Pawlet ponders $50K bond vote
Toolbox
By Gordon Dritschilo Staff Writer - Published: November 28, 2009
PAWLET — Voters will decide Tuesday on a $50,000 bond to put an elevator in the Town Hall.
The money is necessary to secure $150,000 in grants for the latest in a long line of building renovations. The town will hold an informational meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Mettawee Community School. Polls are open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Town Hall.
Elizabeth Gibson, who publishes the town newsletter, said work at the Town Hall has been going on for several years. The newest improvements, she said, are necessary to make the building comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"The voters were originally asked whether the town should build a new Town Hall and they said no," she said. "To get money to renovate the Town Hall has been a difficult process."
Constructed in 1881, the building has housed a store, a private residence and the town library in its lifetime.
The town started with basic maintenance and repair work in 1998. Recent work at the building has included updates to the heating, insulation and electrical systems as well as rebuilding and restoring the windows and installing a handicap-accessible bathroom.
"This includes things like an elevator to get access to the second floor … a porch ramp to allow access to the elevator … an ADA-compliant entrance leading from the basement to the basement entrance lobby for the elevator," she said.
Gibson said the town has been awarded $150,000 in grants for the elevator but will lose the money soon if it does not come up with $50,000 in local matching funds.
gordon.dritschilo@rutlandherald.com
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