Public Information Meeting for Disposition of the 311 Alplaus Ave.

Building

The Fire Commissioners of Glenville Fire District #2 welcome everyone who could attend this public
information meeting. It is our intention to share information that we have gathered over the past few months
with the taxpayers of the Fire District as we work to resolve the disposition of the 311 Alplaus Ave. building.

The Fire Commissioners are charged with the care, maintenance, and disposition of Fire District property under
the direction of our Fire District standing operating procedures and Town Law 176. These documents describe
what can be done with Fire District property, buildings, and apparatus. Decisions from the Office of the State
Comptroller also provide guidance on what we can do.

Taken from Town Law 176: Powers and Duties of Fire District Commissioners, Section 14: "For the
preservation, protection, and storing of fire apparatus and equipment and for the social and recreational use of
the firemen and residents of the district and for any of the purposes authorized by law, may acquire by
purchase, lease, gift, devise or by condemnation, real property and erect, construct, alter, repair and equip
suitable buildings, and may furnish necessary supplies for such purposes, and may lease portions thereof not
required for fire district purposes. All real property required by any fire district for any purpose authorized by
this article shall be deemed to be required for public use and may be acquired by such fire district."

Section 14 appears to provide a lot of latitude for uses of Fire District property. However, our legal counsel for
the Fire District and the counsel for the Association of Fire Districts of the State of New York provided us with
advice regarding the NYS Comptrollers Office interpretation of Town Law 176 as it pertains to property owned
by the Fire District. Based on their counsel, the Fire District is very limited on what we can do and decisions
by the Comptrollers office demonstrate that two conditions must be met; 1.) The use of property must be
expressly for firematic purposes and 2.) There cannot be similar space available or in use within existing Fire
District property if a building is to be upgrade, remodeled, purchased, rehabilitated, or otherwise used for the
stated purpose.

A Brief History:

The Glenville Fire District #2 currently owns the 311 Alplaus Avenue building, which was purchased in 1998
for $100,000. At that time, there was discussion and planning for an addition to the Fire Station and it was
thought the land, and house, would be needed for that addition. The planning process stalled during
the following years and the community approached the Fire District to lease the building for use as a contract
station for the US Postal Service and return it to its former use as a Post Office. The commissioners at the time
agreed to the lease and the Alplaus Post Office took up residence in the building. This arrangement lasted until
2012 when the US Postal Service cancelled the contract for the contract station and the Alplaus Post Office was
closed, but not without a lot of efforts by the community to keep it open.

The building has seen many businesses and various owners over the years. It was built in the early 1900s and
has been a bicycle shop, grocery, antique store, a beauty parlor, and various other businesses as well as a
residence as it has an upstairs apartment. Over the past two years, the current Board of Fire Commissioners
launched a renovation of the old Fire House and construction of a new building to house all of the firematic
equipment. During this process it was decided to table any discussions of the disposition of the 311 building
until the remodeling and construction process was completed. Since the completion of the building project the
Board of Fire Commissioners has been collecting the required information to reach a final disposition of the
building.
Synopsis of information:

The Commissioners gathered the following information; 1.) Structural analysis from Nolan Engineering PLLC,
2.) Property and building appraisal from Accent Associates, LLC, 3.) Asbestos survey from Spectrum
Environmental Associates, Inc., 4.) Estimate for asbestos remediation, and 4.) Demolition estimate. The reports
are available to look at for this meeting and can be downloaded from Alplausfire.com. Quotes will not be made
publicly available until the required 3 quotes are obtained.
1.) The structural analysis revealed that the building is structurally unsound and estimates the following costs:
$68,000 for required structural repairs.
$190,000 for a complete renovation (includes the structural repairs).
2.) The Appraisal for the building was less than $50,000 - the amount required to hold a public referendum.
District Counsel has recommended we acquire at least 1 additional appraisal which we are in
the process of doing.
We are also consulting with our District Counsel, the counsel for the Association of Fire
Districts of the State of New York, and NYS Comptrollers Office regarding particulars,
obligation, and legal requirements for the sale of the property.
3.) The Asbestos Survey reported 48 ft2 of floor tile containing asbestos that would need to be removed before
demolition at an estimated cost of $2,100.
4.) Demolition of the building, regrading, topsoil, and grass seed is estimated at $24,000.

Possible Disposition Options

In its current state and based on the information from the reports, the Board of Fire Commissioners have
identified three options for disposition of 311 Alplaus Ave.
1.) Renovate the property for Fire District usage.
We have identified 2 firematic uses for the building: Apartments to house Schenectady County
Community College firematic students who would serve as company firefighters or for use as a
firefighter building search training facility.
The Fire District would be financially stretched to find the funds to address the structural issues and
does not have the funds to remodel so this option would likely require a public referendum and
bond.

2.) Subdivide the property from the existing Fire District property and sell the building.
Sub-dividing the property at less than 15,000 ft2 would require approval through the Town Zoning
Board of Appeals and could be challenged by neighbors within 500 ft.
More discussion is needed for this option with Fire District counsel and the Comptrollers Office.
Need a committed purchaser who would fix and remodel the building to address structural issues.
At least one additional appraisal was recommended by our District Counsel.
May require a permissive referendum to dispose of the property.
This option would not cost the district money and would likely bring money into the district.
3.) Demolition the building, regrade, topsoil, and seed.
This would cost the district about $24,000 the Fire District has the funds for this option from the
operational budget.
The additional green space would make up for the large amount of green space lost in the building
project.
The fire company could make use of the green space for outdoor training.

The Board of Fire Commissioners has made no final decision regarding the property, but plans to in the next
few months. This same information will be presented at another meeting on August 24th for residents who could
not attend this meeting.
Thank you for your interest and input on this important decision