Members of the Riga Town Board and Churchville Village Board discussed some creative ways to assist the Churchville Fire Department in paying down the mortgage on the firehouse during their joint meeting held Monday, May 18 at the Riga Town Hall.
Churchville Mayor Nancy Steedman said the village will soon be meeting with the Fire Department to discuss the budget and members of the Village Board have been, “brainstorming ideas to help reduce the cost of the mortgage payment.” She asked Riga Supervisor Bob Ottley if there was any way to use “landfill dollars” – revenue from the Mill Seat Landfill Host Community Benefit Agreement – to help with the mortgage.
“Debt service is only allowed in water improvement benefit areas and water districts. Debt service is not included for drainage or the Fire Department,” Ottley said.
He explained that the only option would be to expend Host Community Benefit revenue on improvements to the Fire Department, such as purchasing new equipment.
Supervisor Ottley said the town investigated the possibility of tapping into a $5 million reserve fund which earns about one percent interest to buy the mortgage, but, cannot do that, the town learned, because it is not considered a sound place to make an investment.
If the town tapped into landfill funds to cover future Fire Department equipment purchases, board members suggested money the Fire Department currently has set aside for equipment could be used instead to help pay down the mortgage.
Supervisor Ottley warned that such a proposal would be subject to permissive referendum and that in addition to the Churchville Fire Department, the Town of Riga contracts with Bergen and Clifton Fire Departments for fire protection.
“The two other fire departments would pay real close attention” to the town providing funds for equipment purchases to the Churchville Fire Department through Host Community Benefit revenue, he said.
Mayor Nancy Steedman reported that the village has set aside about $78,000 from the sale of the former firehouse and will likely use those funds for assisting the Fire Department with expenses, perhaps with the mortgage.
