SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Deerfield Selectboard has put the brakes on the latest round of negotiations between South County EMS and Whately for a new home in that town’s new office building.
At the same time, Whately officials have signaled they could accommodate both the three-town ambulance service and Union 38 school administrative offices as tenants.
Recently, the ambulance service’s Board of Oversight recommended moving forward with negotiations for the office space. However, during a Tuesday night meeting, the Deerfield Selectboard didn’t give the necessary final stamp of approval.
During the meeting, board members unanimously voted to reject all locations submitted following a recent request for proposals, and chose not to act on the Board of Oversight’s recommendation.
“They’re exploring all options,” said Doug Finn, town administrator. “The Selectboard is doing some background investigations at this point.”
Nonetheless, Finn said, the office space is still under serious consideration.
“I can safely say that Whately remains a very strong possibility, but it is not a done deal,” he continued.
Whately, Deerfield and Sunderland have shared the EMS service for about a year but have yet to settle on a permanent home. Some Deerfield residents have long opposed the three-town service leaving its temporary quarters in South Deerfield fire station. From the beginning of the joint ambulance service, the plan had been to move to Whately’s town office building, a former regional library building. But some in Deerfield like having the ambulance based in their town.
Meanwhile, South County EMS isn’t the only local organization interested in the Whately space: the Frontier Regional School district has also shown interest in moving its administration staff into a section of the same building.
“I think we’ve made it clear that we want you in the building,” Whately Selectboard member Paul Newlin said during a meeting Monday night, about allowing the school system to rent space in the town office building.
For months, Union 38 has been searching for office space to house its administrative staff following reports of poor air quality, among other health concerns, in sections of the central office at 219 Christian Lane, a former elementary school.
Whately officials said there’s enough room in the building for both organizations and are optimistic that South County EMS and Union 38 can figure out an arrangement that satisfies everyone.
“We’ll do whatever we can to get you into the building,” Newlin said to members of a building sub-committee for the schools, “except give it away. We can’t give you a different offer than we’re giving (South County EMS).”
Whately is offering about $8 per square foot, plus utilities (per month) — a rate that’s significantly lower than the average regional commercial rate of about $15 per square foot.
Subcommittee members said they’d like to see rent even lower, closer to $5 per square foot.
The Selectboard and the subcommittee didn’t reach a conclusion during Monday’s meeting, but did agree to continue negotiating.
“We’ll sit down and make it work,” Edwards said. “We all want to live happily ever after together — let’s figure out who can live with what.”
You can reach Andy Castillo at: acastillo@recorder.com
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