Avon officials outline purchase plan for former shooting range as police substation; lead cleanup estimated at $75,000
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Summary
Town staff updated the council on a proposed purchase of a former shooting-range building for a police substation, citing two appraisals, an environmental assessment that found lead from firearms and a remediation estimate not to exceed $75,000; the seller agreed to offset that amount and to a staggered payment schedule, and staff proposed using TIF funds toward purchase and remodel costs.
Town staff presented council members with a proposal to buy a former shooting-range building for use as a police substation and training facility, describing potential cost savings against constructing a new facility.
An environmental assessment found lead contamination from firearms. “Lead’s actually very easy to clean up,” said Speaker 2, summarizing the remediation firm’s approach: HEPA vacuuming, wet wiping and targeted removal of heavy accumulations behind bullet traps. The remediation company estimated cleanup “not to exceed $75,000” and forecasted roughly three weeks of work to complete air testing and clearance.
Tom, the staff negotiator, told the council the property owner agreed to take the $75,000 off the purchase price rather than leaving remediation responsibility with the town, and to a staggered payment schedule: a $400,000 payment at closing with the remaining principal split across 2027 and early 2028, with interest. Council discussed a negotiated interest rate of approximately 5 percent on the deferred balance.
Staff compared the acquisition route with earlier estimates for a new-build option, saying new construction would have required moving a sewer line and an engineer had estimated about $370 per square foot for a roughly 15,000-square-foot facility — projecting costs in the multiple millions. The staff estimate for purchasing and remodeling the existing building was presented as a roughly $2.5 million total project budget (about $1.5 million to buy and $1 million to renovate), with additional capital coming from the HRH TIF once bonds were retired.
Council members asked about ongoing exposure control and operations if the town uses the facility for training; staff said the department intends to switch to frangible (lead-free) ammunition in training to reduce future lead accumulation and would perform follow-up testing after remediation. Staff also said the RDC will receive the same update in their upcoming meeting and that the next steps include reviewing the submitted purchase agreement and preparing sources-and-uses and amortization schedules for council review.
The council did not take a final vote on the purchase at the session; staff requested guidance to proceed to formal agenda placement and to finalize the purchase agreement terms.
