Warren Connecticut

Tax bills have been mailed and taxes are due July 1, 2005. There is a grace period so the last day to pay without interest is August 1. On August 2 interest is added at the rate of 1 1/2% per month for the months of July and August and every month thereafter. If you did not receive a tax bill that you are expecting, or received one not belonging to you, please contact the office at 868-0090. Remember “failure to receive a tax bill does not invalidate the tax or interest due”.

Joanne & Marcia.

Beginning July 1, 2005, the town clerk’s hours will expand to the following:

MON  9-1
TUES CLOSED
WED 9-4
THU 9-4
FRI  9-1

The tax collector’s hours will not change.

The Warren Building Committee met May 26 to review proposals for creating new office space and to prepare to take two proposals to a town meeting.  Plan A calls for renovating the town hall into office space and building a gym on a separate site.  Plan B calls for building a separate town office building on town property off Cemetery Road and renovating the existing town hall for use as a community center.

The committee reviewed site maps and recommendations from a soil conservationist and architect as to the location of a new building on the Cemetery Road site.  The committee proceeded to outline the factors for and against each of the two proposals for presentation to a town meeting.

The town meeting will be set for June 30 at 8 pm in the town hall.  At this meeting both proposals will be outlined and the list of positive and negative factors will be presented as well as a site map showing the proposed locations of new buildings.

The purpose of the town meeting will be to vote on the direction the committee should take.  Since it is expensive to do detailed plans and cost analyses, the committee wants some direction from the voters as to which proposal should be developed. This vote will not be a final vote on a plan.  It is intended to give guidance which the committee will use to proceed to have detailed plans developed for one of the two alternatives.

Once those plans are complete and an estimated cost is available, there will be a referendum on whether to commit to the project

Committee members were urged to visit town halls in Copake, Ancram and Patterson, NY and Harwinton, Roxbury, Colebrook and New Hartford, CT to see how other towns have handled their space requirements.

Committee members are:  Jack Travers, Cal Tanner, Marion Smith, Nancy Scofield, Theresa Layman, Toni Richardson, Jim Richardson, Bruce Anderson, Cindy Whitlow, Dean Ackerman, Joe Manley, Rick Valine

PROPOSALS FOR EXPANSION OF TOWN OFFICES: PROs and CONs
(As developed at the May 26, 2005 meeting of the Building Committee)

PLAN A: Renovate the town hall into office space and build a gym on a separate site.

Pros:

1. Improves space and functionality for town offices.
2. Provides room at the lower level for large meetings.
3. Provides room upstairs for smaller meetings.
4. Separates recreational and governmental space.
5. Provides for emergency shelter services.
6. Maintains current parking availability.
7. Increases the size of the gym.
8. Provides office and storage for park and rec.
9. Provides for the possibility of grants for recreational space.
10. Preserves the view of the town hill.

Cons:

1. Inconvenience of relocating town services during renovation.
2. Cost of relocating town offices during renovation.
3. Limitations for future expansion.
4. Effectiveness of soundproof partitions for small meeting rooms is questionable.
5. Remodeling costs significantly higher than new construction.
6. Loss of recreational space during renovations.
7. Emergency shelter use could interfere with town operations.
8. Additional maintenance costs for gymnasium space.
9. Less adaptability for recreation with just gym space.
10. No grant money is available for renovation for office space.

Plan B: Build a separate town office building on town property off Cemetery Road and renovate the town hall for use as a community center.

Pros:

1. Continuity of services could be preserved by building new offices space, moving the offices, and then renovating existing space.
2. Allows for planning of our specific office needs.
3. More cost effective to operate and maintain.
4. Improves parking availability.
5. Separates recreational and governmental space.
6. More cost effective to build offices.
7. Emergency shelter area enhanced with use of two floors possible.
8. Community center provides space for a wider variety of recreational programs to serve all facets of the community.
9. Preserves the historical flavor of the town hill.
10. Less traffic congestion.
11. No elevator required in the rec. center.
12. Provides space for future expansion with new town campus.
13. Grants are available for remodeling recreation space.
14. Large meeting room would remain at the community center.

Cons:

1. Site preparation costs.
2. Gym space would not be significantly increased.
3. Renovation to the community center would be delayed until after the town offices are built.

This is a PDF version of the June, 2005 warrenct.com newsletter. Click on it to download it to your computer, then print it and you’ll have the exact same newsletter that was sent out.

warrenct.com news 6-05

You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer (Mac or PC) to open and print this file. Almost all computers come with it (so don’t download it unless you need it) but just in case, you can get it here:

Adobe Acrobat Reader