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Shaftsbury Voters Approve Purchase of Building to House Town Offices

Posted: February 13, 2025

SHAFTSBURY - By a solid voice vote, Shaftsbury voters approved purchasing a former medical building for a new town hall.

Some 140 registered voters, by the town clerk’s count, attended the special Town Meeting held on Tuesday at Shaftsbury Elementary School. After an information session and a short break, those present discussed and approved the following motion:

"Shall the Town of Shaftsbury expend $375,000 on the purchase of the former Shaftsbury Medical Associates building at 677 Route 7A, Shaftsbury, and an additional $178,486.08 on the renovation and repair needed to make the building appropriate for Municipal Offices?"

The total expenditure of $553,486 comprises the vast majority of a fund balance that originated with the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money.

The purchase grew out of an effort in recent years to develop a town green and community center around the current town offices at Cole Hall. Two properties adjacent to it have been purchased as part of this effort. The prohibitive cost of building a new community center from scratch and ongoing and increasing issues with Cole Hall led to a focus on the former medical building.

Cole Hall, built as a Universalist Church in 1834, has a chronic issue with water damage, electrical problems, and persistent mold, which has led to first-floor employees being moved upstairs. The building also has accessibility issues. The new plan is to consider the future of the historic building.

"I want to say, as a disability advocate, I am excited about the potential purchase of the new building, it being a former medical building and being ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant," said Andrea Bacchi, a member of two town boards and chair of the Vermont State Rehabilitation Council. "I am in favor of this new building. There's also mold in Cole Hall right now. And as much as I love Cole Hall, I love its history, and I love Shaftsbury...I think it's really important that we have a safe place for the town's staff, visitors, residents. Safety really should be the number one issue."

Zoe Contros Kearl, co-chair of the Community Center Development Committee (CCDC), gave the presentation about the project.

The former medical building is a 4,413-square-foot condominium built in 1978 that shares a two-acre lot with the attached dental office. The former medical center occupies 70 percent of the entire facility, and a still-active dental clinic occupies 30 percent. The utilities are separate, except for the septic system. It includes and 800-square-foot basement that will be used for storage and parking for 44 cars.

In addition to statements of support, public comment included probing questions on project-related details by three former members of the Select Board.

"Is the money that we're voting on now in addition to the money that's within the (proposed fiscal 2026) budget? And will this change the tax rate that you're going to need to request?" asked former Select Board Chair Lon McClintock.

Current Select Board Chair Naomi Miller said the purchase would have no effect on the tax rate. However, a new vault for the Town Clerk will have to be purchased for the new site. This amount was not included in the project. Town Manager Paul Iken estimated that $30,000 of left-over funds estimated to remain after renovation of the medial building could go toward the estimated $110,000 cost of a vault. However, officials are still researching how big a vault would need to be under current state regulations.

"We're still working on how big it needs to be, because the information from the state gets updated all the time, and there's so much now that can be digitized," Iken said.

In addition to general funds, grants could cover the balance of the purchase price of a vault, she said.

"The eternal optimist talks about grants," McClintock said, noting a past board member aggressively pursued grants but grant funds could only do so much. "We could not ever get the type of grant that was going to deal with Cole Hall structural and integrity issues. So if people vote for this, frankly, I think Cole Hall has come to the end of its useful life. The notion that it's going to become a community center is no longer realistic, because we're being told tonight to do the renovations that are required are not fiscally possible."

Current town officials said the future of Cole Hall remained to be seen.

"We are still gathering a lot of information as to kind of what could or could not be done with the building, and then we will certainly bring that out to the community," said Select Board Vice Chair Martha Cornwell. "We want this to be a community discussion, because it is a place that many of us have very happy memories. Some of us went to school there. It was a dance hall. It's been so many things over time. And so it is not that we are closing off this door at all, but that there's more to come."

Former Select Board member John Tiffany said the project is taking a $500,000 property off of the taxable grand list, and the town has purchased two other properties as well, also removing them from the list.

"And this is based on 128 people that answer the questionnaire for the community center," Tiffany said. He answered the survey and voted no and he knows several other people who voted no.

Miller said the amount in taxes received from the former medical facility was $4,000 a year. The other two properties were taken off the grand list some time ago. If some of the purchased land near Cole Hall is used for affordable housing — as has been suggested — it will go back to being taxable, but at a reduced rate.

Others speakers were unreserved in their support and received loud applause.

"I’m fully in favor of the move. There’s a term in real estate called functional obsolesce and Cole Hall has reached that point," said Jenifer Hoffman. "I'm married to a builder. I have done new construction myself. The fact that you're able to think about moving into that new space for $125 per square foot, you would never have any other options.

"Anywhere close to that $400 a square foot is the gold rate for new construction, even for a remodel. So, I think it's a fantastic idea," she added. "I also love the green space that it offers. I think it's amazing that you're able to have a space for safe, clean, healthy town office space plus the community space all rolled into one."

After Hoffman spoke, the question was called and the vote proceeded to approval.

Compliments of: The Bennington Banner
Posted/Author: Mark Rondeau

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