Norwich
Christopher Ashley earlier this month criticized the board’s handling of the renovations to the police and fire facilities, saying his colleagues had rushed to get on the ballot. He was the only “no” vote on the bond request last month.
Among the issues he cited were a miscalculation of costs — the board agreed to ask for $1.41 million, but later discovered the total needed to be about $70,000 more — and the possibility that runoff from a new parking lot could inconvenience neighbors.
As it stands, the request from the Selectboard would pay for a combined police and fire station off Main Street with a rough square footage of 5,900.
On Wednesday, Jay White, the Montpelier-based architect designing the improvements, estimated the total cost would be a little more than $1.48 million, including a 15 percent contingency to cover the unexpected.
All the same, White said, the project had been almost entirely thought out — save some details of its mechanical engineering — and he was “very confident” the $1.41 million bond request would cover the work.
Board members already had decided to push back a decision on the price difference rather than place an additional request on the November ballot to close the gap in funds.
Next on Wednesday, White presented a financial analysis of adding net-zero energy measures to the building, showing that those amenities would cost about $87,000 but save about $9,500 annually, thereby paying off the upgrade in less than a decade.
“I feel that you’ve done us a great service with this analysis,” Selectman Steve Flanders said, explaining that White’s description of the costs allowed the board to better describe the plan to voters.
White also addressed concerns from Ashley about drainage from the facility’s parking lot, which abuts a residential neighborhood.
Besides asking a few clarifying questions, Ashley held back from reiterating those criticisms during the meeting.
The Montpelier architect said the current plans called for a smaller parking lot than originally intended, along with impervious pavement, in order to avoid extra expense in obtaining state environmental permits.
“That’s not to say that in the future that we can’t add the parking spaces,” he said.
White also said that the slope of the land on-site mostly was to the south, where there is “a significant amount of space” between the facility and neighbors, along with grass that can absorb water.
“I think our design has solved all the problems for runoff,” White said later, “ … So I think the public can be proud of that.”
Other board members also expressed support for the project, including Selectman Dan Goulet, who said he expected to see the scaled-down plans — a more expensive version failed twice at the polls last year — receive widespread support.
“This whole thing isn’t very controversial,” Goulet said. “ … I think everybody’s on board with it.”
Near the end of the facilities discussion, Fire Chief Steve Leinoff stood up to note that the project was bigger than the Selectboard, the town’s public safety workers, and their respective needs and concerns.
“It’s about the community,” he said, “and how these facilities are important to everyone.”
Board members also scheduled two informational meetings for the public, both at Tracy Hall, on Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. and on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.
Election Day is Nov. 8.
Rob Wolfe can be reached at rwolfe@vnews.com.