It appears the Oxford Village Council is now leaning toward potentially renovating and renting out the old township hall instead of putting it on the sale block.
‘I’d just like to see us do something rather than sit there,? said Councilwoman Maureen Helmuth, who noted the vacant building’s condition is not improving.
Based on council’s discussion, village Manager Joe Young said the plan is to have the municipality’s building official determine exactly what needs to be done to bring the 18 W. Burdick St. office space up to code. Plans would be drafted based on those needs, then Young would solicit proposals from prospective contractors for council’s consideration.
Council had been considering seeking potential buyers for the 2,000-square-foot building, which has a basement. They were planning to advertise the building in ‘as is? condition and potentially make parking available to whoever bought it, but not actually sell any of the public spaces.
Young told council local developer Dave Weckle has expressed an interest in turning 18 W. Burdick St. into multifamily housing, something for which the property is currently zoned.
‘Housing is a hot item right now,? the manager said. ‘Residential units, in downtown areas in particular, are attractive.?
But there was opposition to the idea of selling.
‘If we were to sell just one wing of this municipal complex, we’re really locking ourselves into a lot of limitations in the future,? said Councilman Bryan Cloutier.
Cloutier said he’s ‘not a developer, but? he has ‘enough common sense to say? this would be an ‘irrational? way to handle the site’s potential development.
Although the old township hall is considered a separate building, it is physically connected to the rest of the municipal building, which is a total of 13,264 square feet in size.
The township hasn’t occupied the space since 2006 when it moved to its current office facility at 300 Dunlap Rd. In January 2011, the village assumed ownership of the old township hall, plus the 30 parking spaces that went with it, as part of a legal settlement.
Cloutier has no problem with the possibility of selling the entire municipal complex someday, but he doesn’t want to do it ‘in bits and pieces.?
‘I wouldn’t support this, but I would support selling all of it,? he said.
In the November 2012 general election, village voters gave permission to sell the entire complex, which also includes the 6,080-square-foot former fire hall, and the approximately 2 acres of land it occupies.
Cloutier wasn’t alone in his opposition to selling the old township hall.
‘It’s an illogical concept,? said local developer Chuck Schneider, who attended the meeting for an unrelated issue. ‘In other words, it’s a real bad idea.?
Schneider’s position was the village won’t be able to move its offices anytime soon, so why not fix up the old township hall and find a tenant for it.
‘As far as I’m concerned, you don’t have the financial capacity to leave this spot,? he said. ‘You don’t have the money to go build someplace (else). You’re here. You need the parking that’s out there (for public use). So, why would you conceivably divide this up and have somebody screw this whole thing up because they got a little piece of the pie??
Young told council it would cost ‘at least $30,000? to bring the old township hall up to code.
‘I’m kind of amazed you don’t have $30,000 to renovate a building,? Schneider said. ‘You’re a municipality and you can’t come up with 30 grand to fix this place up and lease it out as office space? It’s ridiculous.?
Young noted the village could dip into its fund balance.
Based on the municipality’s audit report, the village ended the 2014-15 fiscal year on June 30 with an unrestricted fund balance of $483,675.
‘Yes, we have money available,? Young said.
‘If we have money in our fund balance, let’s get it done,? Helmuth said.