Kennebunkport’s town hall dilemma: A must-do or a bit overdone?

KENNEBUNKPORT, Maine — As voters get ready to decide the fate of a proposed new town hall, the project is proving to have its fair share of supporters and those expressing concerns.

Select Board Chair Michael Weston, for example, called the project a “must-do” during a recent interview, while one resident called the proposed size of the new town hall “a bit overdone” during a meeting on Sept. 28.

During the upcoming election on Tuesday, Nov. 7, voters will decide whether to let the local Select Board spend up to $8.8 million to build and equip a new town hall on the Village Parcel on North Street. The town is seeking to issue up to $8 million bond and to use $800,000 from the town’s reserve funds.

The current town hall at 6 Elm Street is more than 60 years old and has become too cramped for municipal staff and services, according to town officials. Weston said it would be disappointing if voters did not approve the project.

“It’ll be disappointing if the town people have to work in crowded conditions,” he said. “There’s no privacy when you come in to register something ... your life is hanging out there ... It’s people on people.”

If voters approve the project, presented as Question 3 on the ballot, the town will try to reduce the bond to $5.8 million through the sales of the current Town Hall at 6 Elm Street and town-owned lands on Beachwood Avenue and School Street as well as fundraising.

On the warrant for the election, the proposed sale of the School Street property, located next to Parson Field, is listed as a separate question from the overall project. If Question 3 does not pass, the town will not sell the parcel.

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Town officials make case for new town hall

According to the town, the need for a new municipal office surfaced more than 20 years ago, as increases in staffing, services and records started leading to cramped spaces. The town conducted a programming space analysis in 2019.

An expected transition to a per-diem firefighting crew at the North Street fire station will lead to the town losing its current space for Select Board meetings and voting during elections, according to town officials.

Originally, the proposed town hall was estimated to cost around $4 million, according to Weston. However, the project got put on hold during the pandemic, and construction costs skyrocketed as the global health crisis came to pass, Weston added.

“I recognize that it’s a big cost, but from the time COVID started to now, building costs ... have gone from, like, $250 a square foot to $450 a square foot,” Weston said.

Voters authorized funding for the design and engineering of a new town hall in June of 2022. The Select Board awarded the project to Sebago Technics, which was one of three companies to respond to the town’s request for proposal. A building committee, formed in October last year, met numerous times, working on eight different designs and visiting four potential sites, ultimately recommending the Village Parcel.

Previous efforts to build a new town hall in the 1980s and 1999 did not succeed.

The current town hall has 5,730 square feet of combined office and garage spaces. The building committee determined that 12,661 square feet are needed.

Of the eight designs, the town chose 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.

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How much will now town hall cost taxpayers?

According to the town, the potential impact of a 20-year, $8.8 million bond on the local mil rate would be 17 cents per thousand of property valuation. The impact on a property worth $500,000, for example, would be an $86.15 increase in annual taxes to the town.

If the project is approved and the town succeeds in whittling down the bond to $5.8 million through offsets, then the tax impact would become 11 cents per thousand of valuation – an additional cost of $54.82 to that property valued at $500,000.

Currently, the town is exploring solar power for the new town hall, given the increases in utility costs that are expected if the project is improved. Utilities at the Elm Street site cost roughly $17,050 per year, whereas those at the proposed new town hall would cost more than $36,000.

If approved, the permitting and continued designing of the building would begin promptly and would be expected to last through May 2024, according to town documents. The project would go out to bid in the summer of 2024, with construction aimed to start in August. A target completion date is December 2025

In September, the Select Board authorized the Nov. 7 ballot and held a presentation and public hearing on the town hall question and others. So far, in October, there have been two open houses at the current town hall, so that residents could get a look at the conditions of the facility.

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Proposed project garners pushback from some residents

Not everyone is on board with the project. During the Select Board meeting on Sept. 28, some residents pushed back on it for a few reasons.

Resident Charlie Arnold, for example, thought the town hall plans, as presented, were “nebulous.”

“It might be better to have a firm design that everybody can see and can be cost out properly, so we know what we’re paying for,” Arnold said.

Arnold also expressed concern about the potential financial impact to taxpayers if voters approved the project, but the town was not able to sell properties as offsets.

Resident Wayne Burbank suggested that the town hold off on the project until more of the Village Parcel is paid off. Voters approved the purchase of the Village Parcel a few years ago.

“I think we’re getting in way over our head,” Burbank said.

Resident Melinda Anderson said she wondered why a “more moderate” town hall, one that voters could support, was not being proposed.

“Twelve-thousand square feet feels overdone,” she said.

For more information about the proposal, visit the town’s website.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Kennebunkport voters to decide on $8.8 million town hall project