by Kieron Kramer
The future of the Watipi Building as a Town property may be in doubt. The Town Board discussed the possibility of divesting the Town of it at the Berlin Town Board meeting on Thursday, September 13. The catalyst for this discussion, which has been considered before, was the opening of the bids to replace the roof on the structure.[private]Not to anyone’s surprise, the roof replacement is pricey although some Board members seemed to hope for a less expensive project. Board Member Richard deLeon said at the end of the meeting, “We have done all this stuff for the Watipi – removed the mold [$4,480], repaired the furnace and now a new roof – we will have spent $20,000 this year alone.” Board Member Tara Cinney agreed with deLeon. “The Watipi Building is a money pit,” she said.
One of the railroad stations of the old Rutland Corkscrew Railroad, the Watipi is an historic building and has a lot of sentimental value to townspeople, having been donated to the Town by Ted and Tommy Cowee in 1954 for use by the Campfire Girls in particular and by other community organizations. Currently it is still being used by the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the Berlin Seniors Club and the American Legion. The Youth Commission Summer Recreation Program moved out of the building last year due to the mold problem and is now held in the Seventh Day Baptist Church Hall. The Director of that program, Tammy Osterhout, is not keen on moving back into the Watipi. The Town Board holds its workshop meetings in the Watipi. Just last year a serious proposal to completely renovate the building for use as Town Offices was proposed. With the imminent acquisition of the shining municipal center in Cherry Plain, all of these activities could, and probably will, be relocated there.
When chunks of money are involved people become less sentimental so the discussion turned to divestiture after the three roof bids were opened. “Hold on to your shorts,” said Town Supervisor Jaeger even before any bids were opened. The Town was looking for a bid on architectural grade asphalt shingling and one on painted metal roofing. According to Code Enforcement Officer Allan Yerton, old shingles on a structure as old as the Watipi Building have to be removed or an engineering study made that determines that the old roof can withstand the added weight of the new shingles. To save money the Town will dispose of the removed shingles. Disposal is no little issue because old shingles often contain asbestos, requiring specific disposal procedures. Town Board members compared the bids with some difficulty because it was not clear whether all the bids specified the same quality of asphalt shingles or explicitly stated that the metal roofing was painted. Some bids seemed to combine the cost of the removal of the old shingles with their disposal. One bid, from Pro Builders in Hoosick, offered the work for either roofing at around $20,000. Several Board Members were prone to rejecting this bid out of hand. One bid from Lecce Construction was for $8,500 for shingles and $9,000 for metal roofing but did not specify the grade of materials that would be used. The bid from Burdick Construction of Berlin was the most responsive to the specifications in the bid request. Burdick would do the shingling work for $12,600 and the metal roof for $9,020. All bids included extra charges for plywood replacement on the roof if needed, and the Board consensus was that there were at least two areas where the plywood would have to be replaced.
The Board agreed that the new roof should be metal in spite of their worries that the snow comes off metal roofs in an avalanche. It was said that a large snow pile falling from the roof would block the exit of fire engines from the fire house across the street. It was said that a senior exiting the building through the back door might be buried by snow when slamming the door. The solutions to these rather whimsical concerns were obvious.
Even though the Burdick bid was pretty responsive and comprehensive, Board Member John Winn said he needed clarification on some issues. Other Board members seemed unconvinced about what course to take. Perhaps they had second thoughts about the project anyway. Town Attorney Don Tate was absent and even a phone call to him did not obtain guidance on what to do. Finally, Cinney made a motion to reject all the bids. Jaeger said the bidding process would begin again.
The options that the Town has about the Watipi were discussed at the end of the meeting when deLeon and Cinney expressed their concerns about the “money pit.” As one resident said, “We could tear it down; that’s what Stephentown did [with their old train station last year].” As has been suggested in the past, the American Legion could be approached about taking over the building because that organization has grant possibilities for renovations of its posts. Len Clapp, who is Commander of the Legion in Berlin, was absent due to illness, but, as someone pointed out, the Legion showed no interest in this possibility the last time it was suggested to them. It was suggested that the building could be transferred to a railroad history organization or buff. Ivan Wager offered the name of a contact for this. Of these choices the only one that isn’t a pipe dream is to tear the building down, and, if the building deteriorates because of the leaky roof, that will end up as the only option.
The likelihood is that the Town will repair the roof and keep the building. Both deLeon and Cinney said they’d hate to see it torn down. Jaeger said, “It is still being used.” It’s not clear to what extent the Watipi is a money pit, without a feasibility study. If the new roof is the last big expenditure for the next 10 years then the expense doesn’t seem so bad. And, some money pits are worth the money. The attachment to the Watipi runs deep. “All of the original wainscotting is still up from years ago,” Jaeger said. Allan Yerton said, “You can still see the marks on the floor where the ticket window used to be,” and Pam Gerstel said, “I have memories there of my childhood.”
Due to space considerations in the print version, the rest of the Berlin Town Board report will appear next week.[/private]