In Yesterdays News: Senior Center Building Committee seeks funds at special Town Meeting Joseph Benavidez News Staff Writer WESTMINSTER — After a lengthy discussion, the Capitol Planning Committee and Advisory Board have decided to support the Senior Center Building Committee as they seek additional funds to finish the senior center at 69 West Main Street. Initially, in January 2014, the town agreed to pass a $2.5 million debt exclusion funding the project. The town will hold a special Town Meeting Tuesday, July, 22 asking residents to consider supporting a $250,000 debt exclusion which would allow for construction on the building to be completed. Capitol Planning voted 3-1 in favor of asking the town for $250,000 in additional funds. John Fairbanks cast the sole vote in opposition. Also on Tuesday, the Advisory Board voted 4-1 with Jim DeLisle withholding support of the motion made to ask residents to approve a $185,000 debt exclusion and a one-time use of $65,000 from the Capitol Improvement Stabilization fund to meet the project’s fiscal needs. “We owe it to the people to let them vote,” Mr. DeLisle said, noting he beleived that the full $250,000 should be placed on the ballot. “They voted on (the debt exclusion) once and they should be able to vote on it again — they need to see the honest picture.” Town Administrator Karen Murphy agreed with Mr. DeLisle but supported the idea of using stabilization fund money to pay the deficiency. “I’m worried about paying our bills,” she said. Mr. DeLisle said he believes that if the full $250,000 debt exclusion failed at the ballot, then the town should host another Special Town Meeting to vote on the $65,000 to pay the deficiency. The Senior Center Building Committee originally asked the Capitol Planning Committee for a $460,000 funding influx, but after a discussion members agreed $250,000 was more likely to pass both the Town Meeting and fall ballot. The Senior Center committee agreed to remove additional projects — such as adding a portico and having an extensive kitchen exhaust system — to reduce expenses. “We need to get whatever money is needed to finish the building and then get the contractors out,” Mr. DeLisle said. “There’s no way we would accept this if this was our money and our home.” Mr. DeLisle said the priority was to finish the building and then assess what projects needed to be finished. Capitol Planning was especially concerned with the request for a $23,920 storage shed. “If we pass $460,000, they’ll spend $460,000,” member Steve Rocheleau said. “A reasonable amount of money is needed to pass election,” Town Clerk Denise MacAloney continued. “The bottom-line is the need to finish that building.” Westminster resident Gary McDonald said he was pleased that the Senior Center Building Committee had reduced their request, noting that the debts the building has acquired were extremely unexpected. He said seeing officials willing to compromise made him feel better about the process. His wife Cathy disagreed. “It’s frustrating (that they are over budget),” Ms. McDonald said. “Someone should be held accountable.” Ms. McDonald added that it would be nice to see the building completed. According to the Senior Center Building Committee, the project has faced problems since day one. One of the earliest issues was discovering ledge — a type of rock that can cause problems with drainage and septic systems — on the construction site. The committee had taken the necessary measures to estimate the amount of ledge removal needed, however, the original estimate was significantly low when compared to the actual amount of ledge found. The project also faced additional expenses when scheduling issues arose and students from Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School were unable to assist with the building, forcing the contractor to take on additional responsibilities. The committee had initially budgeted to save $260,000 with the work Monty Tech would have completed. Selectman Wayne Walker said that he wanted the Senior Center Building Committee to provide a line-by-line budget of where the funds went and a line-by-line budget of how the additional funds, if approved, would be spent at the Special Town Meeting. The Special Town Meeting will be held July 22 at the Westminster Elementary School at 7:30 p.m.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 17:22:39 +0000
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