Selectmen Discuss Articles on Town Meeting Warrant

Foxborough voters will have their voices heard in a possible Dec. 5 town meeting.

What voters will not have a further opportunity to debate is supporting or rejecting changing zoning bylaws in town to make room for on Route 1. There was no petition brought forward to put it on the fall special town meeting warrant. The Board of Selectmen voted 5-0 at their Sept. 6 meeting to not put a casino article on the warrant.

Selectmen discussed various aspects of the 10-article warrant Tuesday evening. Article 3, a request for a new town hall, was among one of the most discussed articles.

Article 3 states, "To see if the town will vote to raise funds and appropriate or transfer from available funds an amount to pay the cost of hiring engineers and architects, and/or consultants for the purpose of preparing design plans and specifications, to include contract/bid documents and estimates of probable site work, demolition and construction relating thereto of the building known as Town Hall..."

The Board has engaged in discussion for months over the future of the town hall building. In an August meeting, it was discussed in detail the myriad of health problems inside the current building including a lack of bathrooms, seismic constraints, low basement ceilings, an inefficient use of workable space, a small meeting room, lead paint and mold. 

“The building has serious health issues,” said Town Manager Kevin Paicos at the August meeting.

After a spirited debate this Tuesday, the board voted 3-2 to put the town hall design on the warrant. Board members Lynda Walsh and James DeVellis both voted against putting the request for a new town hall on the warrant.

"I just don’t think its ready yet," said Walsh. "I don’t think its ready for December. We need to take our time on this and right now, its just not right."

Funding for the building came into question as Walsh and DeVellis could not yet get behind spending approximately $500,000 on a building design The cost of designing a new building is usually about 10 percent of the building’s cost-estimate, in this case about $500,000.

Town Manager Kevin Paicos says that he is committed to having a plan to fund the estimated $8 million town hall project. If Paicos is unable to present the figures and a solid plan, then the Board agreed to recommend  a "no action" vote on the article at town meeting.

"We will motion to insert article 3 (request for town hall project) with the understanding with the commitment Kevin made with the financing," selectmen concluded.

Other articles on the town meeting warrant include solar energy regulations, fund a highway contract, fund tuition reimbursement and salary for Tim Cummings, Paicos' intern, increase the veterans officers salary, and a town manager act change to allow the conservation commission more control over conservation land.