Breaking News...
At
the February 4, 2010 Town Board meeting, Supervisor Gott announced that
the owners of the GCC building in Lakeville have another interested
buyer. The Town Board voted to remove the GCC building from the Public
Opinion Poll as an option for the Town Hall, because they did not think
that it was wise to spend several thousand dollars to obtain an
appraisal and an egineer's report when the building might not even be
available at the end of March. We will still be conducting a cpublic
opinion poll, but the options will be to either leave the court
in Hemlock and make the necessary renovations to the Jack Evans
Building and the Town Hall, OR add on to the current Town Hall and move
the court back to the expanded Town Hall building.
Public Opinion Poll ballots are not yet printed. We will put an
announcement on this web site as soon as the ballots are available.
For more information, please see the notes from the February 4 meeting on the News page of this web site.
ATTENTION
LIVONIA RESIDENTS AND PROPERTY OWNERS
For
several years the Livonia Town Board has been discussing the need for
a different or updated office/meeting facility. As some of you are
aware, the Town Court had to be moved to Hemlock out of its previous
building because of damage that was done in the flood of 2005. The
old Courthouse has since been demolished and disposed of in late
2009. A few years ago the Town Board decided the need was a real
concern and started a building capital reserve fund. We have
deposited $100,000/year for the past two years to either relocate the
Town offices (if a suitable location became available) or to add on
to and renovate the existing Town Hall. Our estimated annual payment
will be $100,000, therefore we are sure that the tax rate will not
change due to this project.
We
contracted for a feasibility study to be conducted on our current
location to see if it made sense to stay here. The findings were
that we can make it work nicely. In mid-2009, just about when the
study was wrapping up, the GCC building in Lakeville became
available. The Town Board visited that location and it seemed like
another very good option. At the Town Board meeting on December 10,
2009 the Town Board all agreed that the people in Livonia need to
make the final decision.
The
Town Board would like all residents to attend a series of public
information meetings being held on January 21st at 7:00 pm
at the Town Hall and March 4th also at 7:00pm at the Town
Hall. There will be a public opinion poll held on Tuesday March 30,
2010 at the Town Hall from 12:00 noon until 9:00pm.
The
Town Board hopes that you will take
this opportunity to let us know
your thoughts on this project and
please exercise your right to participate.
We have provided some frequently
asked questions for you as well
as a sample ballot. If for any reason
you are unable to participate on
that day please contact our Town
Clerk, Colleen West, for an absentee
ballot (585) 346-3710.
Town Hall |
GCC Building |
Frequently
Asked Questions:
1.
(Q) Why is this public opinion poll
being held?
(A)
This public opinion poll
is being held so the Town Board
can make a decision as to how to
move forward with a clear majority
of voter support, but please remember
that this is not a binding vote.
2.
(Q) Why do we need this project?
(A)
The Town of Livonia needs
additional office and meeting space
so that we can get our Town Court
back under the same roof as the
Town offices and have adequate space
to hold public hearings. A study
was done of our current Town Court
by the New York State Magistrates
Association, and the court was found
to be substandard in many areas.
Also, a recommendation was made
from the New York State Archives
Division recommending that all documents
be removed from the basement level
to the main floor so we don’t
experience another loss like we
did during the flood of 2005. We
need to move the Building and Zoning
Department out of the basement,
as we are operating on a variance
from the New York State Dept of
Labor to allow this. The electric
service in the current Town Hall
is not adequate to handle the load
of today’s computers, copiers
and printers and desperately needs
to be upgraded.
3.
(Q) How much will this cost me in
extra taxes each year?
(A)
Neither of the proposed projects
will cost anyone anything extra in
the form of tax rate increases. The
Town Board has set up a Capital Reserve
Fund, and the annual payment will
be the same as the amount that has
been set aside each year up until
now. Therefore it will cause no negative
impact on the tax rate.
4.
(Q) How will this project be paid
for?
(A)
The current Capital Reserve
will be expended first and then the
Town will borrow the remainder at
a very low interest rate. (Approx
2.5 to 4%)
5.
(Q)
How many years does the town plan
to have to pay for this project?
(A)
The Town
will have the project paid for in
a maximum of five years. ( NO long
term debt.) The Town currently has
a reserve set up with $200,000.
in it.
6.
(Q) What if the voters choose to
do nothing?
(A) If we choose neither of these
options, the Town will then need
to make many of the recommended
remediations to bring the Jack Evans
Community Center up to standard
to house a Town Court. The Town
will also need to reconfigure the
Town Hall so we can move all of
our records to the main floor. These
upgrades are estimated to cost $250-$300,000.
7.
(Q) What option does the Town Board
prefer?
(A) The Town Board remains neutral
on both options, however we do support
the idea and process that we have
chosen. We feel that either option
will provide for quality office
space for the Town of Livonia for
many decades to come, but strongly
feel that the residents of Livonia
should make the final decision.
8.
(Q) Who is eligible to participate?
(A) All Livonia residents and property
owners (includes all hamlets of
Livonia).
9.
(Q) What will be the net assessment
loss or gain to the Town of Livonia?
(A) The current Town properties
are assessed at $229,000, and the
GCC Building in Lakeville is assessed
at $335,800. Therefore the Town
will see a net loss of assessed
value of $106,800, if they relocate
to Lakeville.
Town
Hall Public Opinion Poll Options
Part
1.
Do
you support either of the following
options to accommodate the need
for more adequate Town Hall / Court
space?
_____ Yes _____ No
(If
yes was checked, please move to
part 2 below.)
Part
2.
_____
1. Add on to our existing Town Hall
and renovate existing space at a
total cost not to exceed $780,000.
_____
2. Purchase GCC building and make
appropriate repairs to parking lot,
vault room (not a new room, just
fireproof one room), slight reconfiguring
of interior, new paint, new flooring
and complete re-roof, at a total
cost not to exceed $770,000. (The
total cost would be reduced even
further after the surplus sale of
the current Town Hall.)
Comments:
*This
public opinion poll is not binding.
