Farmington Valley Health District's Move Reflects $25,000 in Savings

The Farmington Valley Health District's plan to move from Avon to Canton will save the health district about $25,000 a year in rent and utilities, according to Director of Health Richard Matheny.

"It was a rental decision. We're trying to reduce costs," Matheny said on Thursday. "As a public agency, we have to do the best [for] taxpayers money."

With its five-year lease at 50 Meadow Lane in Avon expiring, the FarmingtonValley Health District is relocating to 95 River Road on June 1, at the earliest. The health district put a notice out in The Valley Press in November, advertising its need of new office space. The owner of the River Road property is FrankMairano, Matheny said, and he is going to help outfit the building with the offices the health district will need.

“We worked with real estate agents to find the best space for us. It fit the right size and reduced rent substantially.... We [also] looked at several places in Avon and Farmington." Matheny told Patch on Thursday. "The owner is willing to help us with building out the property for what we needed."

Town Manager Brandon Robertson said the move will bring substantial savings to the district and the new location "better meets their needs."

The health district will be in Canton by the next fiscal year, which begins on July 1. While the health district is a public agency, not run by the state or the town of Avon, taxpayers do contribute to Avon's inclusion in the health district and the state does provide per capita funding, Matheny said. Since the health district is a regional authority, towns pay a certain amount annually as a part of the district based on town size, he explained.

The health district includes Avon, Barkhamsted, Canton, Colebrook, East Granby,Farmington, Granby, Hartland, New Hartford and Simsbury.

The new location is next to the Canton Chamber of Commerce.

"That is good news to me," Philip E. Worley, executive director of the Canton Chamber of Commerce, said after hearing about the move for the first time on Thursday.

The Farmington Valley Health District will have a Canton phone number, come June or July, depending on when the move takes place, and the district will post the new contact information on its Web site and send updated information to region town halls.

The new building is centrally located to the Litchfield County and FarmingtonValley towns.

"We're basically right at intersection of Route 179 and Route 44," Matheny said. "It's about halfway up from Torrington to Windsor locks. It's more or less the middle."

The health district has not officially signed a lease yet. Matheny is excited to move, but said that moving is also a lot of work.

"Moving is not easy," Matheny said. "It is disruptive to move an office.... We're looking forward to getting it done."