New Castle Fire District to Hold Land Acquisition Vote Feb. 7
Commissioners for New Castle Fire District No. 1 unanimously agreed last week to hold a $2.6 million referendum on Tuesday, Feb. 7 to acquire the Chappaqua Animal Hospital property and demolish the existing building.
Voting will be open to district residents at the King Street firehouse, at the corner of Route 117, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Absentee ballots will not be available.
The single proposition was included in the failed Oct. 25 vote, but lost by a little more than 100 votes. A second proposition, the much larger $12.7 million firehouse expansion proposition that was badly defeated in October, is not included in the revote.
Fire district commissioners are hopeful district voters will approve acquisition of the neighboring parcel so if and when a future board decides to address the space issue it would be able to expand the current facility without having to find another property and build a new firehouse from scratch.
On Dec. 27, a couple of the residents who attended the brief early evening meeting questioned why the commissioners were including demolition in the Feb. 7 proposition. Resident Ed Frank contended that would increase the cost and the possibility that angry voters, a little more than three months after the stinging defeat of both propositions, would turn out to vote down this proposition if it wasn’t as austere as possible.
“I have a feeling that if you put it out for a vote – acquisition of the property, demolition of the building – it’s going down,” Frank said.
“That’s the way it’s supposed to work,” responded outgoing Board of Commissioners Chairman Christopher Weddle whose term ended Dec. 31. “If the voters vote against it, then the voters in 20, 25 years will deal with the problem.”
Commissioner Bruce Jabloner said because the animal hospital building was constructed before 1975, there is asbestos. The roof is also leaking in spots and would need to be replaced.
He said remediation of the building would likely cost more than demolition.
“It’s not going to help the district by leaving that building,” Jabloner said. “We’re certainly not going to use it as a rental property.”
Frank said he has been inspecting buildings for decades and would like to be able to write a report for the district if he could gain access to the property.
Another resident, Ben Herman, initially questioned the wisdom of adding demolition to the cost. After the meeting he said he spoke with former Chappaqua fire chief Russell Maitland and mentioned if acquisition and demolition is the only option he would be supportive of the proposition.
Fire district officials will schedule public information meetings before the vote.
Last week’s meeting was the last before new commissioners John Buckley and Danna Goldman Schoenberg are sworn in. Last month Buckley won the five-year term unopposed while Schoenberg as a write-in candidate defeated Nancy Zezze for the seat carrying the three-year term.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/