BRISTOL — The town has petitioned Grafton County Superior Court for permission to hold a special town meeting on Thursday, Nov. 1, to consider the purchase of the former Newfound Family Practice building and renovate it for use as a municipal building.
The one-article warrant calls for appropriating $899,637, of which $335,800 would cover the purchase of the building from LRGHealthcare. The remaining $563,837 would cover $438,000 in renovations plus architect’s fees, both of which include contingency amounts to cover unexpected costs that may arise.
Selectmen plan to apply $250,000 from the town’s unexpended fund balance to reduce the amount the town would have to borrow to $649,637.
Ned Gordon, who served as chair of the space needs committee that sought out options for the town offices and police station, questioned the selectmen’s approach, saying that instead of looking at overall renovations to improve the building, the town should look at priorities for making it suitable for town office use.
“I’ve gotten beaten up enough at the public hearings that I think I know where the people are,” Gordon said. “We all started out agreeing that the outside of the building is in good shape, and when we toured the building, we agreed that the town could move in tomorrow and use the building as it is, if we had to. … If all we were going to do is buy the building, I don’t think you’d have any problems, but now you tell people we’ll be spending $900,000 to buy the building and have it operational, that’s a different story.”
He questioned putting half a million dollars into a building that was appraised at $550,000. “That’s a concern,” he said. “It seems to me there are priorities, things that need to be done.”
He listed the $90,000 targeted for heating and plumbing upgrades as a priority, along with the work to open up an 800-square-foot meeting room, and addressing other issues with the offices.
“Maybe we should be be looking at what our priorities are and putting money where we need to make it work for the town,” he said.
Vice-Chair Don Milbrand admitted that the cost figures gave him “sticker shock” and suggested using more of the unexpended fund balance to reduce the amount to be financed.
Chair Rick Alpers noted that the impetus for finding new space for the town offices was the need to address space and safety issues in the Bristol Police Department, which also operates out of the Bristol Municipal Building. Once the town offices move from the current municipal building, the police department will be able to make the renovations it needs, such as adding a sallyport to safely bring prisoners in and out of the building.
“I’m very aware that department is not the most popular department in this town,” Alpers said, suggesting that it would be better to apply some of the unexpended fund balance to reduce the cost of police station renovations.
Alpers also took exception to Milbrand’s “sticker shock” comment: “We’ve kicked the can for 25 years, and we’re now trying to build a building in an economic boom, so we’re not going to get the pricing we got in ’08 when we built the library,” he said.
Architect’s perspective
Cris Salomon of Samyn-D’Elia Architects said he had trimmed expenses where he could through “value engineering” of the proposed renovations. As examples, he said many of the carpets in the building can be used, rather than replaced, and while wall colors may not appeal to town office employees, rooms need not be repainted. A bigger savings involves merely building a shaft, rather than also installing a lift to the second floor — something that can be added in the future.
He said the latest plan incorporates employee suggestions without changing the scope or cost of the project — such as giving the town clerk/tax collector a separate office, moving the downstairs break room upstairs, and adding more storage space on the lower level.
Selectman J.P. Morrison asked whether the 800-square-foot meeting room would allow residents to vote there, rather than at the Old Town Hall. Salomon said they would have to nearly double the room’s size to achieve that goal.
“Every time we have a voting scenario at the Old Town Hall, we seem to have catastrophic weather conditions, and everyone parks at this parking lot anyway,” Morrison said. “Why not vote here? We might have to change the floor plan to make that happen.”
Salomon said he could look into that.
Susan Duncan, whose motion at town meeting had established the space needs committee, said, “We’ve spent two years talking to employees, and to have this much square footage is more than we dreamed we could do. We should take advantage of this opportunity, even if we do less initially.”
She suggested that local residents might volunteer to help make improvements to the building, as they did in renovating the Old Town Hall.
“The less we spend on this building, the more opportunity we will have to do what we need to do for the police station,” Gordon said.
Selectmen Les Dion said voters were prepared to spend “a pretty hefty sum” to build a new town hall before the professional building came up for sale, and commented, “I’d rather see us do it right out of the gate, rather than have to come back next year [and ask for more money].”
Alpers complained about those who have been saying the building is ready for occupancy. “There are things that need to be changed,” he said.
Soloman said the prices he gave to the selectmen were based on unit estimates that could be brought down as they get to the design phase. They then may be able to add back things like the lift, he said.
As the selectmen formed a consensus to seek the money in that plan, Gordon issued a stern warning: “Now you’re getting close to a million dollars, and the [earlier] idea of building a new building at a million and a half dollars was not very marketable last time around. I just think that’s a lot of money.… It’s not like you’re reducing the cost by applying the [unreserved fund balance], because that’s basically our tax money that would offset our taxes in other ways, so you’re actually spending those monies.”
Milbrand conceded, “Why spend that much money to move a couple of walls? That’s what people are going to ask.”
Alpers said the building is “noticeably tired” in some areas, and argued, “It’s the right price. I’m a little frustrated that after two years we’ve ended up here.”
Morrison said, “For us sitting here, it’s a great deal, but the folks at town meeting last year, I don’t think they would have gone for it. I’m sure it was way too much money for them then, and I think this might be too much now. I think it’s the right thing to do, but I don’t want to just throw it out there and expect them to go for it.”
Gordon suggested that the town find out whether the amount they request of the court in asking for a special town meeting can be amended on the floor. If it cannot be amended, it would be an up-or-down vote that might lose with the larger figure.
Town Administrator Nik Coates subsequently learned that voters will not be able to amend the amount on the warrant article. Milbrand said he wanted to find out if they could amend how much comes from the fund balance to reduce the amount to be bonded.
