Town will hire agent to sell Pine St. station

PARIS — A real estate agent will be hired to try and sell the Pine St. fire station, the board of selectmen decided during its May 14 meeting.

The decision to seek the services of a real estate agent occured after the board received only one bid on the property for the sum of $15,141, an amount that board Chair Bob Kirchher said was "somewhat less than we expected."

Selectman Ted Kurtz said that he was unwilling to accept a bid at that amount.

"To me, it's not enough," said Kurtz. "For $15,000 it'd probably sit there as an eyesore, and we're not going to be able to do anything about it."

Town Manager Phil Tarr suggested that the board could hire a real estate agent to sell the building for the town.

Tarr said that the town should entertain offers from at least three real estate agents and send out a letter to all the agents in Paris inviting them to take up the sale.

The board voted unanimously to reject the bid for the building and hire a broker to sell the building for the town.

"It looks like we're going to try and sell it through a Realtor," said Kirchherr following the vote. "Good luck to us."

In other news the board:

• Renewed the liquor license for the Mayflower Chinese restaurant as well as a liquor license and special entertainment permit for Four Seasons Function Center/Crazy Eight's Billiards.

• Accepted the resignation of Buddy Coffren from the planning board and approved a draft letter from the board of selectmen to Mr. Coffren.

• Waived the purchasing policy requirement and pursued a sole-source purchase of a repeater station and its maintenance from Communication Consulting Service by the Paris Fire Department. The $26,699 purchase will be paid for by a $25,000 grant and $1,699 from the department's grant match account.