TURNERS FALLS — As Montague town officials plan for presenting a proposal for a new Department of Public Works building, concerns about the price tag, and how to sell the project to the town are continuing.
At a meeting between the Public Works Facility Planning Committee and the Capital Improvements Committee on Wednesday afternoon, Town Administrator Steve Ellis said the town will seek approval of funding at the town meeting in May, but plans to present tentative plans on the building at the special town meeting in March.
Ahead of those steps are Capital Improvements votes to recommend the project or not, one that sends that recommendation to the town’s Finance Committee.
The Capital Improvements Committee works to balance the needs of the towns and help prioritize different projects and serves as another check to make sure the Public Works Facility Planning Committee has done its due diligence on the proposal.
“We’re still trying to wrap our heads around the cost,” Committee member Greg Garrison said.
The proposal’s $11.5 million price tag is more than town officials initially expected. Labor costs and regulations for a Public Works Facility like this one are two main drivers of costs.
The committee has made previous cuts from the new proposal, so the new building as currently projected, will hold about 70 percent of the department’s equipment. Several existing structures would have to be maintained in addition to the new building, something Ellis and others have raised concerns about.
“I don’t like a 50-year solution with a built-in problem,” Ellis said.
The building plan still has to go through several stages of approval and planning before the May town meeting where the town will decide the project’s fate.
“We just to get it right when we do it,” Ellis said.
The current building is out of compliance with state regulations and does not have enough storage for the needs of the department.
The plans were introduced by the Public Works Facility Planning Committee and are the product of two studies the town commissioned about the feasibility of a new public works building over the course of 2015 and 2016. Previous town meetings authorized the funding for the feasibility studies.
Town officials are in clear consensus about the need for a new building. The current building at 500 Avenue A in Turners Falls was built in 1948 and has several major issues that have been the catalyst for the project.
According to documents on the town website, the building is 68 years old and has never been renovated. It has no sprinkler system, is not ADA accessible, does not meet current plumbing or mechanical codes and it lacks enough space for equipment storage.
Additionally, the employee lockers are in a hallway, and employee facilities are undersized. Some of the equipment is stored outside because there is not storage space inside, creating additional wear on the equipment.
The new building, if approved by the town, would be off Sandy Lane, behind the Judd Wire complex. It would be about 27,000 square feet and have a pre-engineered metal frame.