Ad hoc committee recommends City Council approve two two‑year Danbury Library leases

The Danbury ad hoc committee on library space voted to recommend the City Council approve two separate two‑year leases for space at the Danbury Library, one for Danbury Hackerspace and one for the New American Dream Foundation. The committee discussed lease terms, utilities, cleaning charges and how the leases differ from prior license arrangements.

Chair Frank Salvatore opened the meeting and framed the item as a review of two substantially similar leases. Corporation counsel summarized the documents as two‑year leases with nominal rent (a dollar a year), no security deposit, tenant responsibility for repairs, and city coverage of HVAC, electric, water and sewer. "The leases are essentially identical with a couple of small exceptions," the corporation counsel said, noting use clauses and different cleaning charges for each tenant.

Why convert from a license to a lease was a recurring question. A public buildings official and council members said the license used earlier for the hackerspace was revocable and suited to an experimental arrangement; the lease fixes a defined two‑year term and sets clearer expectations. Corporation counsel said early termination before the two‑year term would be based on defaults such as failing to carry required insurance or violating the permitted‑use clause, and that a 30‑day cure period is provided under subsection 15(a)(2).

Representatives from the two tenants described their programs and reasons for occupying library space. The hackerspace representative said the group has run downtown programs, camps and maker activities and is pursuing a larger downtown site; the group also noted it received a $500,000 Community Investment Fund operational grant to support expansion. "We were one of the recipients, like, the city was of the Community Investment Fund grant, $500,000 for the new building," the hackerspace representative said. He asked for stability in the near term and said the group hopes to move into a larger privately leased facility within about two years.

The New American Dream Center representative described citizenship and newcomer services, emphasizing the visibility and accessibility of library space for immigrant clients and citing the program's reported 95% citizenship pass rate for participants. "We have a 95% American citizenship pass rate that we're really proud of," the representative said, framing the library location as central to service delivery.

Committee members pressed staff about utilities and cost allocation. Facilities staff said the city currently pays HVAC, electric, water and sewer for the annexed library space and that the cleaning charges in the draft leases — $4.50 per month for the hackerspace and $1.90 per month for the New American Dream Foundation — "do cover the space's cleaning costs" today. Staff agreed to ask finance for a precise breakdown of utility costs and to follow precedent on lease procedures when finalizing documents.

After discussion, a committee member moved that the ad hoc committee recommend the City Council approve the Danbury Hackerspace lease; a subsequent motion recommended approval for the New American Dream Foundation lease. The committee voted by voice to forward both leases to the City Council with a recommendation of approval; the record reflects voice votes of "aye" but does not show individual tallies.

The committee directed staff and legal counsel to proceed with the leases as drafted and to provide any additional cost detail requested by council members. The recommendation will go to the City Council for final approval.