Hopatcong: CVS Offer Too Low

Hopatcong rejected an offer from one of the nation's largest chains to turn borough hall into a pharmacy, according to minutes from the July 6 borough council executive session obtained through the Open Public Records Act.

CVS offered Hopatcong $3 million for the location. But it wasn't enough to offset the costs of building a new municipal complex, Mayor Sylvia Petillo and Council President Mike Francis said Tuesday night.

CVS spokesman Mike DeAngelis said the pharmacy chain had no comment.

Francis said the borough will continue to entertain offers for the aging building.

"The building needs a lot of work," he said. "And one of the things we look at is we evaluate if someone comes along and there's an opportunity to sell it: What's the replacement cost? And where is the replacement?"

Petillo said the borough's only option of building a new municipal complex would be at the . But initial projections put the cost of building a new municipal complex, which would also house the police department and dispatch, health department, borough hall and court, at around $7 million.

"[CVS] can offer us $7 million," Petillo said. "Then we can go open a new building.

"You'd have to go to the senior center … and now you're up to $7 million. So, although, right away $3 million sounds like a lot of money, in the whole picture you would have to go out and bond for $4 million. You would have to be out of your mind. Nobody's going to do that in an economy like this. If [CVS] wants to come and give us $7 million, we'll consider the offer."

Francis said the only way he'd support selling borough hall is if Hopatcong didn't have to take a financial hit.

"The key is: We're not [exploring selling borough hall] for any budgetary reason," he said. "We don't have a deficit. We're doing it because we're looking at the alternative to an aging building. So if we have an opportunity and we have the space to go, and the financial model worked, in other words, it would have to be a net zero. If we could do a net zero, I would be all for it. And it's not a net zero, so we're not going anywhere."

Hopatcong's council instructed Borough Attorney John Ursin to continue discussions with CVS.