Finance Committee Withholds Endorsement of Project Spending

By IAN FEIN

The West Tisbury finance committee shared some sharp words with
members of the town hall building committee last week, before voting not
to recommend the extra funds needed to keep the $5.5 million renovation
project moving forward.

Finance committee chairman Sharon Estrella told building committee
members last Friday she was disappointed that they did not try to revise
the plan when they learned of the 50 per cent increase to its cost.
After reviewing the more recent numbers last Thursday, the building
committee quickly decided to go forward with the existing project, as
opposed to revising the overall design.

"With such a shocking number, one of the first things I
figured you would have thought about was how you can pare it
down," Mrs. Estrella said. "It blows me away that there
aren't a number of alternatives."

Building committee members explained that coming up with new
alternatives would mean starting over with an entirely new project
- which, they said, would lead to further delays and thus cost
more money.

"I think we're all upset about it - but the prices
have been going up every day," said selectman and building
committee member Glenn Hearn. "It's going to kill us even
more if we go back to square one," he added.

"It's also killing the taxpayers, and it's going
to keep killing the taxpayers. Somewhere along the line you just
can't keep going," Mrs. Estrella said. "People talk
about taxpayers not being able to afford their property taxes and having
to leave the Island. This is why - this is exactly why," she
said.

"I feel bad for the taxpayers in town, because they're
going to get slammed - and it's sad," Mrs. Estrella
added.

Voters will be asked at a Nov. 16 special town meeting to approve
another $1.8 million for the renovation project. The request will
require two-thirds approval at town meeting, and will also require a
majority vote in a special town election held the following day.

The extra money is expected to be a tough sell on town meeting
floor, where only a year ago the then-$3.7 million town hall price tag
passed with more than 90 per cent of the vote.

During a review of the town meeting warrant at the selectmen's
meeting this week, project manager and town hall building committee
chairman Ernest Mendenhall asked moderator F. Patrick Gregory how far he
would allow discussion on the project to stray. Mr. Mendenhall explained
that the $1.8 million request and $5.5 million price tag are tied to
specific construction bids and therefore cannot be changed or amended
without redesigning the entire project and, in effect, starting over.

"It might be easier to vote down the entire thing than to
amend [the number] down," Mr. Mendenhall said.

Finance committee member Peter Costas last week raised a number of
objections to an early version of the warrant article. He called it a
blank check and said he was offended by it. His comments sparked a short
argument with executive secretary Jennifer Rand, who told Mr. Costas
that the language in the spending request was the same as the warrant
article from the previous year.

"But that was $2 million ago," Mr. Costas said,
repeating the phrase three times. "That was $2 million ago -
on top of everything else."

Mr. Costas echoed some of Mrs. Estrella's remarks about the
town's recent track record of increased spending.

"I don't believe the building committee has been
cavalier in their recommendation of this extra money," Mr. Costas
said. "I know a lot of sweat and blood and maybe tears have gone
into this. But if this was my money for a renovation of my home, I would
have to stay with the money I budgeted. You're going to have to
make the $3.7 million work."

Seven Gates Farm resident Jonathan Revere asked building committee
members last week whether they had compared their project size and costs
with other recent renovations on the Island - specifically, the
Chilmark town hall renovation completed in June 2004. Mr. Mendenhall
said they had not compared their project to Chilmark.

The 5,600 square-foot Chilmark town hall renovation and expansion
accommodates 13 regular employees and cost approximately $1.5 million.

The proposed $5.5 million West Tisbury project would expand the town
hall to roughly 10,000 square feet and accommodate some 15 regular
employees.

Finance committee members said considering the new price tag, a
better option might be to build an entirely new town hall on another
piece of town-owned land.

First built as a school in 1872, the three-story mansard-roofed
building sits in the heart of the rural West Tisbury village, bordered
on one side by Music street and on the other side by the Grange Hall.

Selectman Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter, who sits on both the finance and
building committees, said he still thought the renovation project was
the right way to go.

"I think this is a heck of a price tag - even $3.7
million was difficult for me to swallow," Mr. Manter said.
"But I think people want to keep it [the town hall] here."

Mr. Manter abstained from the vote not to recommend the additional
spending.