Council approves lease with De Martin Roofing; staff to seek county tax abatement or split taxes if denied

Lebanon City — The Lebanon City Council on Nov. 10 approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a lease agreement with De Martin Roofing Company Incorporated after discussing several owner-requested contract changes.

George moved to approve the resolution; the motion passed on a roll call with all voting members recorded as yes. Council discussion focused on three substantive changes the property owner requested: removal of an early-termination clause allowing the city to break the lease within two years, removal of a contractual right of first refusal if the owner lists the property for sale, and the owner’s request that the city assume property taxes on top of rent.

Staff said the city will first seek a county abatement for property taxes for a municipally occupied building. If the county refuses, the lease language before the council would have the parties split responsibility for property taxes. Clerk Paul noted the tax figures in the meeting record appear garbled and said staff will provide corrected totals to the council; the motion approved the amended lease language directing the mayor to sign once any final details are resolved.

The council did not specify a resolution number in the meeting record. The vote recorded on the transcript listed the following members as voting yes: Crumsig, Marsonowski, Smith, Washington, Belie, Bennett, Cornish and Pharaoh. No no votes or abstentions were recorded in the meeting transcript.

Next steps: staff will attempt to secure county tax abatement and return with corrected tax figures and any final lease exhibits if the abatement is not granted.