Property committee discusses city lease with arts center

FAIRFIELD - The Fairfield Property Committee discussed Monday night a proposed change to the lease between the city of Fairfield and the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center.

The arts center's board of directors sent an email to the committee suggesting a change to the portion of the lease covering maintenance. The board asked for the city to begin paying for maintenance expenses related to the building's exterior - its foundation and roof - while the center would continue paying for interior maintenance.

This would be a departure from the lease agreed to in 2010, which stated that all maintenance expenses be covered by the center. That year, Fairfield voters approved a referendum to allow the city to use local-option sales taxes to purchase the center, which opened in 2007 as a private venture. Under city ownership, the center's mortgage would be paid off through LOST funds, and it would no longer have to pay property taxes.

The Fairfield City Council discussed this matter at its meeting after the property committee met Monday night. The council did not discuss whether to approve the board's proposal. Rather, the councilors decided they needed more information about the scale of repairs the center needed.

Council member Michael Halley said the change in wording the board suggested was 'too open ended.” He said a prior list of repairs the center gave the council, plus a report from Klingner and Associates to assess the property, showed the center needed between $1 million to $1.5 million in repairs to bring it into good condition.

'Obviously, the city doesn't have those funds sitting around,” Halley told The Union.

The council agreed to share the Klingner report with local contractors to get better estimates on the cost of repairs.

Halley indicated he was hesitant to change the lease because he promised voters back in 2010 that the arts center would cover all the maintenance, and he wanted to stick to his word.

After the 2010 vote, there was discussion about establishing a fund for the center's maintenance. Mayor Connie Boyer, who served on the center's board for 10 years and has now been off it for three years, said there was no money left over after paying for all the center's other expenses to put aside for deferred maintenance.