Petition seeks delay to Town Hall renovations
By Caitlyn Kelleher Journal Reporter

John Fairbank Memorial Town Hall

Selectmen are grappling with a citizens' petition that would delay renovations to the Town Hall.

A group of 142 residents signed the petition asking voters to support postponing the renovations of the inside of Town Hall until the public safety building is built. But they would support the building's exterior.

Both building committees expect to put their projects out to bid within the next six weeks.

"Nothing seems methodical," said Pixie Brennan at the Jan. 8 selectmen's meeting.

Brennan was one of the residents who spoke in support of the petition. The signing of the petition was organized by the Concerned Ashburnham Resident Evaluate Situation (CARES) group.

Brennan said she and others are concerned that something will get overlooked or botched if the proper time is not taken.

"We have so many large capital items put before the taxpayers," she said.

Town Administrator Kevin Paicos told selectmen they were legally obligated to put the measure on the warrant, but he said town counsel believes the article is not legally binding.

Selectman Jonathan Dennehy said he would like to see a written opinion from the town's lawyer explaining his reasoning.

Members of the Town Hall Renovation Committee who attended the selectmen's meeting expressed their concerns about postponing the work.

"We're working on behalf of the town," said member Christina Sargent. "We have already waited a full year."

"We are this close to getting it done," said fellow member Ronald Reed.

Voters approved the $2.7 million for the Town Hall upgrade at the annual town meeting in May 2005 and at a ballot vote that June.

"I've never heard of stopping it once you started," Paicos said.

Reed echoed that sentiment.

"The money has already been voted," he said. "I can't imagine stopping the project."

Reed, speaking for himself and not the committee, said redesigning the building in order to split the interior work and exterior work would significantly delay the project. He added that the project is almost ready to go out for bid.

Reed said he would agree with a delay if the bids for the project were over-budget but could not agree with it now.

Paicos noted construction costs are escalating at about 8 percent per year, so it would cost about $150,000 to delay the work.

He added that the architect would also require additional money to design documents separating the exterior work from the interior renovations.

"We'll have gone a long way to killing the project entirely," Paicos said.

The Town Hall Renovation Committee will meet on Tuesday, Jan. 16, to discuss the petition.

Paicos told selectmen that in the worst case scenario the tax rate would be increasse $1 per $1,000 for both the Town Hall renovation and the public safety building project. The impact on taxes will be affected by financial items, such as interest rates and the increasing value of properties in town.

In other business:

Selectmen have not decided whether to recommend transferring $95,000 from free cash to cover town expenses not included in the budget in May 2006.

Those items include $9,400 for increasing health insurance costs. Paicos said he budgeted for a 10 percent increase but the rate was hiked by 14.6 percent.

There is also an $18,612 cost for the land use office because an additional staff member had to cover during the medical leave of the land use administrator and filled the position after her death.

Other articles would appropriate money left out of the annual budget.

Dennhey said he did not like the method of appropriating money.

"I think this is a bad precedent to set," Dennehy said. "I'm not in favor of any of these. I think we should have a larger reserve fund."

A reserve fund acts as the town's savings account. A vote of the majority of the Board of Selectmen and a majority of the Advisory Board can appropriate money from it.

The town has $50,000 in its reserve fund.

"As much as these are painful these expenses will not go away," Carlisle said.

Selectmen will discuss the expenses again before making a recommendation for the town meeting.

Selectmen voted to recommend accepting a donation of land on Sherbert Road to Habitat for Humanity. They will also be asked to purchase a conservation restriction on a Russell Hill property but the money for this project will be reimbursed.

Town officials are also recommending that voters rescind the expenditure of $150,000 to build new portable classrooms at John R. Briggs Elementary School. They will also be asked to rescind permission to borrow approximately $190,000 towards purchasing a new ambulance and property on Bush Hill. Both purchases came in under budget and borrowing that money is not required.