By LEAH DEARBORN
SWAMPSCOTT — The Board of Selectmen is helping to give new life to an old town structure.
During a Wednesday meeting, the board discussed the renewal of the town’s ambulance contract with the Atlantic division of Cataldo Ambulance Service, Inc., which expires on Dec. 31.
Fire Chief Kevin Breen suggested extending the ambulance contract at least another year.
The lease for the old police station where Cataldo operations in town are based on Burrill Street came before the board as well.
Breen said the building has been repainted and the front entrance made accessible, but it’s far from perfect.
“It still has its limitations,” said Breen. “There’s a lot of problems. But it’s been returned to being a functional asset to the town.”
Breen said that moving forward, the fire escape on the second floor and heating in the building need to be addressed.
“Legally speaking, we need to build in a bit more flexibility,” said board member Peter A. Spellios, who argued in favor of a shorter lease. “Giving that flexibility is going to be important going forward.”
The board voted in favor of an 18-month renewal for the ambulance contract and a shorter six-month renewal of the police station lease for Cataldo’s use.
“It is your building on behalf of the people,” said Breen. “Specialized space of this nature is rare to come by in Swampscott.”
The board touched briefly on the redevelopment of the Machon Elementary School as well but the review and acceptance of the ground lease and land development agreement for the project was pushed to the board’s Dec. 7 meeting.
In May, voters approved an affordable senior housing project at the shuttered Machon from nonprofit B’Nai B’Rith Housing/Covenant Commonwealth Corp.
The building, which sits at 35 Burpee Road, has been vacant since the school closed in 2007.
The approval of the development at Town Meeting earlier in the year allowed the board of selectmen to negotiate with B’Nai B’Rith about issues related to density and parking.
“The process is moving along, not as fast as we want it to,” said Spellios.