ATHOL — The future of the former Sherwin-Williams building in Athol’s Lord Pond Plaza was once again a topic of discussion at the meeting of Athol’s Selectboard on Tuesday, April 19. The town-owned building has been vacant since the paint retailer folded its tent and left Athol on Aug. 21, 2020. Since then, the Cleveland, Ohio-based corporation has continued to pay rent, but those payments come to an end this month.
Town officials are now trying to determine the best use of the property.
“Their lease is paid through April,” Town Manager Shaun Suhoski told the board. “It will expire. We can seek an RFP (request for proposal). We can seek to sell the whole building with a lease-back provision for the senior center. We don’t need an RFP; we can seek to lease it — to whoever is zoning eligible and bylaw eligible — for the highest price.”
One issue that has arisen is the need for more space for municipal offices.
“You look at Town Hall, you look at Memorial Hall, and it looks like we have plenty of space,” said Suhoski. “But we don’t for offices, and we don’t for storage. So, it’s jammed up.
“So, at the department head meeting last week, I raised it. I said if there are suggestions to provide them to me. I want to see if anything filters in from that and I’ll just share it all with the board. If you give me until the next meeting, I can share that feedback.”
“There’s really no storage in Town Hall … really?” queried board Chair Alan Dodge.
“The projector room is, like, stuffed,” freshman board member Kala Fisher replied.
“It’s true,” Suhoski added. “That’s one area. There’s actually a secret room below the stage (in Memorial Hall) and that’s full. We’ve had a company come in and organize the clerk’s vault and really condensed it, trying to do disposition of records that are updated, but …”
Suhoski will provide an update on the Sherwin-Williams building and the space issue at the next board meeting on May 3.
In other action, the Selectboard held a joint meeting with the Board of Library Trustees to act on a temporary appointment to the library panel. There was no discussion following the nomination of Carol Batchelder to fill a vacancy and members of both boards voted unanimously to approve the appointment.
The Selectboard also appointed or reappointed a number of individuals to serve on various boards or committees. They included: Downtown Vitality Committee: Mary Holtorf, Alan Dodge, Paula Robinson, Steve Wills, Morgan Woroner, Diane DiPietro, David Small (associate), and Shelley Small (associate); Montachusett Regional Planning Commission: Rebecca Bialecki and Duane Truehart; Registrar of Voters: Gerald Lozier; Shade Tree Commission: Paula Robinson, Jared Robinson, Sharon Brighenti, Anthony Brighenti, Margaret Feldman, Robert Mallet, Laurie Parker; Zoning Board of Appeals: Susan Sykes.
Kala Fisher was tapped to serve as the Selectboard representative on the Town Accountant Search Committee. A committee is being put together to find a successor to Christine Mailloux, who is retiring after about 35 years with the town. Her retirement becomes official on Aug. 1.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com