Residents voted down Norwell's $5 million town hall plan. Now officials are asking again.

NORWELL − Some residents are questioning the select board's decision to bring back a plan to buy a new town hall building after voters first rejected the proposal in January.

Norwell officials are putting the proposed purchase of a 19,900-square foot, two-story office building at 93 Longwater Circle back before residents at the May 8 special town meeting.

Town resident Liz Bersell, who said she represents a group of her neighbors, said they were surprised to hear that town officials would be asking residents to reconsider their initial decision.

"It doesn’t leave a great taste of democracy in our mouths," she said. "It feels icky. If it fails a town vote, it can just go back to a town vote."

The proposal, which required a two-thirds majority, fell four votes short at a special town meeting in January.

Select board members said it is fairly common for officials to put warrant articles back before residents for a revote, especially when they fail by a small margin. Select board Chair Bruce Graham said the only articles that can't be brought forth consecutively involve zoning.

"This is something that happens all the time," he said. "It wasn't a representative audience, and the presentation wasn't as good in January as it will be in May. I think we’ll get a better outcome."

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Select board member Ellen Allen said 64.6% of voters were in favor of the proposal.

"If we have a normal town meting attendance, we'll have a better read on the community," she said.

The warrant article is asking for permission to cover $5 million in moving expenses and upgrades the building would need to serve as a town hall.

Peter Morin, who recently retired as town administrator, said at the January special town meeting that several studies have been done on the current town hall at 345 Main St., which was built in 1950 and served as a school until 1982. The town started using the building as the town hall in 1984, and Morin said few upgrades have been made since.

Officials started to explore the possibility of buying an office building after the expected cost of renovating the existing town hall came in well above the $5 million budget. Current estimates put the upgrades at $8 million to $12 million.

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Other options include seeking a debt exclusion, or temporary tax increase, to pay to renovate the current town hall. The Longwater Circle purchase would not require a property tax override.

Bersell said residents submitted a list of questions to the select board regarding the potential purchase in hopes of getting some clarifying information. She said the board provided preliminary answers, but some neighbors may still have questions ahead of the May vote.

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Reach Jessica Trufant at jtrufant@patriotledger.com.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Norwell town hall plan to go back before special town meeting May 8