ADDISON — Work has begun to evaluate whether a parcel of land west of Addison Central School could be suitable to host a septic system that might someday serve a renovated Addison Town Hall, the Addison Volunteer Fire Department and the Addison Community Baptist Church.
According to April 7 Addison selectboard minutes, John Spencer, the head of Addison’s Town Hall Committee, told the board that early testing of the land’s septic capacity looks promising.
Voters at the 2014 town meeting backed spending up to $55,380 for that testing, and the selectboard last month signed a $51,297.88 loan at their March 10 meeting to pay for it. Residents also a year ago backed the concept of the town regaining ownership of its former town hall.
Spencer has told town officials that septic system construction, engineering, permitting and purchase of an easement for the site are estimated at $675,000, but that he is optimistic the state will pick up 35 percent of the tab by giving Addison a Pollution Abatement Grant.
Testing the land is thus the first step toward what could be the town taking back possession of its former town hall from the church, which holds title to it, and renovating it into a new town clerk’s office.
The Town Hall Committee has plans drawn up for a $1 million renovation of Addison Town Hall as a replacement for what Spencer and others call an increasingly inadequate town clerk’s office, which has little storage, office and meeting space — and a nearly full vault. Officials also believe grants could support that project.
Although officials believe the 140-year-old structure is sound, the former town hall lacks a septic system, while other area in-ground systems have experienced problems. The fire department, for example, called off a recent monthly breakfast because its in-ground system froze.
In a related move on April 7, the selectboard also authorized $5,600 to pay for a survey of the town-owned and church property in the area.
In other recent town business, on March 16 the selectboard and planning commission sat down to discuss the ongoing update to the town plan adopted in 2014. Planners are also working on zoning regulations and want the documents to “mirror” one another, according to earlier minutes.
Planners were also planning at their April meeting to review results from a recent survey of Addison residents about town zoning and larger planning questions.
On March 10, the selectboard re-elected longtime chairman Jeff Kauffman to that post, and picked new board member Peter Briggs as its vice chairman. They also appointed Spencer and Scott Grant to the development review board and Clifford Douglas to the planning commission.
The following real estate sales were recorded in Addison between April 2014 and March 2015:
•  May 9, 2014: DeVries Trusts to Dubois Farm Inc., 428.66 acres on Route 17 West, $1,178,815.
•  May 14, 2014: New England Federal Credit Union to Benjamin Wallen, home at 426 Townhouse Road, $109,000.
•  May 20, 2014: Katherine Veysey to Randall Bigelow, mobile home at 6081 Route 125, $145,000.
•  May 23, 2014: James and Suzanne Laflam to Timothy and Sarah Oemcke, home at 976 Nortontown Road, $260,000.
•  May 30, 2014: Christian and Alison DaBica to John and Billie Jo Forgues, home at 6124 Route 17, $160,000.
•  June 6, 2014: James and Linda Taylor to John and Mary Starvish, home at 4708 Route 22A, $234,000.
•  June 13, 2014: Ace Securities Corp to John and Marilyn Fuller, home at 218 Algonquin Drive, $162,274.
•  June 13, 2014: Diane Lynn Rose to Joseph Broderick and Christine Quinto, home at 7587 Route 22A, $205,000.
•  July 1, 2014: Stephen and Kelly Hoffmann to Mark Andrea, home at 2493 Lake St., $925,000.
•  July 21, 2014: Victoria Styles Trust to Gaynor Styles, home at 1088 Tri-Town Rd, $70,000.
•  July 25, 2014: William and Bernadette Macko to Jessica Hill, home at 1817 Route 17 East, $208,000.
•  July 31, 2014: William van Zyverden and Shari Charron to Kathleen Kilbourne, home at 251 Cedar Drive, $290,000.
•  Aug. 21, 2014: Donald Welch and Debra Munson to Theresa Sullivan, home at 7323 Route 22A, $145,000.
•  Aug. 29, 2014: Linda Hanson to Taft Properties LLC, seasonal home at 296 Potash Bay Road, $280,000.
•  Oct. 22, 2014: Peter Kellerman to Adam Lynch, home at 619 Nortontown Road, $215,000.
•  Oct 24, 2014: George and Marjorie Elmore to Peter Kellerman, home at 1333 Nortontown Road, $245,000.
•  Nov. 10, 2014: LDF Properties LLC to 5 Trillium Partners LLC, home at 357 Mountain Road, $273,000.
•  Feb. 1, 2015: Barbara Marshall to WCNE Properties LLC, 120.55 acres on Route 125, $205,000.
•  March 24, 2015: David Spencer to Vermont Land Trust, development rights on 458 acres on Old Stonehouse Road, $321,000.