STRAFFORD — Voters at Town Meeting will be asked to approve $300,000 to purchase a property for new town offices.
By approving the funds, voters would authorize the Selectboard to conduct a feasibility study on 7 Justin Morrill Memorial Highway — known as the Tilles property — which is near the community gathering spot Barrett Memorial Hall in South Strafford.
“Right now they’re willing to talk to us without putting it on the market, which feels like a rare opportunity and gracious gesture and we want to jump on it,” said Selectboard member Mary Linehan.
The property has roughly 3,500 square feet of space for the town offices on a little more than an acre. That includes a two-bedroom, 888-square-foot house, a detached garage and shed that have around 1,000 square feet total, and barn that could provide further 1,600-square-feet of space.
“I think it’s a perfect location for this with more room for expansion, more room for meetings and everything that we need,” Selectboard Chairwoman Toni Pippy said.
An informational meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, via Zoom to discuss the warning. More information can be found at straffordvt.org.
According to estimates drawn up by the five-person Selectboard, the cost to taxpayers would be offset by the sale of the current town office building, other town-owned properties, money from the town’s reserve accounts and grant funding totaling an estimate of $520,154. The cost to purchase the Tilles property, renovate it and buy a vault is estimated at $550,000, which would leave taxpayers on the hook for $29,846.
“I feel like if this goes out on the market and we don’t take advantage of it, they can get a lot more for it,” Pippy said.
Town officials started talking two decades ago what to do about the current town offices, located at 227 Justin Morrill Highway. The building, which is part of Strafford’s historic district, is not ADA accessible, lacks parking and does not have enough space for town officials to do their jobs. Currently, visitors can park at a nearby private property, but if the owner were to sell, there is no guarantee that the arrangement would continue, Linehan said.
“This has certainly been on the docket for a very long time and my feeling is because the Selectboard has changed from term to term, the initiative sort of fades or it gets lost,” Pippy said.
In the early 2000s, there was talk of moving the town office to the nearby Brick Store, but it was determined it wasn’t large enough. In 2019, the Selectboard put together a proposal for $400,000 to renovate the current town offices, but the plan was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic and never went before voters. While that proposal would have brought the building into ADA compliance, there were drawbacks.
“It was going to give us no more space to work,” Linehan said.
There is also no land to expand the building. Since the town offices are in the historic district, there are limitations to what renovation work could be done as well.
“I understand the historical aspect of it, but we can’t let that hold back progress and addressing the needs of the town office,” Pippy said. “The only way we would get more space from this building is if we put another floor in.”
The pandemic also emphasized issues that were already facing town officials, like limted space to hold meetings. There was scant space for social distancing. Then last fall a utility pole fell on the roof of a stairway that goes to the second floor, causing more damage. While it was fixed to allow for people to continue to work, the larger issues were not addressed. An engineer who examined the damage found rot that had grown worse in the two years since the engineer had last inspected the building. It would cost $150,000 just to stabilize the building.
“We were all faced with the depth of the problem,” Linehan said.
In spring 2021, the Selectboard formed a committee to look at town office options. They delivered a report in September that went through 10 different sites, including the town garage, the park and ride and the town’s two fire stations. The committee recommended town officials either purchase property that could be converted into town offices or land on which to put a new building. The Tilles property, according to the Selectboard, meets those needs.
Since town officials started discussing the town office building two decades ago, the building has been repaired to keep it going without making significant changes.
“We’re throwing money into something that’s a Band-Aid,” Pippy said.
If the article fails, the Selectboard will continue to look for other properties and may consider renovating the current space.
“We need to make it safe for sure,” Linehan said.
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
