by Thaddeus Flint
The Town of New Lebanon is one step closer toward getting a new Town Hall. At Tuesday’s Town Board meeting, Town Supervisor Mike Benson presented architectural drawings for an addition to the current Town Hall.
[private]Instead of spending large amounts of money on a new building, Benson is focusing instead on adding a court room, judges chambers, a vault, a conference room and disabled access bathrooms to the south side of the current Town Hall located on Route 22. The project is estimated to cost less than $500,000.
No Referendum
Previous attempts to fund the building of a new Town Hall failed in referendums. The residents did not want to authorize spending close to $900,000 on a new building. Benson hopes that by cutting that price in half the residents will be placated. They will have to be; this project will not go to a public referendum.
“This is a very, very, very bare bones project,” pointed out Benson as he explained the planned construction using large print outs of the project conceived by Michael Architectural Services of Troy. “The focus is on meeting our needs and nothing more,” said Benson. “I can’t impress this enough on anyone: no frills here.”
Only two months ago Michael Architectural was hired to come up with a plan. The plan was budgeted at $40,000, but the plan came in at less than $13,000. “He has made a tremendous amount of progress,” said Benson, who hopes that bidding on the project can begin in the next few weeks.
Keeping costs below $500,000 will also keep the project under the scope of the Wicks Law. The Wicks Law requires that local government construction costing more than $500,000 in New York State be subject to separate plumbing, heating/ventilation/air conditioning and electrical contracts, with the responsibility for coordinating all these subcontractors left up to the Board.
“The Wicks law is an antiquated law that does no good for the owner,” stated Benson.
To keep costs down, the addition will be a wood frame structure on a slab foundation. All site work will be undertaken by the Town. Should the bids for construction come in at less than expected, three alternate bids could also be undertaken to address issues in the existing building. The roof could be fixed; windows could be updated, and the building re-sided. All this could bring up the R value, which is a measure of resistance to heat flow through a given thickness of material. The walls of the addition would probably have an R value of 19; the ceiling is projected at around R30. “Right now we have an R value of about zero in the old building,” said Benson, who would like to eventually update it as well. “It could be a beautiful building.”
Several residents brought up the need for more parking. Right now there is only space for about ten cars. With the new building there would probably be ten spaces just for the handicapped. Council Member Doug Clark said that space could found on the north end of the building, and also where plows and other equipment are currently being stored by the Town’s Highway Department. As it is, the new structure will only have a capacity of 50 people. This, too, caused concern. While Town Board meetings aren’t all that popular – there were about 40 residents in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting, and this was one of the most well attended in about a year – the Town Court is sometimes very popular. The parking lot is sometimes at overflow capacity. Council Member Bruce Baldwin said that this could be easily remedied by having the Judges stagger the arrival times of those invited to be in attendance. “Would the 51st person be turned away?” asked a resident. “We might have to get a little creative,” responded Benson.
Keeping the occupancy below 50 also frees the Town from having to install a sprinkler system. In New Lebanon, which lacks a municipal water system, the cost would be over $40,000. “Quite frankly,” said Benson, “we can’t afford that.”
New Lebanon currently has around $160,000 in a fund earmarked for a new Town Hall. Clark said that an additional $40,000 could be transferred this year to add to that. The remaining $200,000 or so could be paid off in two years. “It’s not going to impact taxes,” Clark assured residents.
A large amount of taxes has already been spent on just trying to find a new Town Hall, only for it to finally be found in the current Town Hall’s empty back yard. Benson estimated that around $160,000 was spent on searching and planning in the past few years. “We wish we could have used that money [on the current project],” said Benson. “Unfortunately we don’t have the luxury of re-inventing history.”
New Assessor In Place
New Lebanon’s new assessor, Kim Cammer, was introduced Tuesday. “As we sat here a month ago, we were in a precarious position,” said Benson. “Things are now good. We are going to meet the deadlines. Everything is going to be fine.” Cammer was previously the assessor for the Town of Roxbury in Delaware County. She is currently also an assessor in Prattsville, “facing the challenge of a lifetime,” said Benson, assessing properties in a town largely wiped from the map after Hurricane Irene.
Resident and local cattle farmer, Cynthia Creech, who had previously voiced her concerns about delays in agricultural exemptions due to a lack of an assessor, thanked the Board for their quick action in finding a new one. Creech said she had already met with Cammer and found her to be capable of the “Herculean task” of getting New Lebanon’s assessments sorted quickly as deadlines loom.
“Boy, these meetings are really changing,” laughed Benson. “Did we just get thanked?”[/private]