To the Editor:

Here are some highs and lows from the April 13 meeting of the Building Committee of the town of Westerlo.

Highs:

— New committee member Mike Sikule showed the committee some alternative floor plans for the town hall that would make the clerk’s and building department’s offices, which are what bring most people to the town hall, directly accessible from the main door. This would also avoid people wandering around the rest of the town hall looking for these offices;

— Committee Chairman Bill Bichteman led open discussion among the committee members (public still kept silent) about Mike’s suggestions and other practical issues of providing proper access, space, records storage, etc. for the town court and possible cost or other impacts any of these revisions to the town hall’s floor plan would cause;

— Several times during this discussion, Bill made clear neither the current floor plan nor the one in Delaware Engineering’s preliminary plan are well suited to a town hall;

— Throughout this discussion, Ed Lawson provided, from his impressive body of directly relevant experience, useful information on the many technical and code issues that arose; and

— Because much needs to be done by the Building Committee and Delaware Engineering to settle the floor plan, Bill scheduled the next Building Committee for after the next town board meeting, either May 11 (if Delaware Engineering can provide the information Bill asked by then) or May 23.

Lows:

— When the town attorney seated herself at the committee’s table, facing away from the public, she was asked before the meeting to move around the table so she’d face the public and be more audible during this public meeting. She responded “This is not a public meeting!” and turned away. Given all the furor about early Building Committee meetings not being held publicly, and the presence of the deputy town clerk taking minutes and the supervisor formally opening and closing this meeting, the town attorney’s statement appears wrong as a matter both of law and precedent;

— During the meeting, the town attorney steadily interjected, and several times attempted to shut down comments by members of the committee. Most of her comments were on topics like choosing between hot water and forced air for heating. Since the town attorney is not a member of the Building Committee, it’s not clear on what basis she could participate aside from requests for legal advice;

— The town attorney also appeared (her comments were frequently inaudible) to be re-introducing the “short-term” financing that would avoid exposure to a permissive referendum. Given Bill’s flat statement at the last town board meeting that financing would be long-term and subject to a permissive referendum, it seems improper for the town attorney not to support that;

— Fred from Delaware Engineering attended the entire meeting but had little of substance to offer. He had no meaningful comments about the practical or code-compliance aspects of various floor plans, and went back to saying that there were pros and cons to various floor covering materials and approaches to heating and air-conditioning. Given the time and money Delaware Engineering has already taken from the town, it was disappointing to see him still being at Square One;

— Fred also had to be pressed by Bill to consider the new thoughts of the committee members about the town hall’s floor plan; and

— However, Fred didn’t hesitate to remind Bill that Delaware Engineering’s “design phase” would cost the town $60,000. At the very least, Delaware Engineering should not be allowed to begin such work until the Building Committee and the public get to a floor plan that will make the result a good town hall. Even then, it seems wrong to spend $60,000 to find out more reliably what it will cost to redo the town hall.

The next town board meeting, at which public questions and comments will be permitted when the Building Committee makes its report, and the town board will hopefully not be asked to resolve to pay Delaware Engineering $60,000 to conduct its design phase, is scheduled for Tuesday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m.

Leonard Laub

Westerlo