Bristol voters agree to purchase of LRGHealthcare building

BRISTOL — Voters who have rejected several previous town hall proposals as being too expensive agreed at a special town meeting on Thursday to purchase the former Newfound Family Practice building and convert it into town offices. The proposal passed, 164-65, during a nearly three-hour meeting.

The standing-room-only crowd exceeded the 165 people who attended Town Meeting in March, attesting to the interest in the proposal. The town had conducted a series of public tours of the building – which is owned by LRGHealthcare – in an effort to boost support for the proposal, while those against the purchase drummed up opposition through a letter-writing campaign.

The single-article warrant asked voters to approve the negotiated $335,800 purchase, along with $563,837 in renovations and related costs, for a total appropriation of $899,637. By applying $250,000 from the town’s unexpended fund balance, the amount to be borrowed would be $649,637.

Moderator Edward “Ned” Gordon, who served as chairman of the space needs committee, stepped down for the meeting, noting that the people he normally would appoint as substitutes also wanted to weigh in on the issue. He therefore appointed his daughter, Atty. Dorcas Gordon, to conduct the meeting.

“This is not an Ivanka arrangement,” she assured the crowd as she took over.

The divergence of opinion among the voters was apparent during more than an hour and a half of discussion. Rick Alpers, chairman of the Bristol Board of Selectmen, praised the high turnout “for what I feel is an important decision on an issue that goes back 25 years.”

There had been a series of proposals to address space constraints at the Bristol Municipal Building, which shares space with the Bristol Police Department. In 2007, voters rejected a $2.4 million proposal to renovate the Old Town Hall into administrative space, which involved purchasing property behind the building for additional parking.

Two and a half years ago, voters rejected a $52,000 proposal to do an operational study of the police department and develop architectural drawings to expand the town offices and police department, instead forming a space needs committee to determine the town’s needs for the next 25 years and to propose a solution.

That led to a $2,650,000 proposal at this year’s Town Meeting to build a new town hall and renovate the current building for the police department. Voters tabled that article on the selectmen’s recommendation because LRGHealthcare, as part of its cost-cutting measures, shut down its Bristol office, and selectmen asked for time to look into the purchase.

Alpers said it is in the town’s best interest to not only purchase the downtown property but to “do as much as possible now” to renovate the building so that, when the staff moves in, they will not be faced with the disruption of future renovations.

Many residents objected to the plan because it did not address the needs of the police department, and others because the proposed renovations exceeded the purchase price of the building.

Resident Lloyd Belvin declared, “I’m the cheapest guy in town, but I think we should buy the building.” He went on to say that the town should put off the renovations until the March Town Meeting when voters know how much the school budget will be.

Some residents said they could not vote for the project because the town had been unable to provide the costs of individual aspects of the renovations, such as the cost of eliminating the proposed meeting room.

John Sellers argued that the building is too large and would result in the town hiring additional employees to fill it. He also said the town could build a more attractive building at less expense.

Ned Gordon said the town has found that it cannot build a new building for less money, but also said he did not think it was necessary to spend so much on renovations.

Paul Simard took exception to the space needs committee’s findings, saying things have changed in Bristol and he urged the town to start over with a new space needs study.

Former selectman Burt Williams said he had come prepared to offer an amendment to reduce the figure by $50,000, but after hearing the discussion, he supported the article as written.

With 219 voters casting ballots, the article needed 146 affirmative votes to pass, and it met the two-thirds majority required with eight votes to spare.

Ned Gordon said after the meeting, “I thought the amount [for renovations] was pretty rich, and have some questions about the design, but it would be a terrible shame to lose that building. If it had to be all or nothing, it’s better to be all than nothing.”