Date: Fri 14-Jun-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Town-Hall-South-renovation

Full Text:

Town Vote Rejects Town Hall South Project

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

The defeat in Tuesday's referendum of a proposal to spend $840,000 renovating

Town Hall South has left town officials scrambling to decide what should be

done with the deteriorating building and the staff that works there.

"Unfortunately this is not an issue where we can do nothing," First Selectman

Bob Cascella told the Legislative Council at its meeting Thursday night.

"Town Hall South is not in a habitable condition. Conn/OSHA (Occupational

Safety and Health Administration) only gave us leeway because we had a plan on

the books to address this problem."

Seven percent of the town's 11,767 registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday's

referendum, defeating the proposed expenditure by a vote of 307 to 537. The

money to renovate the building would have been taken from the town's reserve

account for capital and nonrecurring expenditures which is funded by the

audited budget surplus.

Mr Cascella said the town could do part of the drainage project at Town Hall

South to try to alleviate the flooding problem. Testing would have to be done

first, however, to be sure that spending $30,000 to $50,000 for drainage on

one side of the building will work. The proposed project had included a

curtain drain around the entire building at a cost of $150,000.

Mr Cascella said the town also might consider leasing module units to use for

office space or renting space in empty commercial buildings.

"I'm committed in the long term to move town offices to the Fairfield Hills

campus, but it's not realistic that anything will happen in the next year," he

said. "That probably won't happen for two to three years. We would have to get

a lease from the state, and renovate the building for office space and to

bring it up to code."

In the meantime, he said, "It's unacceptable to have people working in

ankle-deep water, to have mushrooms growing from the floors and insulation

hanging from the walls, and town workers using electrical equipment like

computers in this situation. There is odor from mold and mildew because the

water has been seeping in for more than a year."

The first selectman said he has asked the staffs of town departments to

"brainstorm" to come up with alternative solutions. "I'm looking for thoughts

and ideas," he said. "But if we're limited to $50,000 we'll be hard pressed to

do anything."

Council Vice Chairman Melissa Pilchard asked whether the costs of repairing

the drainage and renting office space would be considered separate items or as

a single solution to one problem. Finance Director Benjamin Spragg said the

town charter only says that a vote, by town meeting, is required for any

non-budgeted expenditure of $50,000 or more for any single item in a fiscal

year.

Mr Cascella said 2,500 square feet of office space is needed for the town's

land use departments which are located in the part of Town Hall South which

repeatedly floods. These departments need to be relocated to a place that will

be convenient for residents to use, he said.

"I'm concerned about the long-term problem," said Council Chairman Joseph

Mahoney. "It's important not to let public buildings deteriorate in the

future. We have an obligation to maintain them."

Mr Mahoney said he has asked Pierre Rochman, who is chairman of the council's

ordinance committee, to investigate whether an ordinance or regulation could

be enacted to require the town to maintain its buildings.

Council member Jack Rosenthal, who served six terms as first selectman, said

an ordinance is "out of order."

"Maintenance is the responsibility of the selectman's office," he insisted.

Mr Cascella acknowledged being upset Tuesday evening after the votes were

tallied in the Middle School gym and said he needs to learn not to take such

defeats personally.

"I want to make a public apology to Joe Mahoney for comments that I made at

the polls," Mr Cascella said, referring to remarks that were made after most

bystanders, including the news media, had left the polls.

"I was quite upset because I had been working for so long with (council

members) Win Ballard and Joe Borst, and (Public Works Director) Fred Hurley to

find a find a solution to the problems at Town Hall South," Mr Cascella said.

The machine vote, which cost the town approximately $3,500, was forced when

Sam Nezvesky and Hugh Quinn, assisted by a few other residents, collected more

than the required 579 signatures on petitions, in effect overturning the vote

of the July 31 town meeting. Both men said they felt the decision on whether

to spend such a large amount of money should be made by more than the few

people who attended the town meeting. Mr Nezvesky said Town Hall South should

be torn down or sold rather than renovated. Mr Quinn said town officials

should look into buying or renting other empty buildings in town.

Besides the curtain drain, Mr Cascella said the proposed renovation project

included about $150,000 to replace the flat roof with a pitched roof, $30,000

for new windows, $100,000 to enclose the parking ramp for future office space,

and about $250,000 to face the entire building in brick. Mildewed interior

walls would have been replaced and tile floors would have been installed.

The building, a former farm equipment salesroom and repair facility, was

purchased by the town from Ruwet-Sibley in December 1978 for $390,000. Voters

approved the expenditure of $600,000 to renovate it for town offices in a

referendum in August 1979. Opponents at that time said the town should

purchase the five-acre parcel owned by the Congregational Church next to

Edmond Town Hall. This site, which included the church house, the old

parsonage and a small cottage, was available for $450,000 in 1979.