Kennebunkport seeks ways to lower taxpayers' burden for a new Town Hall

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — Options for easing the financial burden of a proposed new town hall on local taxpayers are being explored by a subcommittee.

According to Owens McCullough, an engineer with Sebago Technics, the project is estimated to reflect high post-pandemic expenses and cost as much as $8.8 million.

McCullough and architect Mike Hayes, of Grant Hayes Associates, presented plans and figures and summarized the work of the local Town Hall Building Committee at the Kennebunkport Select Board’s meeting on July 13.

Resident Robin Phillips noted the increase in her taxes and home valuation and expressed concerns about the impact the project could have on her and other property owners in the community.

“Is there no way to get the money without raising our mil rate?” Phillips asked, referring to the amount per $1,000 of valuation property owners pay in taxes each year.

Town Manager Laurie Smith said the town could sell its current town hall property at 6 Elm St. and receive around $1 million. The town also could dip into its capital reserve funds, she added.

“We would hope to bring the project down to a $7 million bond,” Smith said.

Such a bond, over a 20-year period, and at a potential interest rate of 4%, would result in an average annual cost of $500,000, Smith said. That amount would increase the town’s mil rate by 15 cents per $1,000 of valuation.

Select Board member Marybeth Gilbert mentioned a subcommittee, comprising Smith and two members of the Select Board, could be formed to look at additional ways to bring down the figure for taxpayers.

“We would throw everything we could think of on the table,” Gilbert said.

The board approved forming the committee, on which Gilbert and Chair Mike Weston agreed to serve, alongside Smith.

The subcommittee will report back to the full Select Board in August, as the town works toward putting the proposed town hall in the hands of voters this November.

Why new town hall is seen as a need in Kennebunkport

Voters authorized funding for the design and engineering of a new town hall in June 2022. The Select Board awarded the project to Sebago Technics, which was one of three companies to respond to the town’s request for proposals.

The board formed the Town Hall Building Committee in October. Since then, the committee has met six times, worked on eight different designs, and visited four potential sites for the new town hall.

The Kennebunkport Town Hall has been on Elm Street since 1960. Previous efforts to build a new town hall in the 1980s and in 1999 did not succeed. According to town officials, the need for more space for town offices and employees and parking has persisted.

April Dufoe wore three hats as she spoke to the Select Board in support of the project. She is a member of the building committee and chair of the town’s budget board, and she formerly worked for years at the Town Hall.

“What the needs of the town were 62 years ago are not what the needs of the town are today,” Dufoe said. “That building has so long outlived its life span.”

Dufoe said space is so limited that two employees at the town office are sharing a single cubicle.

“We can’t treat our employees like that,” she said. “That is just wrong.”

The town needs to plan for its future, Dufoe added.

“We need a new building, for sure,” she said.

Currently, the town hall is 5,730 square feet of combined office and garage spaces. According to McCullough, the building committee determined that 12,661 square feet – more than double the current space – is needed.

After considering four sites, the committee is showing a preference to have the new town hall built on North Street on part of the Village Parcel the town purchased a few years ago.

The committee looked at keeping the town hall at its current site on Elm Street but concluded the space would not support any kind of expansion.

“If we really tried to renovate the town office and go up, it’d be three stories, and there’d be no place left for parking on the site,” McCullough said.

The committee also looked at 63 Wilde District Road but determined that too would be insufficient, McCullough added.

The committee also considered the current site of the Village Fire Station at 32 North St. The committee did not like the idea of renovating the station and likely having to build out and up at the site, he added.

Resident Melinda Anderson, however, told the Select Board she favors moving the town hall to 32 North St. She expressed concern about the rate of spending in town and said she opposed construction on the Village Parcel, saying it would only lead to more development there.

“If we do North Street, the infrastructure is there,” Anderson said. “The cost could be lowered if we used areas and land that we’re already using.”

McCullough said that the North Street frontage of the Village Parcel site would have enough space for a new town hall and parking and also would have access to public water and sewer.

“The existing town office is about .35 acres,” McCullough said. “The space that we’re looking to occupy for the town offices is approximately two acres.”

After looking at eight possible designs, the committee and Town Hall staff members prefer a one-story structure, referred to as “Alternative H,” that would include economized spaces and added bulk storage, and no basement, stairs or elevators, according to Hayes. The plan provides for 54 parking spaces and pedestrian access from the parking lot and North Street.

If the proposal does go before voters in November, permitting and other requirements would be pursued in the months to follow, according to McCullough. Bidding for the project could happen in June and July 2024, with construction potentially beginning that August and concluding in December 2025.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunkport seeks ways to lower the tax burden of a new Town Hall