Council votes to sell building

At a special meeting Monday night, the Whitehall Town Council approved a resolution to sell the ‘Ambulance Barn’ located at 207 E. Legion.

The 4-1 vote came after an hour long public hearing to discuss the sale of the property to Dr. Cory Tebay of Western Veterinary Services. Alderman Gary Housman cast the dissenting vote.

The purchase price of the building is $288,000, and the Resolution (2017-8) includes a 30-day clause to resolve issues about the siding on the building that was most recently home to the Beacon of Hope Inc. Ambulance Service.

Among the several to address the governing body during the hearing was Larry Feight who stated he was not a resident of town, but does own a business next to Dr. Tebay. Feight said to take emotion out of the issue and to look at it as a business decision. He said that the economic value of what Dr. Tebay does for the town is unreal.

Mayor Elect Mary Janacaro Hensleigh agreed with Feight that it is a business decision, but said it is a poor one. Hensleigh said selling the building for half of what it is worth would do harm to the town. She told the Council to not do any harm as they are leaving the office.

Francine Giono-Janik said that with the end of the term coming for many on Council, they conducting a fire sale on what they started to destroy four years ago.

Kevin Brunet said that building is worth every bit of $500,000 and the Council wants to sell it at 60 cents a dollar. He said if the town is concerned about the cost of operating the building for the next two months until the new administration takes over he would write them a check for $6,000 .

Larry Skogen said that if someone besides Dr. Tebay wanted the building they should have bought it.

Jenny Scott said the request for proposal on the building was only advertised twice in the Whitehall Ledger and it would have been tough to find that type of financing in just two weeks.