BELGRADE — The town has spent almost half the money budgeted to build its new Town Office on soon-to-be-renamed Town Pit Road, just off Route 27 and not far from the current Town Office.
The office is scheduled to open in the spring, probably in May, as long as the driveway gets a final coat of paving.
“We’ve got a building to work out of, so we want this one to be turnkey when we open it,” Bruce Plourd, a member of the Board of Selectpersons, said Friday. “I’m happy with the way it’s coming along, as far as the time frame with them putting up the building.”
Uria Pelletier, general contractor, reported on the progress of the job to the Board of Selectpersons at its regular business meeting this week, telling the board that he intended to move the heating, ventilation and air conditioning unit to a different location.
Also this week, workers were to finish the exterior siding and enclose the front entrance and begin installing the metal roof. The roof was to get snow brakes as well to stop the snow from sliding off over doorways.
The one-story, 5,000-square-foot building was fully enclosed late last year.
“The windows are in, and it’s water-tight at least,” Pelletier, of Kavestone LLC, told selectmen.
The project has undergone some changes, partly to reflect an unanticipated water treatment system for the newly drilled well.
However, the treatment system’s $8,000 cost is only an estimate until the building has electricity to run the pump and do a test, Town Manager Gregory Gill said on Wednesday.
He also said about $470,000 has been spent so far, almost half the $1.2 million the voters approved for the project, which has been anticipated for some time.
Selectmen have kept close tabs on the project, selecting sites for an exterior sign and discussing design changes at their meetings.
The project was approved by voters Aug. 29, 2015, and much of the work was put out to bid in September.
The new office is in a former gravel pit owned by the town.
Much of the work has been done by local contractors, and some local businesses have provided materials at cost.
Plourd said “a good portion” of the ground work has been completed, the location for an electronic sign has been marked out and plumbing and electrical contractors are working inside now. Next, he said, the building contractor will install insulation.
The existing Town Office building, a former restaurant, has limited capacity to host public meetings, accessibility shortcomings and other problems. Selectmen have said that building would be sold to help defray the new building’s cost.
The town is running a contest to re-name the road leading to the new office, according to the town newsletter.
Betty Adams — 621-5631
Twitter: @betadams
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