Marion Town House Building Committee members and the Board of Selectmen regrettably agreed on December 1 that in order for the Town to reach an affordable option for the town house renovation project, the senior center and library expansion aspects must be removed from the equation entirely.
The general initial reaction from the public, said Building Committee Chairman Robert Raymond, was great concern over the cost of both options the committee presented: the $12.5 million Option A to renovate and expand the town house, and the $28 million Option B to renovate the town house, expand the library and build a senior center, joining all three together in one building.
“We’re kind of at a crossroads now,” said Raymond. Ensuing discussion with selectmen and Town Administrator Paul Dawson distilled down to only one viable solution – abandoning the senior center and library ideas and having the engineer explore a scope reduction in the town house renovation only. The other two ideas must now follow their own paths separate from the town house renovation, possibly with state or private funding.
“I think, ultimately, [the town house] is the focus and if we can get the other stuff (senior center and library) then great, but if we can’t….” said Selectmen Chairman Stephen Cushing. And as for private funding for municipal projects, he said, perhaps there is some out there….
“But I don’t see any of it in this room beating the door down trying to give it to us,” Cushing said.
Dawson said that hopefully the other two projects have come along far enough to branch off as independent projects, considering the development of current programming and the assessment of the need in the community. Otherwise, none of the projects will get approval by Town Meeting.
“I don’t think we have another ten years to wait before this building starts literally caving in,” Cushing said.
Building Committee member Bill Saltonstall shared his uneasiness with the cost estimates, especially in light of the looming concern over the future of the town’s wastewater treatment facility and whether or not the town will be forced to make costly multi-million dollar improvements mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency.
“I can’t believe that the voters of the town right now would opt [for] the most expensive of the two solutions,” said Saltonstall. And even if the committee went to Town Meeting to propose reducing costs by scaling down the two options, “It might result in a painful process to reduce costs by ten percent or fifteen percent … but not a whole lot.” He said he was uncomfortable even proposing it.
So where do we go from here, wondered Raymond. Do we form two more committees, one for a senior center and one for an expanded library?
“I think we should just go forward with the Option A right now,” said Selectman Jody Dickerson, opting to move ahead and not “hold up” a town house renovation.
Dawson praised the committee for its work, saying he felt the committee fulfilled its task and studied the matter from all possible angles. Raymond said the committee needed another week or two to find the next step towards the new direction it is heading and decide.
“For how many years now have we kicked this can down the road?” said Cushing. “We’ve kicked this can so much there’s almost no can left to kick.”
Also during the meeting, selectmen gave the Energy Management Committee the green light to move forward in the grant process that could result in the town’s acquisition of three fully-electric leased vehicles in the near future.
Chairman for the committee Jennifer Francis gave selectmen a three-year cost-saving analysis they asked for, calling it a conservative assessment using the current low gasoline prices which Francis said would certainly rise again.
Francis said the town would save a minimum of $30,000, including revenue by selling three older town vehicles and taking on the electric BMW i3 vehicles. She reiterated that no capital investment on behalf of the town was required for this project.
Selectmen asked a few benign questions and voted in favor of allowing the grant application process to move forward in Selectman Jonathan Henry’s absence.
“We gave him his chance to speak,” said Cushing jokingly, acknowledging how the selectmen held off on a vote last meeting so Henry could be included in the conversation.
In other matters, Indian Cove resident Ruth Nicolaci gave selectmen grief over their subsequent post-Town Meeting action to move forward with an application to fund a feasibility study about connecting Indian and Aucoot Cove residents and some Mattapoisett residents to an expanded Marion sewer system.
Town Meeting tabled selectmen’s request to provide $50,000 to match a $200,000 grant that would allow the town to explore the feasibility of such a project – a motion Dawson said could possibly cast a positive light on the town in front of the EPA as it decides on the conditions of the town’s new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.
Nicolaci said she viewed the selectmen’s actions in moving forward with the grant anyway as ignoring the Town Meeting vote.
“If it wasn’t illegal, it was certainly disgusting,” Nicolaci said.
Dawson explained that the town was no longer seeking the funding approval from Town Meeting because conditions of the grant allow the town to contribute in-kind services regarding the grant proposal in lieu of a cash contribution. Town Meeting may have tabled the request to appropriate money to secure the grant, but the matter as a whole, he said, was never voted down.
“Any actions we can take at this point … to find ways to reduce nitrogen loading … only helps us in terms of how the EPA approaches the permits,” said Dawson. “It’s simply a feasibility study to see if this makes sense.”
The next meeting of the Marion Board of Selectmen is scheduled for December 15 at 7:00 pm at the Marion Music Hall.
