Easton needs and deserves an upgraded and renovated EMS facility. Easton voters overwhelmingly support this effort as shown by March’s Special Town Meeting and last November’s election results. Despite a vast bipartisan majority of voters supporting this important project, there are obstructionist forces in town working to unnecessarily delay this project. This vocal minority states that they are not opposed to the project but are opposed to the process.
The EMS Planning and Building Committee, a bipartisan group of residents and experts, determined that the Town must purchase an adjacent parcel of land (444 Sport Hill Road) to renovate the current EMS Building. The committee studied multiple different building sites and options. The Town must purchase this property to upgrade the existing EMS Building’s current septic system as it is close to catastrophic failure. First Selectman Bindelglass has worked with the Town’s attorney for many months to draft a contract to purchase this property from the seller.
Commercial real estate transactions are complex. I have negotiated several in my professional career—as has First Selectman Bindelglass. The Town’s job is to is to ensure that Easton’s interests are protected. This purchase and sales agreement does that. First Selectman Bindelglass and the Town’s attorney have negotiated several contingencies into the contract language that allow the Town to walk away from the deal if any surprises are found. For example, there is an environmental contingency that allows for testing, so if a major environmental concern or another costly issue is discovered, the Town could always walk away from the deal unless the seller addresses the issue. As is true in most real estate transactions, sellers do not typically allow extensive environmental testing or inspections prior to signing a contract. We need an executed agreement to move forward in the purchase process.
This small group says they support the EMS Building Project but continue their attempt to delay the process. For example, this group is mischaracterizing aspects of the purchase and sales agreement. Such as, the purchase price of $160,000, which is a reasonable amount given current market values. In addition, two reasonable concessions are being blown out of proportion to confuse and delay. First, the Town is paying the seller’s legal and environmental consulting fees up to $30,000. Second, the Town has agreed to lease another nearby parcel owned by the seller for construction staging capped at $30,000. These are all practical concessions in a complex commercial real estate transaction.
It is important to note that these costs are a small percentage of the overall EMS Building Project’s estimated budget of $3,500,000 to $3,700,000. The purchase of the property and the infrastructure improvements to the septic system are covered by a state grant. Because of this state grant, Federal ARPA funds, and private funds raised by the EMS Board of Trustees, the financial burden on Easton taxpayers will be low. Since our town received the Federal ARPA funds, we understand these funds must be earmarked by December 31, 2024. Opponents have erroneously suggested that this deadline is rushing approval for this project and have further suggested that these Federal ARPA funds will go to waste if the deadline is not met. The Board of Finance and the Board of Selectmen will not allow this money to be jeopardized.
First Selectman Bindelglass and I are steadfast in our resolve to proceed with this project. We know how important this project is to Easton voters who overwhelmingly supported this in the last election. I urge all the project’s supporters to stay engaged and educated throughout this process. We cannot allow delay tactics to jeopardize Easton’s future.
