Clearing out the surplus
Think you might have any use for 17 decommissioned fire hydrants? Or a plow blade, or tractor, or some shop lights or hose reels? Those are among the items (there are many more) that the Town of Winthrop has declared as surplus, to be sold to the highest bidders.
The town will publish a legal notice of the sale. All items will be sold as-is with no warranty. “Some of it works, some of it doesn’t” Public Works Superintendent Jeff Sarvis told the Town Council last week. “A lot of it will probably end up scrapped.” The items will be at the old town shop on Bluff Street, or at the wellhouse site on White Avenue.
It was a formality, but an important one: The Winthrop Town Council last week approved an agreement with Friends of the Winthrop Library (FOWL) for construction of a new library.
FOWL, the nonprofit organization that is spearheading construction of the new library, will use donated funds and a state capital projects grant to build the facility on town-owned property, and then will gift it to Winthrop.
The 7,300-square-foot building will include community space that will be maintained by the town. That 1,300-square-foot portion (including public meeting spaces and bathrooms) will be Winthrop’s responsibility. The public library portion of the building will be 6,000 square feet and will be maintained with support from the North Central Regional Library.
The new library will be built on a .81-acre parcel on White Avenue near Little Star Montessori School. FOWL has subsequently acquired funds to purchase a smaller adjacent parcel on White Avenue to provide more room for parking and better traffic flow. The preliminary plans for the library assumed that the project would be able to use both parcels.
The construction agreement requires that FOWL complete a “turn-key” building before gifting it over to the town.
In other business, the Town Council reappointed Barb Preston to the Winthrop Planning Commission. One position remains open on the seven-member group.
