An April 17 vote by the Board of Selectmen shocked many in our community. With 11 days to go before the Annual Town Meeting, and citing bottom-line cost without regard for community impact or previous town input, Selectmen Bill Johnson and Ron Ricci, with Peter Warren’s agreement, pushed through a vote to relocate the Town Hall offices to the old library during a potential renovation of Town Hall.
This would effectively terminate the Pilot Project, displace the veterans’ agent and Harvard Cable, and impact about a dozen town committees and boards who meet regularly at the old library.
This vote was precipitous and poorly thought out, as evidenced by many factors:
- The voters have not yet had a chance to decide whether or not to endorse the Town Hall renovations.
- The voters have not yet heard the Pilot Project annual report.
- There have been thousands of volunteer hours put into the Pilot Project, yielding an ever-growing number of creative possibilities for continued use of the old library, ideas waiting to be vetted and possibly implemented.
- Town input to this point has been decidedly supportive of the Pilot Project.
- The Board of Selectmen did not have comprehensive data to perform a substantive cost-to-benefit analysis—in short, do their due diligence for the Town Hall move.
Our town administrator, Tim Bragan, estimated the cost comparisons of relocation in a report emailed to the Board of Selectmen 30 minutes before their April 17 meeting, leaving little time for the Selectmen to analyze the data. Bragan estimated it would cost about $28,000 more to relocate to available office space at Devens than the old library. He added the cost difference could be lowered by approximately $13,000 if committee/board meetings are held in Harvard. The memo acknowledged “the number of variables significantly impacts the cost depending on the approach and makes pinpointing a definitive number that much more difficult.”
Bragan’s memo further states, “There are costs associated with these moves that have not been calculated.”
If Town Hall relocates to the old library, the loss of the Pilot Project is a cost to the community that is hard to calculate. Displacement of the veterans’ agent and Harvard Cable and elimination of meeting space for town committees also carry a cost.
Old library to Pilot Project: A short history
Two years ago townspeople were invited by the Municipal Building Committee to workshops on the future of Town Hall, Hildreth House, and the old library. Discussion centering on the old library yielded considerable support for a community cultural center, which led to the birth of the Pilot Project. A proposal for the Pilot Project received the unanimous support of the Board of Selectmen in August 2010.
A vote at last year’s Annual Town Meeting supported the continuation of the Pilot Project at the old library to test the feasibility of a community/cultural center. The Pilot Project committee reported that if allowed to continue another year, we would prepare a financial feasibility report, continue to explore nonprofit 501(c) 3 status and return to 2012 Annual Town Meeting with an annual report outlining our progress.
Last October, the Pilot Project Committee hired, with funds we raised, a Boston consulting firm called TDC to help prepare a five-year plan for the old library as a community/cultural center. In February we presented this report to the Board of Selectmen. The Selectmen thanked us for the excellent report and agreed to keep our committee in the loop when addressing possible relocation of town offices. Selectmen Johnson and Ricci both made a point of saying they wanted the Pilot Project to be a success, words that ring hollow in light of their recent unilateral decision.
In Dec. 2011, I met with Tim Bragan and selectmen Marie Sobalvarro and Bill Johnson. When I again asked about the timetable for making decisions on relocation, I was assured that we would be included in a future conversation, which has not happened to date. During that meeting Johnson took minutes that note:
“If relocating Town Hall to the old library is feasible and is the lowest cost option, there are several choices:
- Pilot Program compensate the Town for the added costs of relocating elsewhere
- Taxpayers elect to pay the higher cost
- Some combination of (1) and (2)
- Pilot Program to move its program elsewhere or cease operations.”
Johnson’s own notes are clear that any additional cost to move Town Hall elsewhere ($28,000 to Devens) could be picked up by the Pilot Project and/or Harvard’s taxpayers. Neither the taxpayers nor the Pilot Project volunteers have been invited to address these choices. The fourth option, relocation, is not on the table. If the town doesn’t support the concept of a community/cultural center, the pilot will cease to exist and the town will once again have to wrestle with future use of the old library.
A second vote was taken at the April 17 Board of Selectmen meeting. Selectmen Johnson, Ricci, and Warren voted 3-2 to “establish some process for (the Pilot Project) to reimburse us for their share of the costs.” We have repeatedly said we’d be happy to discuss cost sharing that would fairly assess all tenants of the building. If the Pilot Project moves forward as a 501(c)3 and signs a lease with the town, costs would be part of the negotiation.
Going forward, the two 3-2 votes taken on April 17 can be revisited. If the town votes at Annual Town Meeting to renovate Town Hall, and relocation is necessary, I would expect a more thoughtful and inclusive conversation with much better data. By inviting others to the table to talk about possible solutions, I am sure an informed, balanced and well thought out decision that accommodates Town Hall, the Pilot Project, and the other tenants at the old library can be reached.
Willie Wickman is chair of the Pilot Project Working Group.
