CLAREMONT — At a council meeting a month ago, the mayor and city manager said it appeared likely that city would need to come to the financial rescue of the Claremont Development Authority but that need seems less pressing now after one of the authority’s tenants was able to catch up on rent and other payments.
It was briefly mentioned during Tuesday’s joint meeting of the City Council and the Development Authority that Claremont Creative Center Executive Director Melissa Richmond has paid all of the arrears and then some for the space at 56 Opera House Square the organization rents from the development authority.
Andy Lafreniere, the development authority’s president, told the council Tuesday that all arrears in taxes, rent and a loan repayment had been paid.
The update marks an improvement since Mayor Dale Girard said at a February council meeting that resolving the development authority’s financial situation was unlikely without the city’s backing.
In a Feb. 5 memo about the CDA to the council, City Manager Nancy Bates focused on the delinquencies associated with 56 Opera House Square. She criticized the CDA for failure to enforce the tenant/landlord agreement.
Bates said the CCC has been “consistently late with monthly obligations” and the CDA has failed to perform the duties of a landlord for the building. It only recently sent its first notice of delinquency to the tenant.
“Given the payment history and the tenant’s claims of no funds, it is unlikely the CDA will receive all the arrearages before the 60-day remedy period is over, thus further complicating the CDA’s position,” Bates wrote.
Richmond said in February that she would have a portion of a $2.3 million federal grant the project was awarded soon and could use the money to become current on what she owed, which was more than $8,000.
“So everything is about to be resolved,” Richmond said last month.
Richmond, who was not at either meeting, said Tuesday that after receiving $200,000 in grant funding, CCC was able to get two months ahead on rent and payments on a $220,000 loan from the Capital Region Development Corporation in Concord.
The $2.3 million grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development will pay for most if not all of the renovations of the second floor at 56 Opera House Square, she added, but when that work could start is uncertain.
Richmond said in February she had provided copies of the executed agreement with HUD and told the CDA that the money would be sent within the next week or so.
At Tuesday’s meeting, which was prompted by the concerns over the CDA’s finances, no one on the council asked about the delinquencies or the payments made by Richmond once Lafreniere said all obligations were current.
CDA Board member Martha Maki gave an update on the CDA’s finances and said the checking account now has $36,000.
During the meeting, Lafreniere made the case for the role the CDA has played in economic development in the city. He listed a number of projects the CDA has been involved in, including North Country Smokehouse in the Syd Clarke Park, the Brown Block on Pleasant Street, Ashley’s Landing on River Road, which today is Mikros Manufacturing and 21 Water St. (Red River Technology).
The council also went into a non-public session during the two-hour meeting.
Lafreniere said Wednesday the meeting had been a good opportunity to keep open the lines of communication with the City Council so concerns can be addressed immediately.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.