#ArrowheadLane #FBI #JimFranco #SpotlightNews
COLONIE — The Town Board, by unanimous decision, agreed to allow the FBI to use one of three town-owned, vacant warehouses on Arrowhead Lane as a training facility.
The details of the lease are not finalized, but Supervisor Paula Mahan said money will not be involved. Instead, the FBI will pay for all costs, including infrastructure and fit up expenses, necessary to convert the building into a training facility and allow the Colonie Police Department to use it at least 36 times a year.
The three warehouses are identical in size and appearance and the town, over the years, has leased it to different companies. The property is adjacent to the town-owned landfill off Route 9, and Mahan believes the buildings have been used by that operation in the past but now all three sit empty.
The FBI will upgrade the building to “imitate residences and structures commonly encountered by law enforcement … to conduct regular and specialized tactical training, special weapons and tactics, SWAT training and related demonstrations and events,” according to the resolution.
Mahan said most or all activity will take place inside the building that is surrounded by the landfill and other industrial facilities.
“It’s a good use for us,” she said. “It’s better than having them empty and just sitting there.”
The town has its own shooting range on Onderdonk Avenue and police and fire use the training facility on Wade Road for training. This, she said, will add another dimension to those existing training facilities.
The agreement, like all town contracts, will need the approval of the town attorney’s office before it is finalized.
