Sandisfield Select Board and Fire Corporation Deadlock on Station Lease Terms

SANDISFIELD — August 27, 2025 — Sandisfield Select Board fails to reach agreement with fire station corporation over lease terms. The board met in a work session with Sandisfield Fire Department, Inc. — the private nonprofit that owns both town fire stations at 79 South Main Street and 207 Sandisfield Road — in the first substantive negotiating session since voters approved a building gift at the May 2025 annual town meeting. SFDI representative Ralph Morrison declined to gift the properties "at this time" and presented lease terms calling for $20,000 in annual rent, a 10 percent yearly escalator, and tenant responsibility for heating, septic, plumbing, and electrical systems — terms the board characterized as a triple net lease that would leave the town paying all building costs. The board countered with a proposal to pay town-meeting-approved figures of $4,020.40 and $6,756.98 for the two stations in FY26, then $20,000 annually for five years with no escalator, after which ownership would transfer to the town. The parties agreed to reconvene in approximately four weeks with revised draft lease language.