With Township Hall renovations complete, trustees Neil Wallace and David Lohmeier aren’t sure taxpayers’ money was well spent.
‘The prior board, I believe, abdicated its responsibility in a number of ways, including saying the $800,000 was going to be for remodeling and then using money for furniture and equipment, when no list was presented,? Wallace said. ‘We should have been able to get control of this as new board and we were prevented from doing so.?
‘Right, wrong or indifferent, it’s done, what’s spent is spent, but in future projects, I think we need to take a much more responsible approach to it,? Lohmeier said. “We can do a better job at managing projects and make sure that we can look a taxpayer in the eye and say ‘yes we’re sure that every dollar we spent was well spent.?”
Building Department Director Dave Belcher, who was named general contractor for the job, stood before the board, June 2, to answer questions about the renovation project.
‘The prior board authorized me to remodel and renovate it to make it a usable building for our township services and that’s what I did,? Belcher said. ‘After the prior board’s authorization, I was allowed a budget and I stayed within the budget.?
Belcher was allotted $800,000 this past September by the prior township board.
‘There was nothing ever etched in stone in the beginning,? he said. ‘In most remodeling, that seems to be the case sometimes.?
Belcher said he kept in contact with both the supervisor and clerk.
‘I didn’t just do it. I would go home every night and draw out different ideas and go back and present them,? he said. ‘Then I would call the architect and we would get it on paper and move forward from there.?
Belcher said they worked on the project seven days a week and finished it in 90 days.
A total of $774,506.86 has been spent so far, $221,422.28 of which for furniture. The hall still needs signs and a flagpole, he said.
Furniture purchases were determined by the clerk, treasurer, and supervisor, along with department heads.
‘We just gave two different companies our input and they gave us an initial drawing,? Belcher said. ‘Each department got to look at what was proposed for their department and made the appropriate changes if any.?
Wallace said he was surprised to see $43,000 spent on a new elevator, when a key reason for abandoning the old town hall was handicap inaccessibility.
However, Belcher said both floors of the new hall are fully accessible. The elevator was installed for convenience, but is not required. They saved $40,000 by constructing the elevator shaft in-house.
Trustee Larry Rosso said he was ‘very impressed? by Belcher’s work and appreciated his sincere effort to be at the meeting.
“It means transparency to the greatest extent possible and we owe that to our taxpayers,? he said. ‘That is very important.?
Trustee Mark Petterson, who spent a lot of time at the hall watching the project develop, also congratulated Belcher.
‘We have built new Clarkston schools, we have built the post offices, done a very good job at spending the taxpayers’ money and doing it very reasonably, and I would like to congratulate you,? he said. ‘I think you’ve also done a very, very good job.?
In Belcher’s 10 years with the township, he has worked on its new Fire Station 3, remodeled the old fire station for Comcast, and built the new Senior Center.
Wallace and Lohmeier said their criticisms of the process ‘are not personal? towards Belcher, however, he said this project has brought him ‘nothing but grief.?
‘I just wash my hands of it,? Belcher said. “I did what I was told to do and authorized to do and that’s where I want to leave it. I was very proud of it, but this is become quite the issue.?