Politics & Government

Campus Project 'Tight as We Can Make It' After Split-Vote Approval?

Another pared down version of the proposal has been approved by one important group, although not all of the studies have been completed.

North Hampton's municipal complex proposal has once again been reduced in overall size and cost, and now will move on for further discussion and approval from the town's Select Board before it makes it to voters in March.


The North Hampton Municipal Facilities Committee voted 3-2 Wednesday to recommend the project to selectmen after vetting another modified design that trims the overall size by 3,000 square feet and approximately half a million dollars. 

That brings the overall project to 32,000 square feet — 9,000 feet less than the original proposal — at an estimated cost of $6.5 million, a figure that includes the funds that the North Hampton Public Library must raise for their new building.

Town Administrator Paul Apple praised the continued work to reduce the overall size and cost of the project, and said he's been pleased with how it has taken shape over the past several months.

"This is exactly what a good process should do: start with a fairly broad concept and then carefully and deliberately review it until it is the best balance between need and cost we can get," said Apple. "I think tax payers will want to see that this process was done to ensure that any proposal brought to them is as tight as we can make it."

Committee members Jim Maggiore, Susan Hills and Judy Day voted to recommend the municipal complex project to the select board, of which Maggiore is the chairman. Rick Stanton and Henry Fuller voted not to recommend the proposal, stating that the recommendation vote should be postponed until the ledge report for the site is completed.

The reductions in space and cost are the result of a reconfiguration of the proposed campus, which now features the stone Town Clerk's Office building and Town Hall as historic "book ends" to the project's green space, according to architect Ron Lamarre, who presented traffic and other studies for the site Wednesday.

The non-emergency buildings are now all connected under the new proposal, which Lamarre said Wednesday also gets all of the new construction out of the footprint of the existing library building. This will allow the town to devise a phased construction schedule that features each new building's completion before its outdated counterpart's demolition.

The proposal now will presumably be modified by selectmen and other officials over the next couple of months as the town continues to shape the project into something they're confident will pass at town meeting, according to Apple.

"The [North Hampton] Select Board will continue this process of balancing needs and costs and will begin a significant campaign to discuss the problems with our facilities and what can be done to address those problems at a reasonable price," he said. "Realistically, there will likely be more changes during the fall, but the Facilities Committee did an amazing amount of work in a very short time." 

Selectmen are expected to discuss the project and receive the final municipal complex report during their Monday, Sept. 9, meeting.


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