O.B. weighs town hall options

Oak Bluffs selectmen began to weigh their options for the possible future of a new town hall after a ballot vote in November failed to appropriate enough money to secure a bid for the project.

At a selectmen’s meeting Tuesday, the passionate discussion became a back and forth between selectmen, town hall building committee members, and members of the public as several ideas were offered on how the town should move forward with the project that is stuck in limbo.

One of the biggest issues is the temporary town hall trailers. The town is seven months into an 18-month lease for the trailers that were meant to house town employees while the new town hall was built. The trailers, which cost $8,200 a month, are paid for from the $9.8 million that was appropriated at annual town meeting in April 2017. The appropriated money included the cost for the trailers, design plans for the new town hall, and what turned out to be not enough money for the new town hall.

“Everything about the trailers is super-important. The fact that we have them is concerning enough, but I think also we need to establish a direction, and that kind of informs our position about the trailers,” selectman Brian Packish said.

Town administrator Robert Whritenour said the town should keep the trailers as a backup because the cost of decommissioning them would be in the ballpark of $100,000, which is what the town has to pay for the remainder of the lease.

Whritenour suggested the town look at renovating the current town hall and bringing it up to code. The major concerns with the current town hall are the lack of compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, significant problems with the building’s foundation, and the electrical and HVAC systems, which Whritenour called “substandard.”

The issue with renovating the current town hall is whether the town should focus on a short-term solution like replacing the heating system and windows, or a long-term solution that would completely gut the building and redesign it.

Selectman Greg Coogan said voters wanted a new town hall when the money was approved at the annual town meeting, and that the town should work with the money that was approved and see what can be built.

Other selectmen disagreed. While the money was approved, the town is not able to give voters the building they were promised.

“Things have changed a little bit. We now have a lot bigger things on the horizon that we know we need to fund,” said Packish. “I’d like to see us get a new and independent set of eyes that hasn’t been down the wormhole that we’ve already been down, give us an exploration around the building that we already have.”

“I think it’s a great idea to know what it would cost to do a more long-term renovation,” selectman Jason Balboni said.

Balboni said the town needs to explore renovations on the current town hall and look at what they can build with the money they have: “Unfortunately it’s not what was designed.”

“I just feel like no matter what you guys come up with, you can’t keep only having one contractor bid,” Oak Bluffs resident Rich Weiss told selectmen. “You only have one guy coming in and bidding on it; we’re not going to get what we want for what we want to pay.”

Packish pointed out the town is consistently on a “one-bid cycle.”

Both the town hall and the approved $7.8 million Oak Bluffs School improvement project received bids from Maron Construction of Providence.

Building committee members Walter Vail, Steve Auerbach, and Richard Toole agreed the town should “try again” for another vote to get the town hall they want.

Toole called the public bidding process “abysmal,” and said the town needs to talk to state legislators to change the way projects can be bid and have local contractors do the projects.

Vail told selectmen people did not understand if they should vote yes or no, and did not know what a Proposition 2½ debt exclusion was.

A Proposition 2½ debt exclusion raises property taxes for a limited or temporary period of time to fund a specific capital project like building a new town hall. A Proposition 2½ override is similar, but it increases property taxes indefinitely, and is usually for an ongoing expense the town needs to fund now and in the future.

“I have a really hard time thinking that I would go back to the town and say, ‘Can you vote on this again, because I didn’t believe you the first time,’” Packish said.

Despite varying opinions, selectmen did agree that they need to establish a clear direction together, study the potential for renovations at the current town hall, bring in an outside consultant, and continue to explore all options.

“We owe it to the employees of this town hall to do something. I know people in that building right now that are ready to jump ship working under those conditions,” selectman Mike Santoro said.

“We need to look at numbers and at plans and find out what we can afford to build,” Balboni said. “A vote is a vote … it failed … Everybody can say ‘everybody I talked to said this’ or ‘everybody I talked to said that’ — I had people on both sides. But everybody I talked to said the town needs to live within its means because I do, and they can’t just continue to raise the price of stuff.”

Selectmen plan to continue the town hall discussion at the board’s next meeting on Jan. 8.