To The Editor:
The March 2013 Town Meeting is a critical time for all who live in Waitsfield. We have “kicked the can down the road” much too long. It is time we stop procrastinating and let it be done. Our select board has done its work by appointing a Town Office Task Force of town people who by a majority of opinions agree that they have explored every avenue for a location, which included renovating the old church building on Route 100 or building a new building on the Farm Stand site, among other locations in and out of the town area of Waitsfield. The study took two and a half years.
They have recommended building new on the Farm Stand property in the downtown area of Waitsfield. Their reasons were not only the cost factor ($770,000 to $1 million cheaper) but the fact that the 100-year-old church would need to be gutted along with extensive restructuring of the heating and the ventilating systems. Once those mandatory issues are satisfactory, you would need to be constantly concerned about an old structure that in a short time repeated repairs would be necessary.
In addition, the basic use of such a building would need to be compromised to fit a town hall and a meeting hall, which could include our town police control facility. The church would be giving away too much, whereas a new structure would be built to what our needs are with parking to boot.
I believe that the long-term risks and the sacrifices are too great. We should invest our money on a sure shot, not “we hope” it will work. First of all, be sure to vote at the March Town Meeting and, most important, vote yes for a new building on the Farm Stand property.
Gene Scarpato
Waitsfield
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