Sangerville officials looking at town hall funding options

SANGERVILLE — Sangerville officials are in the midst of evaluating what the community can afford for work on the town hall for the remainder of the year, after meeting with Skowhegan-based Wentworth Partnerships & Associates President and Senior Project Engineer Steve Govoni during a May 21 meeting at the first station.

The town hall, built in 1901, has been a source of contention but now plans are to repair the structure and get the municipal offices back there by 2027

“I wanted to make sure we didn’t get ahead of ourselves and run out of money,” Town Manager Brian Mullis said about why Govoni was asked to speak to the select board and some members of the 15-member town hall committee who were present that evening. Wentworth Partnerships & Associates is contracted to assess and structurally stabilize the town hall and lot.

Mentioning he addressed the community at the March annual town meeting, Govoni said projected expenses have gone up in the last town months. These include a 25 percent increase for site work, 15 percent more for masonry work and 15 percent for waterproofing.

Govoni said a request for qualifications could be reviewed first as the town would review potential contractors’s credentials before getting into prices. Contractors conducting site work would need to be used to working near a building, especially with one with a stone foundation such as that at the town hall.

“The excavation here is probably the most critical work that gets done because that’s the guy that can take the whole building down,” Govoni said, saying he mentioned this same detail at town meeting.

“If we don’t qualify that particular contractor then we don’t even open that number, we send it right back to them,” he said, saying qualifications and bids can be submitted in separate envelopes.

Chimney work has been paid for and funding has been committed for roof and engineering work 

Another near $220,000 needs to be found, Mullis explained with this amount not in the budget. The town hopes to secure grant funding but delays in the grant programs may limit what can be done this year.

Site work, masonry/walls and waterproofing could be three different contracts.

“There’s no way we’re going to allow this to carry beyond really the end of October,” Govoni said about getting foundation work finished before the first frost of the season. Oct. 15 would be the target date to start closing out what has been done.

Govoni will get bid information together, the town will advertise and contractors will get specifics from Govoni. He said bidders would have two weeks to get bids back from the date of the bid walk.

A week prior Town Clerk Michelle Nichols was approached about getting a key to the town hall. Upon double checking with the Maine Municipal Association, which provides insurance for Sangerville, she was told that only employees could go inside. 

Anyone who collects a paycheck from the community is covered by the town’s workman’s compensation, but town hall committee members serve voluntarily and therefore are not covered by insurance.

“They can have their input, they just don’t have access to that building,” Nichols said.

“We don’t want this roadblock here at all,” Select Chair Jeff Peters said, saying the town wants everyone to be on the same page.

“We are 100 percent on all the involvement we can get,” he said, saying town hall committee members have experience and/or interest and this is good for the town. “We don’t want to put the town’s neck out at risk and we need to figure out how to get through this and do it right.”

Mullis will see if there is volunteer insurance that can be set up, or maybe another method, and report his findings.

In other business, Sangerville has been awarded $6,500 from an anonymous donor through the Maine Community Foundation for a summer concert series at the Veterans Memorial Park gazebo.

The park committee can hire performers to play the gazebo with monthly concerts likely for June, July and August and potentially September.

The town’s three-member forest committee needs to get up and running again, Mullis said. 

“The town woodlots need attention,” he said. “It may be time to harvest the timber before it falls and rots on the ground.” 

Mullis will get in touch with the committee members and they will meet to provide the select board with information.