Guilford to put scaled-down town project up for vote again

GUILFORD – The Town of Guilford is preparing to make a second attempt at getting voter approval for construction of three new town facilities – a town hall, highway garage and a salt/sand storage area. The original plan was defeated and the town has made an attempt to review and improve the project, trying to make it more affordable for taxpayers.

The original project was voted down this past April by a vote of 247 to 105 . It called for the construction of a 4,500 square foot salt barn, a 6,000 square foot town hall and a 15,300 square foot highway garage. The estimated cost of the first plan was about $2.5 million; the town said it was purposefully a higher estimate at the time. The town attributed the original failure to a misconception over property taxes. “A lot of people had quite a bit of misinformation,” said committee member Bruce Windsor.

The new cost of the project is just under $1.9 million. The town decided to make cuts in the town hall, reducing the area down to 4,200 square feet, removing the kitchen and emergency housing. “It’s gonna be tight, but it’s something we can live with,” said Windsor. The town also reformatted its project committee, adding a few new people and surveying local residences to get feedback on what people wanted. “If we have to live with a dirt driveway for a while, then so be it,” said Windsor.