UNITY — A committee charged with coming up with a plan for a new town office will start work Monday.

Town Clerk Sue Lombard said the committee, which will include selectmen Ron Rudolph and Clem Blakney and at least three residents, will figure out a design, location and a firm cost of building it.

At last month’s annual Town Meeting, residents rejected options for a new building and voted to start over. They set a June 22 deadline for a proposal.

Voters at the meeting rejected selectmen’s proposals to build on town-owned property near the fire station for $420,000 or buy a separate parcel for $470,000.

In either case, $150,000 would have been paid through surplus dollars and the balance would be paid through a 10-year bond at 2.7 percent interest on $270,000 for the town-owned land and $320,000 for the new land, said Kenney.

Voters’ decision to do neither angered selectmen Jim Kenney and Ron Rudolph. Kenney walked out of the meeting after the vote and later resigned. Rudolph also left the meeting early and considered resigning, but has decided to remain.

“I didn’t want to give another problem to (Lombard),” Rudolph said. “She’s done so much for this town; I couldn’t let her down.”

Rudolph said selectmen worked hard for six months to get things in order for the new town office and he said he was disappointed when townspeople rejected the options. He said that selectmen could have presented the options better and he understood that money is a concern to taxpayers.

“It’s a darn shame,” he said. “We lost a very good selectman (Kenney). He was one of the best.” The position will be on the June 12 election ballot. Lombard said five people had taken out petition papers for the post.

She said people have until May 18 to turn in paperwork to be on the ballot.

Selectmen have been seeking a new town office since last summer when they learned the new owner of Clifford Common was about to dramatically increase the cost of the town’s leased space.

In October, town personnel moved temporarily to Unity Elementary School.

Regional School Unit 3 agreed to provide the former classroom, an adjacent bathroom and a conference room for the town. Per the agreement, the town shares snowplowing, building maintenance, heat and light expenses with the school district.

Beth Staples — 861-9252

[email protected]