Selectmen will continue their discussion about the displaced town offices at their March 15 meeting.
WALES – The Police Department will relocate to the Senior Center’s wellness room, now that structural deficiencies forced the closure of the second floor of the Town Office Building, where it was previously housed.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Michael J. Valanzola said selectmen and department heads convened Friday at the Senior Center – the new site of public meetings – to discuss options for the displaced town offices.
The selectmen, in a majority vote, directed the police chief to coordinate with the senior center director regarding the move.
While the police have found a new home, still in limbo are offices for the Planning Board, Board of Health, Cemetery Commission and building inspector; all were housed on the second floor of the Hollow Road building.
Valanzola said he has instructed officials to brainstorm ideas, and to bring them to the selectmen’s meeting on March 15. In the interim, he said selectmen have authorized the building inspector to make temporary repairs to the stairwell so officials can access the second floor to remove records.
A state and local building inspector determined the second floor was unsafe after an inspection last week. The stairwell separated from the wall.
Selectman Richard J. Learned said he called the state because he was concerned that an employee, or a member of the public, could get hurt.
“My number one concern is public safety,” Learned said.
Learned was the only selectman to vote against moving police into the Senior Center, and said alternative locations should have been considered.
Senior Center Director Judith M. Jegelewicz voiced concerns because the building was funded by a $600,000 block grant, which stipulates that it can only be used for Senior Center business for five years after the project’s completion. She had said the town could be forced to pay back the grant, or pay fair market value of the property.
There are clauses in the grant that make exceptions for emergencies, and the town counsel will be reviewing the issue, Valanzola said. He added that he is confident that the current ordeal qualifies as an exception.
While the fire chief issued an order in January saying the 200-year-old Town Office Building would be closed as of July 1, Valanzola said it has been withdrawn. Valanzola said it was not under the fire chief’s jurisdiction to issue such an order.
All town-owned buildings are being looked at for use, including the old Town Hall, Valanzola said.
Valanzola said Selectmen Vice-Chairman Jeffrey Vannais also has been asked to reach out to the owner of 2 Main St., the old Tedore’s restaurant, to see if he would be willing to rent space to the town. Voters last month rejected a $1.1 million Proposition 2 ½ debt exclusion that would have moved town offices, the library and police station into the former restaurant property.