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Trustees get peek at costs for new town hall
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - January 21, 2009)
Trustees get peek at costs for new town hall
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Munson Township Trustees got their first idea last week on what a new Township Hall may cost as rough estimates were provided for the construction and excavation work.
Trustee Andrew Bushman said the estimates provided by the architectural firm of Leber-Brown Architects, of Cleveland, put the township at the limit for what it plans to spend.
Architects provided an estimated $675,000 cost for the building and between $200,000 and $250,000 for excavation work, he said. The township has set aside $853,000 in inheritance taxes for the project.
Although the estimates provided little room for working with the budget, Mr. Bushman said, they are only early estimates. He said township officials still have the option of choosing various materials and features that could trim the costs.
One opportunity, he said, will be for the township to recoup some savings by the use of premium fill from the existing parking lot at the Town Hall. He said the parking lot is in need of replacement and the material moved can be used as fill for the new parking lot.
"It could go up or down," Mr. Bushman said, noting the initial estimates are not the product of a formal bid, but more an educated guess.
He said equipment and furnishings for the new building are not calculated into the initial estimate. He said he anticipates that the township will be able to use some of the existing equipment and furnishings to offset the cost.
Other furnishings, such as shelving, will be part of the building cost because they are anticipated to be built-ins as part of the office design, Mr. Bushman said.
The township has also looked at using a brick facing on the building, which adds an estimated $55,000 cost to the building. He said the township could eliminate that feature to cut costs if needed.
Mr. Bushman said the building design now has three cupolas along the roof line of the building and those features could also be removed if it is determined the savings could be used for more essential needs in the building.
He said the real work will begin when officials get cost estimates for the various features now part of the building. He said those estimates will break down the base building and various add-ons for the project. "We will get almost like a shopping list," he said.
The township has also discussed recycling old stone that was once part of a historic township bridge along Fowlers Mill Road. It may be cut and used as facing for the building.
He said the reason for the estimate was to give trustees an idea of whether the building design they were looking at was within the range of money available.
"We wanted to see what we can afford," he said. "It has to be cost-justified."
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