Massena temporarily extends lease on parking lot

MASSENA - The village will continue to maintain a privately owned parking lot downtown - for now.

The village Board of Trustees voted 4-1 Tuesday night, with Albert C. “Herb” Deshaies dissenting, to extend the maintenance lease for the lot behind storefronts on Main and Andrews streets until March 31.

The three-year lease was set to expire on Feb. 20. Had the village taken no action, the lease would have expired then, leaving the four property owners who own it to decide how to proceed with its maintenance.

The owners of Clopman’s Furniture, Auggie’s Speedway Inn, the vacant Massena School of Business building and World Class Gym & Fitness Center received letters last month informing them the village was not renewing its parking lot maintenance lease.

The end of the lease would not, by itself, close the currently public lot. But it will leave it up to the four property owners to restrict access as they see fit, since the lot will become private.

Village officials had said liability concerns were prompting them to discontinue the agreement, which had been in place since 1967. The board had reached that consensus while in an executive session at a Jan. 17 meeting.

After a nearly hour-long discussion Tuesday night, the board held off on terminating the agreement. Village officials are now weighing two additional options in addition to renewing or terminating the lease.

One would involve acquiring the lot from the four property owners through eminent domain.

The other, proposed by Mayor James F. Hidy, would involve the village continuing the maintenance, with a catch. The property owners would accept the liability for it, listing the village as a rider on their insurance. Village officials said they needed to check into the feasibility of that option.

“I’ve had a lot of different folks who said, ‘We don’t want to pay for that,’” Mr. Hidy said.

The board is nearly split on the issue. Two trustees, Albert C. “Herb” Deshaies and Francis J. Carvel, were originally in support of ending the lease but changed their minds after hearing from business owners and other village residents about the public lot’s necessity.

Mr. Deshaies dissented on the extension because he was ready to renew the agreement for another three years. He said the agreement was good for 45 years, so it might as well be good for another few.

“We wouldn’t have to deal with all this bologna,” Mr. Deshaies said. “Sign the lease and get it over with.”

Mr. Hidy said the village did not want to incur any further liability on the lot. He said a lawsuit from a woman who fell there cost about $7,000.

But Mr. Carvel said the parking lot of nearly 40 spaces is used by more than the four property owners. Downtown summer concert-goers, the Massena Volunteer Fire Department and Amvets Post 4 are among the entities which need the lot for event parking. The lot is still full during different times of any given day and downtown parking would be at a premium without it, he said.

“If we want a good downtown, we have to supply some parking somewhere,” he said. “We’ve had one lawsuit in 45 years. That doesn’t come out to more than peanuts per year.”

Mr. Hidy and trustees Patricia K. “Trish” Wilson and Timothy J. Ahlfeld expressed support in ending the lease.

Mr. Ahlfeld said the lot maintenance costs the village about $3,800 per year. The village should not be in the business of maintaining private parking lots, he said.

“This is no different than plowing Sacred Heart Church or the Elks or Moose Lodge,” he said. “Why would we do that?”

Those three trustees maintained ending the lease would not mean closing the lot. It just meant the village’s role would end.

But Vincent E. Vari, co-owner of World Class Gym and Fitness Center, said the village’s decision would force him to close off his portion of the lot because of the insurance and liability costs of opening it to others.

“I would have to shut it down,” he said after the meeting. “I would have no choice.”

Mr. Vari’s property extends back to the Grasse River and is adjacent to the Massena Volunteer Fire Department. The department had constructed a chicken barbecue station on his property.

If the village stops maintaining the lot, its future is uncertain. Mr. Vari said he and the fire department have not yet resolved that issue.

Ms. Wilson said the village would not allow the lot to close should the lease end. She broached the topic of eminent domain.

“We’re not going to let that happen,” she said of the lot closure. “That is ridiculous.”

A handful of other downtown business owners who own or use the lot attended the meeting.

Miriam Catapano of Clopman’s Furniture said a decision to end maintenance of the lot does not mesh with the village’s plans to redevelop downtown.

“I look out every day over empty lots. We’re trying to revitalize our downtown,” she said. “If you want to revitalize downtown, where do you want people to park?”

Francis “Bud” Byington, Amvets Post 4 commander, said he did not know what his organization would do if they did not have access to that back lot.

“We don’t own anything out there,” he said of the lot. “Do you realize the ramifications should the parking lot be shut off?”

“I would be shocked if someone would do that to the Amvets,” Mr. Hidy said.

“Don’t be surprised,” Mr. Byington said. “It’s going to be an awfully hellacious mess with every business trying to find a parking place.”