Pleasantville Ponders $1.5M in Capital Improvements for Village Hall
Pleasantville Village Hall is showing its age.
The 100-year-old former ad agency office building has experienced steady deterioration in its plumbing, heating and electrical systems since the village first occupied the space in 1998. The building at 80 Wheeler Ave., which houses village offices, including the court, and the police department, is in desperate need of repairs, officials said.
Last week, village trustees discussed an estimated $1.5 million capital improvement and maintenance plan for the facility to remedy about bout 30 prioritized items.
“We are trying to get our arms around a long-term capital maintenance plan for the building,” said Mayor Peter Scherer. “Some of these costs could be higher or lower.”
Highest on the list is replacing four existing boilers with two new high-efficiency hot water condensing boilers for a projected $250,000. Other upgrades include expansion of the central computer workstation that monitors the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and lighting for $150,000 and building a second entry to the boiler room to comply with the building code at an estimated $100,000.
Other items would include the replacement of insulation, cold-water piping, non-functioning basement bathrooms and the toilet and sink in the police department cell. New interior and exterior emergency lighting and new lighting in the lobby of the boiler room have also been deemed essential.
Additional upgrades include lead water testing and installing smoke detectors in the lobby and fire alarm strobes in the offices.
With other large expenditures looming for the village, such as a new or rebuilt community pool and development of a civic space, officials are weighing how to pay for the Village Hall upgrades. A building improvement bond would cover the big-ticket items and some of the less costly items. It is likely that the work will be done on a piecemeal schedule.
“We have tried over the years to build up capital funds to allow us to buy things for cash,” Scherer said. “(But) a seven-figure project will most likely need a bond. We don’t have that kind of cash.”
Scherer referenced the fund balance for refuse that paid $270,000 for a new truck, of which $250,000 will be reimbursed by a State and Municipal facilities grant secured by Assemblyman Tom Abinanti (D-Pleasantville).
Scherer said that the village is in good financial standing and will be able to handle the expenditures.
“We are retiring some debt and bond rates are favorable at the moment,” he said. “We came out of the pandemic substantially better off than we feared.”
Trustee David Vinjamuri suggested Village Hall be sold because of its high commercial value and that the village consider purchasing another newer property in town. However, Scherer cited the high expense of moving village offices and the police department, which would require installing a new roof antenna, among other tasks.
“The idea of moving isn’t inexpensive,” he said.
The Village Hall capital planning list was compiled by the Pleasantville-based mechanical engineering firm Barile Gallagher & Associates.
Scherer said the village will start making headway on the list of repairs.
“We are in a strong financial situation and we are going to do this sequentially and logically,” he said.
Abby is a local journalist who has reported on breaking news for more than 20 years. She currently covers community issues in The Examiner as a full-time reporter and has written for the paper since its inception in 2007. Read more from Abby’s editor-author bio here. Read Abbys’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/ab-lub2019/
