“The Town Board has reaffirmed its interest in buying a former church on Route 20 to serve as a new town hall, following settlement of a court case in which two residents challenged the legality of an earlier purchase offer.
The board last Thursday voted to enter into a non-binding purchase agreement for the former Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Hall at 2240 Route 20, leaving open the possibility of a public referendum if it decides to go forward with the purchase.
“Most likely we’re perfectly fine with going to referendum on it,” Town Supervisor Roger Tidball. “People understand the constrains we’re under in the old building. We’ve had a lot of positive feedback already on looking to purchase the building.”
It was two critics, however — former town Supervisor William Park and resident Richard Hoffman — who took the town to court over an Oct. 20 vote to proceed with the purchase, at a price of $250,000.
Park and Hoffman argued that the vote was illegal because the Town Board violated the state Open Meetings Law by holding the vote on barely 24 hours’ notice, and also that the decision was “arbitrary and capricious.” The men had circulated a petition demanding a public referendum on the purchase, and the town was also in court arguing that that petition was submitted too late to meet a filing deadline.
In a settlement agreement reached last Monday before acting state Supreme Court Justice Vincent Versaci in Schenectady, the men agreed to suspend their lawsuit as premature if the Town Board brought the purchase vote up again at Thursday’s regularly scheduled Town Board meeting. It did, and the resolution was approved.”
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Williams, Stephen. Schenectady Gazette 17 December 2017.