As town of Union officials push for payment for use of an Endwell building as a state police station, the agency says it will consider other locations for the facility.
The town on Monday advised the state police that it planned to terminate the lease in 60 days. The letter from a town attorney stated the last date of the lease would be April 18.
In a statement, the state police acknowledged "lease negotiations are ongoing but will include other local municipalities for a possible location of a new station."
State troopers have had offices on East Main Street in Endwell for more than 45 years. A satellite station operated at the old Hooper School for a couple of decades before a larger operation was set up at the current site in what had been a town court building.
Town supervisor Richard Materese on Wednesday said "we are extremely happy that the state police have been providing service to the town of Union and we are happy with them being where they are."
Speaking on WNBF Radio's Binghamton Now, Materese said "it's not that we want to kick them out." He said "the intent of the letter was simply 'Hey, let's talk about the lease." He said "probably the legalese we used may have been a bit harsher" than necessary.
Materese said the state police pay "a little bit of rent" for other substations, so the town of Union now is seeking some compensation for use of its building.
Materese said if the state police do move out of the current site, the town might consider moving its court operations which now are in Johnson City into the building.
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Contact WNBF News reporter Bob Joseph: bob@wnbf.com.
For breaking news and updates on developing stories, follow @BinghamtonNow on Twitter.
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