Public meeting scheduled
to discuss Holley-Murray building plans

Holley and Murray may be two separate entities but they are all one community, Town of Murray Supervisor Hank Lehning said. And toward that end, the two municipalities are collaborating on a project to construct a municipal building that would house both branches of government.

Officials in Holley and Murray will be hosting a joint public meeting to discuss the proposed project and answer any questions residents in either municipality might have.

The municipal building would be constructed on property donated to the town and would be located on Route 31 in Holley off Maziarz Drive behind Christopher Mitchell Funeral Homes. The location, partly because of the donated land, was chosen as a spot compromised upon by both municipalities.

"If the town can move itself down to the edge of our village for this collaboration to work, then the village can certainly move less than one mile toward the end of the village to make it work," Holley Mayor Skip Carpenter said.

Carpenter also noted that there are no available spots in the Public Square which could house a municipal building large enough for both entities.

Both Holley and Murray struggle with lack of space and more importantly, lack of ADA-compliant meeting rooms and restrooms. Lehning said that the advent of the STAR program has increased the foot traffic to the assessor's office which has more than quadrupled. Much of that traffic is not able to negotiate the stairs. Many times the assessor will carry records downstairs and meet with residents. Holley's public meeting room is on the second floor of its Main Street building and would require the installation of an elevator in order to make it ADA compliant if an individual with disabilities wanted to attend a meeting. "The installation of an elevator in this building could run in excess of $50,000," Carpenter said.

Neither of the buildings offer handicapped accessible restroom facilities and in the Holley building, Carpenter said, there is likely not enough room to expand the restrooms to accommodate handicapped accessibility.

Murray also struggles with finding space to accommodate lawyers and their clients on court nights. "There is no private area for the lawyers to confer with clients," Lehning said. "Sometimes they have to either go outside or into the highway garage to have a private conversation."

The price of the building is anticipated to remain under $775,000 but Lehning and Carpenter both said that no figures will be set in stone until bids were received for the construction.

The Town of Murray has $750,000 approved for the construction through Rural Development, Lehning said. Both municipalities have $100,000 in reserve funds for the project. The spending of those funds would require a public referendum and approval by the voters, they said.

"The loan would be amortized between the town and the village and we don't anticipate any additional taxes for debt service," Lehning said. "Instead of the $35,000 we put into a capital fund each year, it would go toward the amortization of the new building."

Carpenter said the village does own the building in which it is housed and it would look to sell the building. "What it would cost us to move into the new building would be offset by the new revenues that are coming into the village," he said.

"This project is something that we have had people ask us to complete," Carpenter said. "We have had people ask us to partner up with the Town of Murray and work together. This is the beginning of our collaboration with Murray."

Cooperation on sharing of services has also been discussed. Lehning said the two municipalities would be looking at combining the position of code enforcement officer between Holley and Murray. "We could combine services and reduce costs," Lehning said. "Voting machine locations would also be consolidated."

Voters in the Town of Murray will be asked to vote on a referendum for the building project on the November 2 ballot. If the proposal is passed by Murray voters, then a referendum would go before the Holley voters for the spending of the $100,000 toward the project.

"We know as a board that we will have to eventually revamp our office to make it ADA compliant," Carpenter said. "The public has asked us to work with Murray and in the future the

The public information meeting is scheduled for October 28 at 7 p.m. in the Holley Primary School. A power point presentation is scheduled as well as a question and answer period.