New Municipal Center Debated

A feasibility committee should be formed to look at the future of the Municipal Center, selectman John Carlson said at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting tonight.

The issue was sparked by a proposal by Honeywell to spend $4.5 million on work to upgrade the Municipal Center and make it more energy-efficient.

Carlson argued that if the town is going to spend $4.5 million on the current building, it might make sense to spend about double that amount for a new building.

With construction costs lower now, he said, the time “might be now’’ to build a new municipal center.

Town Administrator Timothy McInerney argued that the Honeywell project includes built-in energy savings that will offset some of the cost.

The 20-year Honeywell project would save the town more than $250,000 a year in energy costs.

The total cost of the project would be slightly more than $7 million.

The cost to taxpayers would be $216,000 a year over 20 years. This figure factors in the annual estimated savings of $256,595.

 Selectman Brook Padgett said that the town is facing a lot of projects and that residents might not “have the stomach’’ for a new municipal center.

“We’ve got to figure a way to do things that doesn’t crush people,’’ he said.

He also said a decision on a potential municipal center board should be delayed until the Honeywell project is voted on, one way or another.

Unlike the high school project or the proposed library expansion, the cost of building a new municipal center would not be offset by state funds, he said.