much sounds fairly organized, and if the town stays on target, hopefully everything will start to fall into place.
The next step will then be getting the building transformed from school halls to Town Hall, and there will likely be numerous bumps along the way, but ideally none as large as being stranded without anyplace to call home. Without a doubt that was a big blunder, one which was thankfully averted. Let’s hope everyone learned from this lesson how imperative careful planning is when undertaking such big projects, or any project, really. Also, it’s a great example of how cooperation among people, groups, entities, etc., can make a difference. It can save the day, and in Amenia, it clearly did.
