LIVONIA, NY — Citizens and property owners in the Town of Livonia will be invited to participate in a survey poll on March 30 in which they can select among three options determining the future of the town hall. They are:
(A) Purchase the now-available former Genesee Community College building in Lakeville, make roof and flooring repairs and reconfiguration and remodeling adjustments to fit town offices and the courts. Total cost would not exceed $770,000.
(B) Retain the existing town hall on Commercial Street in the Village of Livonia, but build a new addition to accommodate the courts and the building/zoning office and do a thorough renovation of the existing space. Total cost would not exceed $780,000.
(C) Retain the existing town hall without a new addition. Court would remain at the Evans Center in Hemlock. Some upgrading within the existing footprint of the town hall and for the courts in Hemlock would still be necessary, costing $250,000-to-$300,000. The building/zoning department would continue to use the existing space under a revocable state variance.
Town attorney James Campbell cautioned both town board members and citizens not to interpret the March 30 poll as an “election.” It in fact will be an informal survey poll which the town board has decided to conduct. While the results of the survey are likely to have a determining effect on town board decision making, those results, in the strictest legal sense, will not bind the town board to any particular action.
Participants will cast their vote on paper ballots. All polling will be at the town hall on Commercial Street, noon to 9 p.m. Any adult resident or property owner in the Town of Livonia may cast one vote. No identification will be required. Voters will merely be asked to write down their home street addresses.
A ‘no’ vote at this point is a vote for the status quo with necessary-but-minimal renovations to the existing town hall and Jack Evan Center. Only those answering ‘yes’ will go to the next proposition deciding between expansion options.
‘No’ voters are disenfranchised. They have forfeited their participation in the expansion decision.
The second proposition asks the now-diminished pool of voters to choose between the GCC and new addition options, with their very similar costs.
According to Town Supervisor Eric Gott, the town board maintains a neutral stance in regard to the choice between the new addition and the GCC building. It is not neutral, however, in its preference that one of the two expansion proposals be selected over the status quo proposal.
If the GCC option is selected, town government will remain in the existing structure until the renovations in Lakeville are completed. After relocation, the existing town hall property will be declared surplus, hopefully sold to a private party, and returned to the tax rolls.
However, the net change on the tax rolls will be a loss. The privatization of the town hall will add about $75,000 in valuation, but the removal of the GCC property will subtract nearly $400,000.
Under the GCC scenario, Supervisor Gott has little interest in retaining the Commercial Street property for public uses. He noted that the town already is maintaining one under-utilized building, the Evans Center in Hemlock, and that Livonia does not need another park — it already has enough.
Prior to the March 30 survey vote, the town will be hosting two information sessions on the propositions: on January 21 and March 4, both 7 p.m. at town hall. The town board will also be publicizing some background information and answers to ‘frequently asked questions.’
The former court building next to the town hall was determined to be unsalvageable after suffering damage in a 2005 flood. It was consequently torn down last year and the court moved to the Evans Center in Hemlock.
The town has been putting money into a capital reserve fund which is dedicated to town hall improvement projects. Using this fund and borrowing the balance of the needed project cost at 2.5-to-4.0 percent interest would cause no increase in the tax rate and be paid off within five years, Gott said.
See complete story in our Jan. 14 print edition.
