Council forwards 50-year lease extension for Grange/Community Center to town meeting

The Little Compton Town Council voted to forward an article to the annual financial town meeting authorizing the council to enter a lease extension with the Little Compton Community Center for the Grange property at 34 Commons, proposing a 50-year term with a nominal $1-per-year lease payment.

Councilors said the extension would replace an existing lease that has roughly 16 years remaining and argued a longer term would help the community center secure additional funding. The councilor sponsoring the warrant language moved to change the drafting language so the article read “of 50 years” (rather than “not to exceed”), a correction the council reconsidered and approved procedurally before forwarding the item to the town clerk for referral to the budget committee.

Larry Anderson, the town moderator, urged transparency and suggested the final lease be available to voters before the town meeting: “it might be helpful to actually have it...available to the public so they know exactly what they're voting on,” he said, recommending that negotiators aim to finalize terms in advance of the meeting so voters can make an informed decision.

Outcome: The council forwarded the amended warrant language and the item will appear on the annual financial town meeting warrant; the transcript does not record a roll-call tally for the procedural forwarding vote.

What’s next: The article will be part of the annual financial town meeting; council and staff said they will finalize lease details and make documents available to the public prior to that meeting.