Twin Lakes considering rehabbing current village hall or building new

To rehab or build new?

That’s a question many an owner of an older home considers at some point. And that’s what the Twin Lakes Village Board has been discussing over the last couple of months concerning Village Hall.

Village administrator Jennifer Frederick raised the issue at the March 5 committee of the whole meeting seeking the opinion of board members on whether the board wanted to just maintain the current building, located at 108 E Main St., as is, remodel or build new.

The village has an old estimate for a new village hall that would cost about $1 million, Frederick said.

Over the last two committee of the whole meetings, some board members have expressed support for exploring a new building and some for looking at what could be done with the current facility, including making repairs and perhaps rearranging how space is used.

Perhaps the most extreme positions are represented by comments made by Trustees Kevin Fitzgerald and Tom Connolly on one side and Trustees Sharon Bower and Barbara Andres on the other side.

“I don’t think it’s worth putting a dime into this place,” said Fitzgerald. Connolly said of remodeling the current village hall: “You’re putting spats on a pig.”

“I think we should stay here and remodel,” said Bower. Andres said “If the bones are good, let’s put new flesh on the bones.”

Advantages of staying in the current building advanced by advocates of that position include spending less money and the downtown location. Discussions of building a new facility have centered on the site of the police station at 920 Lance Drive, west of downtown. That site was planned with enough space for a new village hall at some point.

Advantages of creating a new building would include the opportunity to create a more efficient building with the possible addition of a community center that could be used by various local organizations for activities.

“I just think there are efficiencies that can be gained by a newer building,” said Trustee Aaron Karow.

Members of a local senior citizens club attended the April 2 committee of the whole meeting to support the new building, including a community center component.

The timing of the discussion is driven by some debt currently held by the village being paid off in 2020 and 2023, Frederick said. If borrowing for the project, along with money the village has been setting aside for this purpose, could be at the level of those two debt loads that could keep the project “tax neutral.” But not all board members agreed with that thinking.

“I thought the idea was to get rid of loans,” Andres said.