North East expresses interest in possible MES property sale

NORTH EAST — The future of the former Millerton Elementary School (MES) has frequently been discussed by the North East Town Board, as well as by the Millerton Village Board. The North East (Webutuck) Central School District in 2009 closed the elementary school in a move toward consolidating its campus on Haight Road. Since then the district has been trying to figure out what to do with the old building.MES hasn’t been sitting vacant. The North East Community Center (NECC) uses a portion of the building for its after-school program and its summer camp. The building is also used for a GED program. There have also been talks about using the large space for artists’ lofts, galleries, recreation, businesses and more during the past few years.Both the town and village have considered using the 25,000-square foot building — with 10 large classrooms, a large auditorium with a stage, a ground floor with a gym and outdoor grounds — for a town and village hall, respectively. They’ve even spoken about using the building as shared municipal space.So when North East town Supervisor John Merwin received a letter from Webutuck Superintendent of Schools James Gratto at the end of January about the district possibly selling off a portion of the property, he became concerned.“I spoke with [Millerton Mayor] John Scutieri and since the town and village have not made a commitment to what’s going to happen to that school, any change of that parcel would be of great interest to us,” Merwin said at the most recent Town Board meeting, held on Thursday, Feb. 9. “The school district is considering selling a section of the Millerton Elementary School property that has a fence around it. … My guess is that it’s that piece of property just to the south of the school, by the old Grange building.”The letter from Gratto stated that the school district has “received a request to consider selling a section of the [MES] property.” He said the land in question is along the western and southern sections of the elementary school.“The [school] board is interested in your input regarding this proposed sale due to interest the village of Millerton has had previously in acquiring the parcel,” Gratto added. “It would be appreciated if you would respond to me, in writing, by Feb. 23, 2012, as to whether the sale of this land would affect your interest in acquiring the building and property.”After the supervisor read the letter to the Town Board and the merits of possibly acquiring MES were discussed, it was decided he should respond to Gratto immediately.“I’ll send a letter to Mr. Gratto that any changes of the footprint of the parcel would be of interest to the town,” Merwin said, adding he had already spoken with the mayor, who agreed it would be wise to send such a letter as soon as possible. The board agreed and voted unanimously to pass a motion giving Merwin approval to act in the matter.

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