Pittsfield Voters Reject
Town Hall Bond Proposal
By Martha Slater

The Pittsfield Town Office Building Renovation Project hit a snag last week when voters turned down a $850,000 bond issue. If approved, that amount would have been reduced by the amount of any grants received for the project.

With 131 of the town’s 349 registered voters casting ballots on Wednesday, April 11, the measure was defeated 76-54 (one ballot was spoiled). With the estimated net interest cost of the bond at 4.232%, on average, over the 20 years, based on the 2006 grand list, a home assessed at $100,000 would have had an annual property tax increase of $69.49.

Contacted the day afterward, Pittsfield Selectboard chair Suana Bicek told The Herald that she was surprised by the results of the vote.

"All the feedback we had at previous meetings was positive," She said. "Then, on Tuesday night, a lot of people were there who were opposed to the bond and they were very vocal about it and tried to influence everyone. Some of those people even went so far as to put unsigned flyers at the polling place on Wednesday."

About 50 people attended the final informational meeting at the town hall the night before the vote. Bicek and building committee chair Henry Hotchkiss gave a brief history of the project starting in 2002 with the formation of the ADA committee and then later the building committee.

The report noted that the office building is not in compliance with the 1990 federal ADA law and the vault needs to be tripled in size. There is water infiltration on the lower level, which has caused a mold and mildew problem in the basement that is affecting the permanent records and the employees.

In addition, the second floor is not structurally sound, the electrical and plumbing systems need to be brought up to code, the building needs to be insulated, and the windows and bell tower need repair. The library and historical society have requested space in the building.

Hotchkiss explained that grant applications could not be made until there was a favorable bond vote.

The Two Rivers Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission will help write an accessibility grant.

Town clerk Patty Haskins noted that although there were indeed many grants that weren’t available because of the municipal office being in the building, there were other grants out there that could be accessed.

Architect Mark McManus and the selectboard responded to a number of topics brought up by residents. McManus estimated the project’s price per square foot to be about $234. He said that at several annual town meeting discussions and special meetings, townspeople instructed the committee to renovate the existing building while doing the minimum necessary to address the needs.

Haskins added that the proposal was designed to try to take care of the needs of the town office for the next 30 to 40 years.

Asked if a brand new building would cost less, McManus replied that the town could certainly get a new building for that money, but that they probably would not get the same square footage.

Questions were also asked about heating costs, and a sprinkler system, and one person suggested saving money by filling the basement with dirt.

Chuck Colton commented that if the proposed project were completed, the existing building would be like new when done; re-wired, insulated, new mechanical systems, etc. He commented that if a new building were constructed, something would still need to be done with the existing building. It would still need to be brought up to code, made ADA accessible, maintained, heated, etc., so there would still be costs involved in keeping the existing building.

Bicek told The Herald April 12 that she was disappointed, but philosophical, noting that "only about a third of the checklist voted and the measure was defeated by just 22 votes.

"We as a committee have to move on. We still have to do something about the two main issues: the water infiltration problems and the need for a vault to preserve town records. We’ll put our heads together and come up with a solution. We can do it!"

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