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WINSTED — Using a town-owned property and grant funding, Winsted's former town manager intended to create a community resource center where agencies could rent office space.
Josh Kelly, who left his Town Hall post for a job with a nonprofit in October, applied for a $250,000 grant from the Small Town Economic Assistance Program, administered by the state Department of Economic and Community Development, to repair the roof and update the heating and cooling systems in the old Bank of America building on Elm Street.
"The grant is available to us, but only if we go forward" with Kelly's plan, said Interim Town Manager Robert Geiger. "If we don't, we just give it back. The selectmen need to be more familiar with it first."
The property, which the town purchased from the bank in 2020, has a sizeable parking lot adjacent to a second town-owned parking area. It has been used for a variety of activities, including COVID-19 vaccination clinics and other public service programs.
The Community Investment Fund is a state program intended to "foster economic development in historically underserved communities across the state," Winsted included, according to the Connecticut government website, ct.gov. Winsted qualified for that program.
One new member of the Board of Selectmen has a different vision for the building. Selectman Troy Lamere said he wanted to vote on selling the bank building so it could become private property again, earning tax revenue for Winsted.
"I would like to entertain putting the old Bank of America back on the tax rolls as soon as possible," Lamere said during the board's Dc. 4 meeting. "I think that's a big asset to the town that would bring in some tax dollars."
Geiger said he understood wanting the building to generate revenue. "There's a process for that," he said.
Selectwoman Candy Perez explained how Kelly, with input from the board, decided to repair the bank building and make it community asset rather than sell it off.
The decision "was based on the value of parking that area provides to the community," she said. "We have parking issues on Main Street. It’s used for lots of things, in terms of Main Street business parking, food drives and other things. We were looking at leasing the building instead of selling it. ... You don’t often get to control downtown property for the town’s use."
Perez added that the building, estimated to be worth about $400,000, would lose more value after being reassessed at 70 percent. "By the time you got to the assessed value, (tax revenue) comes down to about $15,000," she said. "That was discussed quite a bit — what it would generate in taxes."
Putting a permanent tenant or tenants in the building, she reasoned, would be a way for Winsted to make money on a building it already owns.