GREENFIELD — As it awaits structural repairs, Mayor Ginny Desorgher told City Council that Poet’s Seat Tower will not be reopened until the next fiscal year at the earliest.
City councilors voted Wednesday night to use $25,000 in stabilization funds to begin the repair process. The money will be used to hire a structural engineer for $10,000 to provide a more detailed report on the tower’s structural deficiencies and a more precise repair quote, and to fund the $9,000 process to get the tower listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Desorgher had originally requested the council authorize spending $100,000 from stabilization and also borrowing up to $100,000 for the repairs. She has received initial quotes from engineers pricing the repairs at $400,000.
“The structure is in worse condition than we initially realized. … Unfortunately, we expect the tower to remain closed until at least the next fiscal year,” the mayor said.
Desorgher said scaffolding would need to be installed to stabilize the tower and allow an engineer to inspect it safely. In May, a city building inspector conducted a visual inspection and found cracks — including one running from the I-beam under the observation deck to the arched window below — along with degraded welds and gaps in stair treads and crumbling mortar.
Councilors described the tower as an iconic part of Greenfield and agreed that it needs to be repaired, but they were hesitant to approve funding given the city’s fiscal challenges.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable spending $100,000 on this right now,” Precinct 2 Councilor Rachel Gordon said.
Last month, the council rescinded several previously approved capital projects after learning the city may not have the funding, as the state Department of Revenue said it will not certify Greenfield’s roughly $3 million in free cash due to discrepancies in the city’s cash books amid accounting errors that took place in fiscal year 2025.
Precinct 9 Councilor Max Webbe expressed concern about spending $100,000 and asked whether the council could reduce the amount so that the project could begin without the stabilization account taking as big a hit.
Desorgher said the city would look into Community Preservation Act funds and other grants, including those reserved for registered historic sites, to support the repairs.
“I don’t think we should be borrowing anything unless we have to,” Gordon said.
Desorgher said she would support the council reducing the expense, and that allocating an initial $25,000 would allow work to begin and leave a little left over in case any work needs to be done to stabilize the structure for the winter.
Precinct 1 Councilor Katherine Golub said that before she could support spending money on Poet’s Seat Tower, she wanted to see a list of priorities from the Mayor’s Office on other capital projects.
“I would like to see a comprehensive plan from the city of the different priorities before making any capital expenditures, because I’m seeing things that were delayed and I don’t think that this is necessarily of greater, more significant priority,” Golub said.
“I love the Poet’s Seat Tower. It is iconic to Greenfield,” City Council President Lora Wondolowski said. “But when we don’t know what our situation is, it feels really hard to borrow money when we have so many competing interests. I want to make sure our sewage is clean before I worry about the tower.”
Desorgher said that it would be up to the council to determine how to prioritize funding, but she believes that, given the strong public support for the tower, it is important to get repairs started. She added that other priority spending includes sewer system repairs and defibrillators for the emergency services departments.
Desorgher and Finance Director Stephen Nembirkow also shared that an audit of the city’s cash books is underway, and that so far, a few accounting errors have been identified.
“We discovered that our actuarial numbers of employees from FY21 to 23 included about 80 additional employees. This means the OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits) actuarial cost was inflated for those years,” Desorgher said.
The city needs to reconcile $1.97 million in variances in its cash books for fiscal year 2025 that the state Department of Revenue identified between the city’s Accounting Department and Treasurer/Collector’s Office. Nembirkow has said this is due to bookkeeping errors, and there is no deficit or theft of funds.
While the city works to reconcile the books, councilors said the $25,000 expense to begin the Poet’s Seat Tower repair process is still necessary.
“We don’t know what we’re looking at,” Precinct 6 Councilor Patricia Williams said. “We’re basically doing estimates at this point. We need the structural engineer to take a look, do an assessment and give us a formal estimate of what it’s gonna be.”
The council tabled a vote on borrowing money for the tower, as councilors did not feel it was prudent, given the uncertainty around the city’s finances and the cost. However, they did vote to take $25,000 out of the stabilization account to begin work. The motion passed by majority, with Golub as the only “no” vote.
Desorgher said she will return to the council to share updates on repair costs after an engineer is hired and completes a full inspection.
“I love the tower as a destination, a landmark and a beloved icon in Greenfield, and we are fully committed to getting it safely repaired,” the mayor said. “It’s just going to take a little bit of time.”
