Date: Fri 14-Jun-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Town-Hall-South-renovation

Full Text:

Town Meeting To Consider Town Hall South And Road Reconstruction

A town meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 31, at 6:30 pm, in the

conference room at Town Hall South to vote on proposals to spend $840,000 to

renovate Town Hall South and $650,000 on road reconstruction.

Legislative Council has recommended that the money to renovate Town Hall South

should come from the town's Reserve Fund for Capital and Non-Recurring

Expenditures and that the $650,000 for road reconstruction be financed through

long-term bonds.

The Town Hall South project includes a new pitched roof to replace the

existing flat roof, new single-hung windows to replace the existing sliders,

brick siding on all four sides of the building, a major repair of the curtain

drain around the building and enclosure of the parking ramp area to create

5,000 square feet of additional space for future office expansion.

Carpeting repeatedly soaked by leaks in the lower level will be replaced with

tile flooring. New sheetrock will be installed in the damaged areas of the

Planning & Zoning office, any damaged studs will be replaced and the

electrical system will be repaired.

The work will be done by Clearheart Construction, Inc, the Bethel firm that

was the low bidder at $678,000. Another $30,000 is needed for site development

which includes such expenses as landscaping, paving, curbing, striping the

parking lot and minor drainage work, most of which will be done with town

labor. About $10,000 will be needed to relocate the 911 unit and antennas on

the building, which also houses the police department.

Architect John Madzula of Newtown said $105,000, or about 15 percent of the

project cost, will be set aside for contingencies, and $17,000 for

architect/engineer fees.

During the construction, the built-up roof will be torn off but the metal

decking will remain and will be covered to prevent rain from leaking in. The

police department, on the building's upper level, must be able to remain in

operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Mr Madzula said. Other town

employees, on the lower level, may be temporarily moved to the conference room

while work is being done in the Planning & Zoning Office.

Mr Madzula said the decision was made to spend about $150,000 to enclose the

parking ramp for future office space because it was the most cost-effective

thing to do. If the town paid to demolish the ramp, and later needed the

additional space, it could cost $500,000, he said.

The architect said the decision was made to include $105,000 for contingency

because it isn't known yet whether there may be contaminated soil that would

have to be disposed of as hazardous waste. Before the town bought the property

in the mid-1970s, the building served as a farm implement salesroom and repair

facility.

A committee, which included Mr Cascella, Public Works Director Fred Hurley and

Legislative Council members Joe Borst and Win Ballard, has been overseeing the

planning of the project.

In recent years, trying to end the practice of bonding as much as $2 million a

year for road reconstruction, the Legislative Council has made efforts to put

at least part of the expenditure into the annual budget. Last year $1 million

was in the budget, the other $1 million was bonded. This year the council put

$1,350,000 into the budget with the intent of bonding the other $650,000. The

$350,000 was cut from the budget, however, after the budget was defeated by 85

votes in the April referendum.