(6/13) In front of a packed crowd, the Woodsboro Town Council split 2 to 2 on the proposal to move forward with building the town’s first Town Hall, setting up Burgess Heath Barnes’ first tie breaking vote as Burgess. With a decided "yes" on his part, the deal was done.
But getting to the final vote was not easy by any measure.
In 2018, under direction from the former Town administration, Woodsboro purchased a lot at 503 S. Main St., which was considered a prime location for an official Town Hall. Unfortunately for the town, the width of the lot was not large enough for the building's fit. So, in 2022, the Town purchased the JR Sports Bar and Restaurant lot, which was almost double the size of the original lot location.
All was going according to plan until the initial round of bids set everyone back on their heels. When the Town began the process several years back, the Town was prepared to spend $800,000. That estimate was blown out of the water when the bids came in, the lowest bid being $1.6 million. As a result, Barnes and the Council have been actively reevaluating what amenities are needed to create the type of Town Hall they envisioned while reducing the price tag to a level the Town can afford.
Working closely with the contractor selected to build the Town Hall, the Town was able to get the cost of the actual building down to $1,040,000. Not included in this figure was $356,000 for site work, i.e. grading, paving, driveways, &c., for a total of $1,396,000.
The final figure, which was revealed to the Town Council at the June meeting, stunned the Council, who expressed concern over spending that sum of money while the Town was facing unknown costs associated with upgrading the town’s water and sewer systems.
Barnes, however, made an impassioned case for moving forward, citing Town Councils had been talking about the need for its own Town Hall for years, asking the Council "if not now, when?" Barnes noted that prices are not going to go down and if the vote was delayed, "who knows what it will cost us in a year or two?"
"We always get to this point and then waver," he said. Barnes recommended the Town draw $200,000 from its General Fund to reduce the amount of money the Town would have to borrow. "Between the $400K in state grant money and $200K from the General Fund, we’ll only have to borrow $800K, which will result in a monthly mortgage of $4,600," he said.
Barnes walked the Council through the financing of the Hall, stating that thanks to the Council’s decision to increase the Town’s property tax rate – the Town would be receiving $60,000 more in property tax revenue, more than enough to pay for the mortgage on the building, he said.
Commissioner Ruttelmeyer concurred on Barnes’ logic but suggested the Town draw $300K from the General Fund to reduce the mortgage even more. But that suggestion was nixed by his fellow commissioners, who were worried about depleting the General Fund and leaving the Town unable to cover unknown future expenses.
Commissioner John Cutshall proposed the Town go out for another bid in hopes of getting a lower one to consider. But Barnes pointed out that the Town had signed a contract with the contractor, and they could not legally seek another bid unless the contractor agreed to opt out, "and even then, we have no idea if another round will result in a larger cost, as costs have already gone up since this bid was submitted."
Commissioner Jessie Case proposed delaying the final vote for a month. But when pressed by Barnes on what he would do during that time, Case shrugged his shoulders and said he "just want to take the time to look over the proposed details of the building."
Case’s response drew a friendly rebuke from Barnes who repeated that the Council had been briefed repeatedly on the building and had been "thinking it over for years now."
The dye was cast however when Barnes called for a show of hands in support of the new Town Hall by the residents in the meeting who had witnessed the give-and-take between the commissioners, with 75% raising their hands in response.
The display of support swayed Commissioner Bud Eckenrode to call for a motion to approve the building of the Town Hall, which was seconded by Rittelmeyer. The pair joined to support the Town Hall in the official vote. With Case and Cutshall voting nay, Barnes cast his first tie-breaking vote.
The final vote was based upon the Town only drawing $200K from the General Fund. The Town will finance the construction with a 26-year adjustable-rate mortgage with the first five years set at 4.75%.
The 2,960 square-foot building will include a conference room on the right immediately upon entrance, with the town manager’s office on the left, adjoining the file room. Burgess’s office will be adjacent to the front conference hall. The middle of the building will consist of a "kitchenette" and bathrooms, with the back part of the Hall set aside as a large conference room with the ability to seat 40.
Barnes noted that one of the nicest revisions to the plans was the segmentation of the Hall into two parts, which would allow the front section to be locked while allowing the back section, including the bathrooms, to be used by groups like the Lions Club without worrying about the security of Town offices or records.
Construction is set to begin on the Town Hall this summer.
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