AURORA - At the end of the special Aurora Board of Trustees meeting Thursday afternoon, several residents stood up and clapped. One even let out a “Yippee!”
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Aurora's post office lies to the right of the Heary Building, left. The Heary Building is located where some want to re-establish the post office so that the current post office building can be demolished.
Aurora's post office lies to the right of the Heary Building, left. The Heary Building is located where some want to re-establish the post office so that the current post office building can be demolished.
They were applauding the board's decision to, if all goes according to plan, enter into an agreement with Wells College and the Aurora Foundation. The deal would relocate the village's post office but would also present Aurora with some lakefront property, thereby opening up recreational opportunities.
Mayor Tom Gunderson acknowledged there were people with concerns in the audience of more than 50 people, but said he was extremely pleased with all the village could potentially gain.
“We feel that we've got a pretty good package here,” he said.
That package includes the conveyance - from the college to the village - of about 500 feet of lakefront property in the south end of the village, as well as an additional 300-foot parcel that the village will lease for 30 years at a cost of $1 a year, Gunderson said. There will also be two 10-year guaranteed renews at the end of that time.
The land, which is now owned by the college, will allow the future development of the lakefront area and could include a recreational park, complete with swimming and picnic amenities.
Gunderson said that while the development opportunities are indeed exciting, it may be a while before the village can actually see it come to fruition.
“Don't expect development overnight,” Gunderson said. “This is a long-term thing.”
In exchange for this conveyance of land, as well as some other terms (for example, a college-owned area next to Posie's will be retained as green space), the village has agreed to allow the building that currently houses the post office to be razed for a parking lot. The village will retain ownership of that land and will be responsible for its maintenance, Gunderson said.
Several residents posed questions to the board, including one about the village losing money because the post office now pays $8,400 a year for its lease. Gunderson said that in the future, the village will have substantial maintenance costs with that building, and that the development of the new lakefront land would likely be economically beneficial in its own right.
“Do the math,” he said. “Lakefront versus a cinderblock building. It's a no-brainer.”
The board's plan was met with applause by some - and skepticism by others.
The plan is contingent on the U.S. Postal Service agreeing to move from its current location into the Heary Building (aka Aurora Place), and residents were left without a concrete idea about what would happen if the move doesn't take place.
The conveyance of the land does not occur until the old building is razed; the foundation will pay for the demolition and other costs associated with the post office move.
Gunderson said that it is too early to speculate on what will happen if the postal service does not buy into the plan. Its lease runs out in March 2009, but it could decide to move anytime before then, he said.
Other residents expressed concerns that the Heary Building is not currently handicapped accessible.
Karen Hindenlang said that she left Thursday's meeting with “cautious optimism tempered with concern.”
She isn't sure that the board is entirely clear on all of the implications involved with the agreement but was glad that the meeting was held before the public; previous discussions had been in executive session. Up until now, she said, residents had been “totally in the dark” on what was going on.
“There have been a lot of broken promises from the foundation to this community,” Hindenlang said. “It looks like a sweet deal, but a lot of this looked like a sweet deal.”
At Hindenlang's request, Gunderson promised that the memorandum of understanding between the village, college and foundation would be made public in the near future.
Staff writer Linda Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or linda.ober@lee.net
Mayor Tom Gunderson acknowledged there were people with concerns in the audience of more than 50 people, but said he was extremely pleased with all the village could potentially gain.
“We feel that we've got a pretty good package here,” he said.
That package includes the conveyance - from the college to the village - of about 500 feet of lakefront property in the south end of the village, as well as an additional 300-foot parcel that the village will lease for 30 years at a cost of $1 a year, Gunderson said. There will also be two 10-year guaranteed renews at the end of that time.
The land, which is now owned by the college, will allow the future development of the lakefront area and could include a recreational park, complete with swimming and picnic amenities.
Gunderson said that while the development opportunities are indeed exciting, it may be a while before the village can actually see it come to fruition.
“Don't expect development overnight,” Gunderson said. “This is a long-term thing.”
In exchange for this conveyance of land, as well as some other terms (for example, a college-owned area next to Posie's will be retained as green space), the village has agreed to allow the building that currently houses the post office to be razed for a parking lot. The village will retain ownership of that land and will be responsible for its maintenance, Gunderson said.
Several residents posed questions to the board, including one about the village losing money because the post office now pays $8,400 a year for its lease. Gunderson said that in the future, the village will have substantial maintenance costs with that building, and that the development of the new lakefront land would likely be economically beneficial in its own right.
“Do the math,” he said. “Lakefront versus a cinderblock building. It's a no-brainer.”
The board's plan was met with applause by some - and skepticism by others.
The plan is contingent on the U.S. Postal Service agreeing to move from its current location into the Heary Building (aka Aurora Place), and residents were left without a concrete idea about what would happen if the move doesn't take place.
The conveyance of the land does not occur until the old building is razed; the foundation will pay for the demolition and other costs associated with the post office move.
Gunderson said that it is too early to speculate on what will happen if the postal service does not buy into the plan. Its lease runs out in March 2009, but it could decide to move anytime before then, he said.
Other residents expressed concerns that the Heary Building is not currently handicapped accessible.
Karen Hindenlang said that she left Thursday's meeting with “cautious optimism tempered with concern.”
She isn't sure that the board is entirely clear on all of the implications involved with the agreement but was glad that the meeting was held before the public; previous discussions had been in executive session. Up until now, she said, residents had been “totally in the dark” on what was going on.
“There have been a lot of broken promises from the foundation to this community,” Hindenlang said. “It looks like a sweet deal, but a lot of this looked like a sweet deal.”
At Hindenlang's request, Gunderson promised that the memorandum of understanding between the village, college and foundation would be made public in the near future.
Staff writer Linda Ober can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 237 or linda.ober@lee.net
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