Following the decisive defeat of a proposal for additional funds for Town Hall renovations, the Selectmen took a deep breath this week and agreed to call a temporary timeout on the Town Hall project that has consumed nearly four years of their time.
Without objection, the board agreed to ask the Town Hall Building Committee to suspend any further work on the current detailed design for the 1870s-era building and not to incur any further expenses for its refinement. The board also asked Town Administrator Tim Bragan to release the projet contractors from their bids, which they had previously agreed to hold until Dec. 11. And over the next eight weeks, the Selectmen, acting as their own Town Hall working group, will assess their options for bringing the cost of renovating Town Hall within what’s left of the $3.97 million budget appropriated by the town in 2012. During that period, the Selectmen will hold at least one open forum to allow members of the public to share their own ideas for lowering project costs.
Construction unlikely before spring
Taken together, these actions virtually guarantee that no renovation will occur before this summer. But board members said they need time to draw up a list of potential cost-saving changes to the existing design by December that could be handed to the project architect for the preparation of an updated, detailed design. The board wants to have a new plan ready by February, in time to get on the agenda for next year’s April Town Meeting.
Gone was any talk of seeking additional money for the building from other sources, but absent as well were any arguments for abandoning the project. However, to forestall another year of total neglect, Town Administrator Bragan was asked to compile a list of critical repairs and to present them to the board by their next meeting, currently scheduled for Nov. 19.
The Tuesday meeting of the Selectmen was their first opportunity to discuss future plans after a request for more money to pay for the renovation of Town Hall failed to pass at a Special Town Election on Nov. 5. The Selectmen had asked to borrow an additional $1.1 million to meet the higher than expected bids received from interested contractors. But the ballot question was soundly defeated by a margin of nearly 200 votes. As if to reinforce the message delivered at the polls, last Tuesday’s meeting was well attended by residents, several of whom rose to speak during public comment.
‘We’re not getting any more money’
“I think we were very clearly told that we have $3.97 million dollars to work with, less what has already been expended,” said Selectman Ron Ricci, expressing a view seemingly shared by his fellow board members. “I think in any step forward that we take, we have to figure out what’s the best thing we can do with the money that we have…I think the voters very clearly told us that we are not getting any more.”
For most of the 90-minute meeting, the Selectmen deliberated among themselves, as they felt their way toward consensus. But their discussions were preceded by comments expressing views throughout the four-year struggle to deal with Town Hall.
“The purpose of the Town Hall project is to meet the needs of our municipal government,” opined Jim DeZutter of Eldridge Road. “And the key word is ‘needs.’ And in order to do that, we need a safe and sound structure that provides adequate space for those governmental activities. And again,” he added, “the key word there is ‘adequate.’ The building needs to be energy efficient and it needs to be ADA compliant. And that’s about it.” It is time to go to work on the project, he said. “We don’t need to kick the can down the street anymore.”
A need for public input
Paul Willard of Still River Road expressed a contrary point of view. “Somebody mentioned next steps,” he said. “In my opinion—my humble opinion—the next step should be to take a big time-out. Pay off any bills that were associated with this project, return the money to its funding source, sit down and decide what we can do that everybody can agree with, with the Selectmen leading that effort.”
In a view that was later echoed by Town Hall Building Committee (THBC) member Tim Clark and Selectwoman Lucy Wallace, current THBC Chairman Peter Jackson called for a public forum to get a better sense of how residents currently view the project and to clear up misinformation that he said had been in circulation for the past several months. Arguing that a traditional hearing is restrictive, Jackson called for an open, and “interactive” meeting. “It will give you [the Selectmen] a chance to hear the public’s viewpoints, help you decide what the real next step should be, and answer questions such as what can we do to this building with the existing funds that have been authorized,” he said.
Selectmen Stu Sklar and Lucy Wallace later agreed with Jackson’s recommendation, with Sklar recommending two meetings, one on a Saturday and one on a weeknight, to encourage the greatest participation.
“I feel a sense of urgency to get input from the town,” Wallace told her colleagues. “My sense over the three years that we’ve been working on this project and refining it…has consistently been Town Meeting support to go ahead.” But, she said, “The last two votes were a very different read from the Town, and I’d like to understand what the alternatives are…We’ve certainly considered other options, but we always came back to what we eventually voted on in a Town Meeting.”
Great jeopardy
Leo Blair warned, however, that while he agreed on the value of public input, any forums the Board held should be aimed at finding a solution for Town Hall. “I thought that what we were trying to do was figure out a way to get this building built within budget,” he said. “If you take all these votes [we’ve had] and all this input that we’ve had, what I can derive from these is that people want Town Hall renovated. They liked the design that the municipal building committee—with input from the town—came up with, and had it been buildable with the $3.97 million, we wouldn’t be here today. That’s what I heard.”
“If we want to entertain other things, which, you know, maybe we should,” he said, “I would suggest that puts executing on what’s presently under consideration in great jeopardy. Because those conversations can go on for a very long time.”
Chairwoman Sobalvarro argued for balance between “the range of comments heard during public comment” at the meeting that night, being “mindful that there are a lot of ideas out there…and being receptive, but starting with the premise that…we have a challenge here with this building, we need to address it.”
A chorous of ‘no,’ then applause
While silent through most of the deliberations, the audience in the Town Hall meeting room made its presence known on two occasions. Ricci was arguing that in refining the Town Hall plan, the Selectmen needed to distinguish needs from wants.
“The thing we have to be leery of, and the reason we’re in this situation now,” said Ricci, “is that we went through a whole laundry list of things that we all could agree on and that we all wanted, and by the time we got to the end of the laundry list, it went far beyond what the taxpayers were willing to spend. I think we have to be realistic on what we agree to wanting.”
Sklar answered: “But some of it, Ron, is that if we actually would vote 5-0 [on what we want], I think you actually can get a lot of the public to move along, because the people will follow.”
The crowd disagreed and interrupted Sklar with a loud chorus of “no.”
The second reaction came in response to a comment by Leo Blair. “I’m anxious to do two things,” he said. “I’m anxious to move forward on this building within budget, and I’m anxious for this board to do something other than talk about the Town Hall project.”
At which point the audience burst into loud applause.
