Anyone who has visited Mattapoisett’s ye ole town hall building will see that the structure is in rough shape. After decades of what Town Administrator Mike Lorenco said was the town’s “kicking the can down the road” when it came to improvements, even simple maintenance and the ravishes of continuous use finds it woefully out of step with the needs of the 21st century.
Lorenco was instrumental in finding a way to study the needs of a town hall, along with possible solutions including school consolidation and moving town offices into an underutilized school. To better understand the town’s building assets and the town’s need for safe town office space, the University of Massachusetts Collins School for Public Management was engaged to study municipal buildings, school enrollment and school buildings, as well as fiscal and management needs of the Transfer Station operation.
Coming before the Capital Planning Committee on January 31, Lorenco discussed these matters with an eye towards understanding the financial implications. He began by sharing some of the immediate concerns he has with respect to the Town Hall’s physical health.
“Everything has been done piecemeal,” said Lorenco, describing the three boilers serving the building, one of which that recently required replacement, a leaking gas pipe and vegetation growing out of clogged gutters to name just a few of the problems that linger. “Things pop up with a building that has not been maintained.” And while smaller problems have been handled as they became evident, “There hasn’t been any maintenance over the years,” he said.
To add to the complexity of the problems facing the building, it is located in a FEMA flood zone, has an outdated phone system, flooring with multiple “soft spots,” the likelihood of mold under the carpeting and a cellar that cannot be used due to regular flooding. Simply put, everything is a “hodgepodge” according to the town administrator.
“We are waiting to see what comes out of the Collins study,” Lorenco told the committee. “Do we build a new town hall or consolidate schools?”
Either way, it will prove costly, he said. Regarding any major repair or renovation work on the historic town hall building, Lorenco said everything is on hold for now. He said the study had paused briefly but that it would ramp up again now that the Select Board has agreed that the study should in no way be tied to the work of the Master Plan Committee.
Lorenco said that the Select Board wants to move forward with a solution no later than 2025. In the meantime, early indications from the study seem to indicate that school consolidation is possible, he said. Rough estimates for new construction hover around $13,000,000.
The Transfer Station operation was briefly addressed. Lorenco said that the loader, which needs $40,000 in repairs (a sum approved at the 2021 Spring Town Meeting,) would have to be transported off site. The committee agreed that a placeholder in FY30 in the amount of $150,000 for a new loader is needed, as well as another placeholder in FY27 in the amount of $167,000 for a scale.
Lorenco said that currently without a scale to weigh the items being brought to the Transfer Station, staff members have to “eyeball” the items in order to charge a fee. Lorenco did say that Board of Health Agent Gail Joseph has been successful in initiating a textile-recycling program. He also cautioned that with the sale of ABC Disposal Inc. to a Texas-based firm, new dynamics in the contract are anticipated.
Also coming before the committee was Mattapoisett Public Library Director Jennifer Jones, who agreed to get cost estimates to the committee for new carpeting as well as estimates for repairs to the historic roof section of the building that will be needed in the coming fiscal cycles.
Jones has requested $25,000 in FY23 for outdoor lighting and $10,000 for security cameras both outside and inside the library. For FY26, FY28 and FY30, a sum of $2,500 was placed for computer upgrades. However, that expense may well become part of the operating budget for the library as the committee continues to improve the Capital Planning process.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee is scheduled for Monday, February 7, at 6:00 pm.
Mattapoisett Capital Planning Committee
By Marilou Newell