Carthage Savings Bank passes on Harrisville branch possibility; Northern is town’s last hope

Mr. Smith said Mr. Klock called him on Tuesday to give him the news.

“(He) said they really went through the numbers and, unfortunately, at this time they couldn’t commit to coming in here. From a business perspective, I understand where they’re going with it and I wouldn’t want anybody to come in here and then … pack up and leave,” Mr. Smith said. “At least they were honest about it.”

After Community Bank customers began receiving notice of the April closure last month, Mr. Smith contacted a number of banks to find out if there was any interest in coming to the community if customers are willing to switch their accounts. Carthage Savings and Northern Federal Credit Union were the two that showed interest.

Because credit unions are, by law, not allowed to hold municipal accounts — which means Northern could not provide services to the towns of Diana and Pitcairn and the Harrisville Central School District — Northern CEO Daniel W. St. Hilaire agreed to “stand down” until Carthage Savings determined whether or not they would be moving forward.

The bank executives agreed that there is not enough business or growth potential to keep two financial institutions afloat there.

Even with Carthage’s decision, however, Northern moving into Harrisville is not a sure thing.

Mr. St. Hilaire said last week that there are some conditions that must be met in order for the credit union to have a presence there.

Included in those conditions is making available a suitable location for Northern’s “enhanced” automatic teller machines and finding a temporary location for the bank where they can operate while a building can be found and prepared for the branch.

Based on its first visit, Northern would like to locate an ATM at Harrisville’s Scenic View, which is sign-posted on Route 3, but reception to the idea has not been good.

“I don’t see the board agreeing with putting the machine in the Scenic View. The day I brought it up it was heading toward being a conversation,” Mr. Smith said.

Many of the business owners who met last month to discuss how to entice a bank into the town were also against that location because of its importance to tourists. A number of business owners offered to host the machine.

Mr. St. Hilaire said the Credit Union would have to rent space for the branch rather than buy or build because they will need to keep costs down as far as possible in order to break even. The current Harrisville bank building is owned by Community Bank, which, according to Mr. Smith, will not be getting the building on the market for sale for months after the closure.

Lewis County Industrial Development Agency Executive Director Brittany L. Davis confirmed that they have been approached by people in the town about the possibility of the agency purchasing the building to rent to the bank until they are willing to buy it themselves.

“This is very preliminary but the IDA invests in properties all the time so we will be looking into this as a possibility, but it’s a long process and we cannot by law pay more than market value and we don’t know what Community’s asking price might be. We also are required to do an assessment of the building,” she said. “What it is important for everyone to understand is that this is a lengthy process so it could take six months or year for us to buy the building if it is possible.”

In the interim, Mr. Smith has pinpointed three potential temporary locations including the town-owned medical clinic building and the town’s courtroom, which is only used in the evenings on certain days of the week and on Election Day every November. A building on Route 3 owned by a business owner that is very interested in ensuring a bank is in the Hamlet is the third potential site.

As of Thursday morning, Mr. Smith had not yet spoken to Mr. St. Hilaire to discuss next steps.

Mr. Klock and Mr. St. Hilaire could not be reached for comment.