Chair Gellerson on the Stimson Hall Lease
To The Editor:
Over the past month, much has been said about the leasing of the Town of Gray's venerable Stimson Hall to the Covenant Family Fellowship. So this letter is written to let the citizens of Gray know what my thinking was, as an elected town councilor, in approving this three year lease that comes into effect when the new town governmental center ( otherwise known as the Henry Pennell Municipal Complex ) opens in August. I do not presume to speak for the other Council members but I feel compelled to explain my own reasoning and establish various facts that have been mis-represented.
Initially, an attempt was made, beginning in the fall of 2008 to sell Stimson Hall, the old post office building and the current town hall. One offer was received for the town hall property, which I considered to be too low and would leave the two side properties with little land. All three properties remain for sale to date. In November of 2009, the Covenant Family Fellowship approached Gray's town manager about purchasing or leasing Stimson. The purchase option would have had the town do the financing, which held little appeal. I was in favor of the leasing option as it accomplished a number of things:
a. it allowed time for the real estate market to hopefully improve, as in the lease it allows the Town of Gray to continue in its attempt to sell the building.
b. the leasee's offer to work on improving the exterior of building was a major factor for me to get the building looking decent. That work has now begun on the building.
c. the lease allows the Town of Gray to get out from under having to heat and fully maintain the building as the Covenant Family Fellowship now has that responsibility.
d. and lastly, the Town of Gray obtains some modest rental income from the leasing of the building for three years, with the rent increasing each year.
An attempt has been made to link George Thebarge, the Town of Gray's planning consultant and economic development director, who is a member in good standing of the Covenant Family Fellowship, with the formulation of this lease. From the beginning, both the town manager and the town council negotiated the lease with Ron Nevers solely. George's affiliation with the church was never brought to light until the end of the lease negotiations and had absolutely no bearing on the lease. While it is true that the Covenant Family Fellowship inadvertently placed George's name, as signatory, on an early draft of the lease, it was subsequently removed and he never signed any of the documents. George's affiliation had absolutely no bearing on the lease and his name is not on the final executed document.
I'm pleased to say that the Covenant Family Fellowship has kept their commitment to improve the appearance of the building and have reached out to the Gray community by offering their assistance in the forthcoming Pennell re-dedication celebration on July 24th in two ways. One by offering to supply manpower in setting up chairs for the event and two by offering labor and materials for the soon to be erected Henry Pennell Municipal Complex sign.
Peter Gellerson
Chairman, Gray Town Council
