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Grand Island Town Board to investigate moving Town Hall to Cannon Design

Sat, Sep 22nd 2018 07:00 am
The Grand Island Town Board will undertake an assessment of the Cannon Design building in a process to consider whether or not to acquire the property and make it the new Grand Island Town Hall.
The assessment will include a review of the current Town Hall and adjacent Town Commons.
Town Supervisor Nathan McMurray has floated the idea of moving Town Hall to Cannon Design when and if the architectural firm moves off the Island.
Councilman Peter Marston, during Monday's Town Board work session, recommended an assessment review for all departments "we would consider moving around." The review would look at future needs of the town government.
 Marston recommended appraisal of Town Hall, Cannon Design and its parcels. Town Attorney Peter Godfrey wrote a memo to the board outlining a suggested framework for process.
Councilwoman Jennifer Baney said a needs assessment is an "approach I feel more comfortable with" when considering whether or not to move Town Hall. McMurray has said the current Town Hall needs $3 million of work and he has pushed the board to investigate a move sooner than later.
Marston agreed, but said, "There's a lot of moving pieces here."
McMurray, who was excused from the work session, chaired the regular meeting that followed. Marston said the four council members collectively had decided to institute an appraisal process for Cannon and Town Hall "just so we understand the value," and do a needs assessment for a series of "basically every department that would be touched by this move" for "a reassurance that we are making the correct move."
McMurray said that time is off the essence adding "time kills all deals." He wondered if the decision to conduct an assessment was meant to mask indecision or stall a decision to move Town Hall to Cannon. Baney responded that there is "no ill motive."
"Can we do it in 20 days?" McMurray asked.
Councilman Mike Madigan said "we have back of the napkin estimates ... we need to have real numbers" on the cost of such a move.
Pinto Chosen for Garbage Contract
An Island family business was chosen for the town's waste contract.
The board awarded Pinto Trucking a garbage contract for a bid of $1,439,984. The board chose Pinto over Modern Disposal of Lewiston. The new contract comes after a summer of high-volume complaints about Republic Services, the previous contract provider.
Pinto Trucking was praised by several speakers during the open comment period of the meeting, including CJ Gerard of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce, and members of the Panepinto family.
Giorgio Panepinto told the board that the company has been going strong for over 75 years and has serviced other municipalities. Pinto is "fully prepared for any obstacles that may get in our way"
George Pantepinto described Pinto history in the industry, saying, "We come from a legacy of people who were well engaged in this type of work."

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