SOUTH HADLEY – The South Hadley Electric Light Department’s new municipal building planned for Willimansett Street could be one of the most expensive municipal building projects in the town’s history, with estimated cost between $35 million and $38 million.
“The number scares the crap out of me,” SHELD Municipal Light Board member Ron Coutu said during a June 22 meeting. “As much as it will be 1 cent, 2 cent, 3 cent per kilowatt hour, if you just do the math, $30-plus million for 8,000 customers comes to thousands of dollars per customer over the life of the project.”
SHELD began discussions to move out of South Hadley Falls over a decade ago, aiming to withdraw from the flood plain. While renovations to the current location at 85 Main St. are minute compared to building new, the structure’s location in a 100-year flood plain poses a major risk as flooding worsens in western Massachusetts.
“There’s the actual day-to-day cost of staying, and then there’s the catastrophic cost of staying,” Municipal Light Board member Paul Dobosh said. “One of the things that’s quite clear is that the likelihood of a catastrophe is growing.”
PCM Company, the project’s owner-project manager, approximated the building’s cost based on draft designs from 2014 and 2015. On July 24, SHELD received three requests for proposals from architects to finalize the building, which the board will review. Construction is still some time away, and the new building is projected to be finished sometime in 2027, according to the board’s April 24 meeting minutes.
The Municipal Light Board is toward the end of negotiating the purchase of a 5-acre property between Willimansett Street and Old Lyman Road, just beyond the Big Y parking lot.
“The number scares the crap out of me.”
Ron Coutu
Coutu asked the board to consider downsizing the project or building only a garage on the new parcel instead of a full building. This way, he reasons, the main equipment is outside the flood plain and office building – the largest cost of the project – can be removed from the price tag.
“If we build a new Moiser [Elementary] School, that’s a big expenditure,” Coutu said. “We’re already talking about a [Proposition] 2 ½ override. It’s coming out of different budgets, but in the end, it’s out of the same pocket.”
SHELD General Manager Sean Fitzgerald advised against Coutu’s suggestion, but added that he’s at the whim of the board.
“If we are to pivot and change to have a garage here and office here, we need to decide that soon because we are full on pursuing an architect to design this building,” he said.
The Municipal Light Board will hold a public forum on Sept. 10 about the project to gage ratepayer comments, questions and concerns.
