Town hall lease set for closed session review

By Patricia Bogumil

Interim Editor

Most Town of Waterford residents could soon find themselves paying for two attorneys – one hired to defend the 99-year/$1 annual town hall rental lease and the other hired to try and break it.

Commissioners with the Town of Waterford Sanitary District (WSD) are scheduled to meet May 30 to discuss the town hall lease with John Macy, the WSD attorney.

The meeting will be closed to the press and public, Macy said May 9.

As of press time, the meeting notice had not yet been posted. It will likely cite state statutes that allow a closed session for conferring with legal counsel about real estate and strategy for likely litigation.

Town Chairman Robert Langmesser said this week that if the WSD board opts to try and break the lease, then the township would have to hire an attorney to defend it.

“We have a written contract that’s been certified that we have this place for 99 years at a dollar a year,” he said. “For some reason, they’re adamant about this; they’re not going to drop it.”

If the WSD board goes along with the idea of breaking the lease, he added, “then we will have no choice but to defend it.”

In March, Macy was directed by the WSD board to review all available paperwork regarding the 99-year lease and report back about:

• the lease’s validity as an enforceable legal document;

• whether or not WSD can get out of the 99-year lease; and

• whether or not WSD can sell the town hall, either way.

According to figures compiled by WSD Commissioner Donna Block, town records show a total of 2,548 households. Of those, 75 percent, or 1,925, are in the sanitary district; the remaining 723 households are not.

WSD bought the town hall from the Town of Waterford in 1987 for $100,000 and gave the town a 99-year lease with a $1 annual fee.

But WSD commissioners have said that the $1 fee does not cover the building’s operating and maintenance costs.

Earlier this year, WSD Chairman Bill Gerard asked the Town Board to consider buying back the town hall from WSD.

The Town Board rejected that suggestion.