GOSHEN — Voters agreed to appropriate $410,000 in Community Preservation Act funds for the second phase of the Town Hall rehabilitation project after brief discussion at a special Town Meeting Monday.
Some 30 residents came out for the evening meeting and also approved two other articles, adding a flood plain district to the town’s zoning bylaw, and rescinding a debt authorization in the amount of $194,185.
After Bob Labrie questioned whether there were sufficient funds in the CPA account for the town to meet its obligations to open space preservation and affordable housing, Town Administrator Dawn Scaparotti said the appropriation would leave approximately $19,000 remaining in the open space account and just over $114,000 in the housing account.
The appropriation will draw $17,000 from the historic resource reserve and $393,000 from undesignated funds, leaving a balance of just over $100,000 in the undesignated fund, she said.
Monday’s action follows approval of another $400,000 in CPA money for the project at a special Town Meeting in March. Project funds are also bolstered by a $75,000 grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission.
Scaparotti, who is also the coordinator for the Town Hall project, said the original bid for the Phase II work, which includes window and exterior door repairs or replacement, repointing masonry on all facades and repair of the flat roof over the rear extension, was approximately $600,000. That figure has now risen to $800,000, she said, though the actual amount won’t be known until December.
“We need the money to bid the project,” she said.
Also known as John James Memorial Hall, the Town Hall has been a focus of town life since it was completed and opened on July 4, 1911, according to information from Scaparotti. It houses the public library, contains the town vault, serves as the office for the Board of Assessors, and is the primary site for all town meetings and public gatherings as well as being the polling site for all elections. The Town Hall is on the National Register of Historic Places, and also has a preservation restriction on it.
The first phase of repairs was undertaken in 2016 after the town received a grant of emergency funds from the Massachusetts Historical Commission. That work included replacing the original slate roof to stop leaks, repointing two stone parapets at the gable ends, repairing the cement plaster at the front portico, including eight columns, and rebuilding two side entries.
James Pentland can be reached at jpentland@gazettenet.com.