Remsen building sale draws crowd to trustees meeting
After weeks of discussion, still no decisions made
Photo by LAUREN KOKETKO Diane DePasquale-Hagerty (standing) addresses a small part of the crowd at the May 18 Medina Township Trustees meeting regarding the sale of the Remsen building. Her organization, Medina Creative Housing, uses a portion of the building but has been previously told twice they could not buy the building.
MEDINA TOWNSHIP – Medina Township Hall was standing-room only the evening of May 18 as a crowd gathered regarding the potential sale of the Remsen building.
A hot topic for weeks, the old school building located off Remsen and Myers roads in the township was three votes away from being sold to the Medina Soccer Association, a current tenant in the building. Trustee Ken DeMichael voted no on that contract April 20, stating he had a new potential buyer with a higher bid. That buyer is David Clardy, of Intervention for Peace, who would like to use the building as a “hub” and training facility for his organization.
At first, Clardy stated he would need to use the entire space that Weymouth Preservation Society, another organization currently in the building, occupies. Met with backlash, he then met with Tom Barko, of WPS, to come up with a compromise. At the May 4 trustees meeting, Clardy reported his meetings with Barko went well, and a compromise was reached, but he had heard nothing further.
Clardy provided another update May 18, saying Barko, who he had been working with, had apparently resigned from his role with WPS. Clardy reiterated he is still willing to work with a representative from WPS to come up with a compromise, should someone from WPS be willing.
“We negotiated with Tom Barko, who was identified as the president of the Weymouth Preservation Society to me, here in this room,” Clardy said. “We will build you a room, we will give you a room better than what you have right now. We will outfit a room that is fitting for the things you have.”
Throughout the discussion regarding the building, multiple letters were read from township residents in support of the sale to Intervention for Peace as well as supporting the original contract between the township and the soccer association, which protected WPS. DeMichael asked if anyone in attendance was from the soccer association, to which no one responded. He said the soccer association is happy with the plans Intervention for Peace has, which keeps MSA in the building.
Diane DePasquale-Hagerty, of Medina Creative Housing, the third organization that currently uses the Remsen building, spoke to community members as well as trustees. She gave a brief history of the building, stating that Medina Creative Housing wanted to buy the building twice, and was told they could not buy it each time. MCH, much like Intervention for Peace, works with the developmentally disabled in the community. The contract with MSA gives MCH one year from the time of transfer to move any items or storage they have in the building to a new location.
DeMichael asked DePasquale-Hagerty if Medina Creative Housing was currently interested in bidding on the building, to which she responded, “I don’t know, we’ll see.”
Putting the building up for an open, competitive bid with stipulations is not yet ruled out. Trustee chair Bill Ostmann said the township is still taking bids should any come forward.
“We as elected officials have to do what’s best for the entire township, not just any one group of people,” Fiscal Officer Angela Ventura said. “It’s not our job to protect one specific group, because that is not fair to the township as a whole.”
The next regular meeting of the Medina Township Trustees is Thursday, June 1 at 7 p.m.
A hot topic for weeks, the old school building located off Remsen and Myers roads in the township was three votes away from being sold to the Medina Soccer Association, a current tenant in the building. Trustee Ken DeMichael voted no on that contract April 20, stating he had a new potential buyer with a higher bid. That buyer is David Clardy, of Intervention for Peace, who would like to use the building as a “hub” and training facility for his organization.
At first, Clardy stated he would need to use the entire space that Weymouth Preservation Society, another organization currently in the building, occupies. Met with backlash, he then met with Tom Barko, of WPS, to come up with a compromise. At the May 4 trustees meeting, Clardy reported his meetings with Barko went well, and a compromise was reached, but he had heard nothing further.
Clardy provided another update May 18, saying Barko, who he had been working with, had apparently resigned from his role with WPS. Clardy reiterated he is still willing to work with a representative from WPS to come up with a compromise, should someone from WPS be willing.
“We negotiated with Tom Barko, who was identified as the president of the Weymouth Preservation Society to me, here in this room,” Clardy said. “We will build you a room, we will give you a room better than what you have right now. We will outfit a room that is fitting for the things you have.”
Throughout the discussion regarding the building, multiple letters were read from township residents in support of the sale to Intervention for Peace as well as supporting the original contract between the township and the soccer association, which protected WPS. DeMichael asked if anyone in attendance was from the soccer association, to which no one responded. He said the soccer association is happy with the plans Intervention for Peace has, which keeps MSA in the building.
Diane DePasquale-Hagerty, of Medina Creative Housing, the third organization that currently uses the Remsen building, spoke to community members as well as trustees. She gave a brief history of the building, stating that Medina Creative Housing wanted to buy the building twice, and was told they could not buy it each time. MCH, much like Intervention for Peace, works with the developmentally disabled in the community. The contract with MSA gives MCH one year from the time of transfer to move any items or storage they have in the building to a new location.
DeMichael asked DePasquale-Hagerty if Medina Creative Housing was currently interested in bidding on the building, to which she responded, “I don’t know, we’ll see.”
Putting the building up for an open, competitive bid with stipulations is not yet ruled out. Trustee chair Bill Ostmann said the township is still taking bids should any come forward.
“We as elected officials have to do what’s best for the entire township, not just any one group of people,” Fiscal Officer Angela Ventura said. “It’s not our job to protect one specific group, because that is not fair to the township as a whole.”
The next regular meeting of the Medina Township Trustees is Thursday, June 1 at 7 p.m.