The clocks are gone.
The borrowing is in the works.
Webster residents may have an updated, more than 43,000-square-foot recreation center by fall 2011.
After plans to construct a 13,000-square-foot addition to the new Webster recreation building at 1350 Chiyoda Drive were unveiled at a special meeting June 17, the Webster Town Board has been gathering input. At its July 1 meeting, the board determined the $5.5 million project being proposed at the center will have no significant impact on the environment, then went on to authorize the issuance of bonds to pay for the work.
Only one resident, businessman Bill Mayer, spoke against the project, saying, “We’ve spent enough money in this town.”
He seemed to be appeased when Supervisor Ron Nesbitt explained the project “is just a reallocation of (town) money. ... It will not raise your taxes; the money is already there in the budget.”
After hearing concerns and fielding questions from the public over the past couple of weeks, Nesbitt also stressed that the center’s bathrooms — those that exist now and new ones that will be built — will be handicapped-accessible.
He also said that while a tower called for in the architect’s plans will remain, four clocks have been removed from the design, saving $10,000.
The board did approve a maximum bonding (or borrowing) term of 25 years, “but 20 years is where we’re going,” Nesbitt said.
The bonding was approved by a vote of 4-0. Councilman Mark Johns was absent from last week’s meeting.
After the meeting, Nesbitt stressed, “Just because we bonded $5.5 million doesn’t mean we will spend it; we may spend $5.2 million; we will spend only what it takes. That $5.5 million is the maximum cost.”
Nesbitt said the board is also not “rushing” the project, but is hoping to take advantage of current, favorable construction market conditions. He said the plan is to have the project out for bid by August or September.
The aim of the project is to provide the town with a full working recreation center big enough to house all of its existing programs, including the town’s senior program, the Webster Community Chest food cupboard, a large bridge club, meeting rooms and more.
The town can fund the project, Nesbitt said, by using the $390,000 it has budgeted annually for a now-dissolved agreement to build fields and a pool with the Webster school district. The district has now taken over the funding for that project by itself. That $390,000, Nesbitt said, is enough to cover the annual debt payments against a 20-year bond for the project.
“We could put that money back into the budget,” Nesbitt said, “but it would only amount to 15 cents per thousand of assessed valuation to taxpayers, or about $15 for a $100,000 house ... and our programs would still be spread out all over the town.”
The town’s former recreation center, in what is called the Ridgecrest building, has been closed due to the need for repairs, including a new heating system, since early this year.
The town recreation department moved into the new facility on Chiyoda Drive in late February. Since space was limited, the senior program was temporarily relocated to the Damascus Temple on Bay Road and other programs have also had to find temporary new homes.
The addition and renovation project at the new recreation center will include new traffic patterns, a new parking configuration and a bigger entrance with drop-off and waiting areas. The community cupboard would have its own entrance on the side of the building. It would include a large senior center with a fireplace and game room, a large kitchen complex, a large multi-purpose area with movable partitions, an outdoor patio area and five smaller meeting rooms.
Webster, N.Y. —
