Town Hall renovations cost estimate exceeds budget
Selectmen revive debate on where to relocate town employees during construction
By Nora Cardec and Caitlyn Kelleher Journal Staff

"We're not where we want to be," said Town Hall Renovation Committee Chairman David Sargent as the estimated renovation cost presented at last week's committee meeting surpassed the project budget.

The committee has a budget of $2.7 million, which was passed at a town meeting in 2005. The cost estimate is based on construction documents by architect Kaffee Kang and on a design approved by the committee.

The estimate came in at $3.29 million, which does not include the "soft" costs of the project that equal about $300,000.

"Going to the voters for more money is off the table," said Town Administrator Kevin Paicos at the Dec. 27 meeting. "It's better to sacrifice less important things that do not affect the (Town Hall) operation in any significant way."

The committee discussed ways to cut about $600,000 to bring the cost within budget. Then after a Jan. 2 meeting with Kang, they voted on expected reductions.

The committee voted to authorize Kang to finish the final drawings for the building but to eliminate the addition that would have housed the vault and eliminate air conditioning for the entire building.

The committee debated at length whether to redesign the entire HVAC system at this stage in the process.

"We should do one system," said committee member Tim DuMont. "We only need two months of air conditioning."

The committee decided against redesigning the ventilation system because of the time delay it would cause.

"It's sooner or never," said Sargent. "It's not going to get better."

The committee also voted to make the repair and replacement of Town Hall windows an alternate, which would only be done if there was enough money in the budget. It is estimated that the replacement of the windows would cost about $142,000.

Relocating the employees

The committee has left it to the Board of Selectmen to decide where to relocate Town Hall employees during the estimated 15-month renovation. They estimated the cost for moving and housing Town Hall staff at between $70,000 and 80,000. The money is not included in the renovation project budget, said Paicos.

"We're not in a position to finance the moving (of the Town Hall employees)," said Sargent at the Dec. 27 meeting.

Selectmen debated the employees' move during their Jan. 2 meeting. They agreed to have an article to pay for the relocation of the employees on the warrant of the Jan. 24 special town meeting.

Selectmen and Paicos discussed four possible locations for the employees. They talked about renting office space on the basement level of the hardware store in town, which would cost about $62,000.

They also eyed the option of splitting the employees between the empty room in the VMS building, the senior center in the VMS building and the meeting room of the library.

Also being considered is the Stevens Building, which houses the Fredericks Historical Piano Study Center. There has been a significant public outcry about using the building.

"It's not surplus today," Paicos said. "We need it."

The issue he said becomes whether the town wants to spend public money to rent a private place, while a private entity uses a public building.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Jonathan Dennehy said it is going to come down to whether the path of least resistance politically is more costly then the financially cheaper opition.

Selectman Christopher Gagnon said he does not want to spend a lot of money on repairs or costs that wouldn't benefit the town in the long run. He said the decision should in part be made as though the Stevens Building is empty.

"I'd just assume to decide this without the piano museum clouding the issue," he said.

The Town Hall employees will do a space analysis on the VMS Building and the third floor of the library, similar to the ones already done on the Stevens Building and the hardware store's basement, Paicos said. He added that the town inspectors would go through both buildings as well to determine electrical and other issues.

He plans to have more details for selectmen at their Monday, Jan. 8 meeting.

"We have to sit down and do this very carefully," said Paicos.

Regardless of where the employees are relocated, the cost of moving telephone and computer systems will exist, to the tune of about $10,000, said Paicos. He said the cost will rise if the systems have to be split.