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t a cost of more than $850, the names of Oriental’s current Town Board, Mayor and former Town Manager will be listed on a marble plaque on an outside wall of Town Hall. The Board voted 4-1 at its November 13 meeting to give final approval for the 20×24” matte-white marble plaque which will note the renovation of the building.

Tax and delivery could push the price closer to $900. While it okayed the plaque, the Board declined to buy more chairs for public seating at meetings, citing cost concerns.

The lettering for the $900 plaque Oriental’s Town Board approved for Town Hall. This was a mock-up projected on the wall at the November 13 Board meeting. (The former Town Manager’s last name will be condensed in to one word.)

The marker is actually the second rendition of what’s being called a “dedication plaque” for the Town Hall renovation.

Second Version of Plaque For Renovation

An initial plaque was made over the summer but was rejected by the Board. That version was made of polished black stone and had an etching of the Town Hall followed by the names of the commissioners and mayor and two mentions of Bob Maxbauer — first as Town Manager and a separate mention for “Building Design and Construction Supervisor.” That plaque also stated that it was in memory of Maxbauer’s father-in-law who oversaw Town Hall’s original construction in 1971.

This plaque was already made – at a price of $160 – when the Town Board rejected it. It lists the former Town Manager’s name twice and says the plaque is in memory of his father-in-law, John Bond. The plaque the Board ordered is simpler, only listing the Board, Mayor and Manager’s names, once.

The black plaque had already cost the town $160 when, in September, several Board members made clear they hadn’t approved it and didn’t want it affixed to the building.

Instead, the Board decided it wanted a plaque that resembled the simpler white marble one that was put in the exterior wall forty years ago when the building was first constructed. The Board directed interim Town Manager Wyatt Cutler to order such a plaque and report back. There was no discussion of what it might cost.

The original Town Hall plaque dating back 40 years, stored in a closet behind the Town Hall dais for a while. Plans are to put it back in to Town Hall’s exterior wall along with the new plaque that’s been designed to resemble it.

At the November 13 meeting, Board members reviewed the suggested lettering for the second plaque. Mayor Bill Sage asked that his middle initial “R” be included in his name, and another commissioner said that Maxbauer’s middle initial “J” should be used as well.

There was again no discussion about the $900 price tag.

Outgoing Commissioner Warren Johnson proposed that the Board approve the second design. Michele Bessette seconded it and Commissioners Sherrill Styron and Barbara Venturi also voted in favor. Commissioner Larry Summers voted against it but did not state why or argue against it at the time. After the meeting, when asked by TownDock.net, Summers said he voted against the plaque because, “I don’t believe in self-aggrandizement.”

The recently re-elected commissioner said that he didn’t think he should vote to “put my name on things.”

“It is, “ Summers added, “quite a bit of money.”

Plaque Approved, Chairs Not

Earlier in the November 13 meeting, the Board did concern itself with price when talk turned to purchasing 20 more chairs for the public who attend Board meetings. At recent meetings where Walmart’s planned store has been on the agenda, members of the public had to stand or sit on the floor because the existing 30 chairs were all occupied.

But new chairs aren’t coming. Commissioner Warren Johnson balked at spending the money – $54 per chair in a Staples catalogue – and questioned the need, saying that most meetings drew fewer people than there were chairs.

Some of the 30 chairs in the Town Hall meeting room which has a seated capacity of 60. A proposal before the board would have added 20 more chairs, but the $1080 pricetag was cited as being too high and the Board put off action on it. Then, the Board voted for the plaque which will cost $900.

Though he would moments later propose that the Town get the $900 plaque, Johnson urged the Board to not pay for more chairs because he described the town as having a “financial problem.” The Board voted to leave it up to the incoming board.

Twenty chairs would have cost $1,080 plus tax. That’s about what the Town will have spent on the two plaques.

Projected on the wall at Town Hall, the design for the $900 plaque the Town Board voted for after an earlier version (the black plaque on the floor) did not meet the Board’s approval. Propped against the wall is the 40-year-old plaque that was part of the Town Hall’s original construction. The 20×24 plaque the Board ordered will resemble that older one, and be installed beside it.

The $900 for the white plaque and the $160 for the black plaque would be the latest Town Hall renovation expenditures. Together, they would further push the total cost of the project well beyond the $299,000 that Maxbauer claimed was spent on the building he designed and for which he insisted on being the general contractor while he was Town Manager. As reported earlier, Maxbauer’s accounting of the renovation did not include some salaries paid to town employees who worked on or were hired for the project.

Other Costs Associated With New Town Hall

At the meeting on November 13, Commissioner Sherrill Styron, who steps down next month, noted that the electric bills for the building were “higher than we had anticipated.” Wyatt Cutler said that, “most of it was air conditioning.” The Town Hall renovation included a roof that while green in color, may not have been green in energy efficiency; colored roofs absorb more heat than the standard galvanized roofs, no small consideration in a climate where cooling costs outpace heating costs.

The Oriental Town Board at its November 13 meeting. From left, Michele Bessette, Warren Johnson, Sherrill Styron, Mayor Bill Sage, Barbara Venturi, Larry Summers.

Out-going Commissioner Warren Johnson noted that despite recent sunny days, the tile floors throughout the building were cold. He asked about the solar heating system for the floor which Bob Maxbauer had repeatedly cited as a feature of his design. Wyatt Cutler told the Board that the circulating pump necessary for that was not working and would have to be replaced (cost: $40) That pump, Cutler said, would heat the sidewalks too, another feature of the building that Maxbauer had touted.

Cutler also reported to the Board that a flagpole will soon be installed outside the Town Hall. The Tree Board says it plans to re-plant the Chinese Pistache tree that was dedicated to Dorothy Whipple and which was removed from the Town Hall grounds last year. Two more of the same trees are to be planted as well. They will be paid for out of the Tree Board’s budget, not out of the Town Hall renovation budget, which had included landscaping in a $14,000 line item.

While the exterior of the Town Hall will be getting this new $900 plaque there are no plans afoot to restore the sign that for years alerted the public about upcoming meetings. The sign used to grace the Broad Street side of the old building, and its 6-inch high letters let the public know at a glance from the street when the next meetings would be. Currently, notices of meetings are posted in much smaller print on 8-1/2×11” papers taped to the door. Since the renovation, the user-friendly sign has not reappeared. Wyatt Cutler, who took over as interim manager in the summer, says he doesn’t know if the sign had been saved.

One of two stalls at the women’s public rest room of Oriental’s Town Hall. Neither stall has a door for privacy.

Another job not yet finished remains evident to women who use the ladies room in the renovated Town Hall. Nine months after the building reopened, there are still no doors on the stalls. For privacy, some women have taken to locking the door to the ladies room itself. One reisident has suggested that women might put the rejected lighter-weight $160 plaque to use as a privacy shield.

Posted Tuesday November 19, 2013 by Melinda Penkava