Evans Mills seeking new home for village offices

EVANS MILLS — The village wants to move on up to the north side of Noble Street.

Mayor Robert E. Boucher presented plans to the Evans Mills Library board on Wednesday night that would move the village offices, 8707 Noble St., across the street to the second floor of the library building, 8706 Noble St.

"As you all know, the village office is a disgrace," Mr. Boucher said. "It is not handicapped accessible, it's cramped and it's next to a garage."

The village purchased the old Masonic Temple in 2001 for $15,000 to relocate the library and Evans Mills-LeRay historical museum. It took fours years and cost $205,000 to renovate the building.

The renovations were funded by the village, the town of LeRay, several grants and private donations. The library is on the first floor and the museum is on the second floor and both are, in part, paid for by the village.

To convert the second floor into office space and a board room, Mr. Boucher said, movable temporary partitions would be installed. The museum would stay where it is, but would occupy only about one-third of the space.

The library board was not as concerned with the layout as it was with the legality, problems with parking and access to the second floor.

"A lot of the work on this building was done with grants that were specific to a library or to a museum," Margaret O. Brand said. "Can we even do this, because the grants that renovated this whole building were not grants for a municipal building?"

Mr. Boucher said the next step, after talking with the library board, was to consult village Attorney Joseph W. Russell, to see if the village can really move forward with the plan.

The plan would include a separate handicapped-accessible entrance into the side of the library. Mr. Boucher said an intercom system would be installed so people needing to use the elevator could call and be assisted.

While the library is handicapped accessible and there is an elevator, some library board members questioned how often the elevator should really be used. Some were under the impression that it was for occasional use, more to move equipment than to move people several times during the course of a day.

"I'm not sure if the extra use will exceed what it was designed for and burn it out," library board member Mary E. Wenk said. "Also, there are people who won't want to deal with the stairs and who won't want to push a button to have someone come help them with the elevator."

Mrs. Wenk suggested that Mr. Boucher look into other alternatives. She said she would prefer to see the village offices moved to the old recreation center, just down the road near the sewer plant. The center already is owned by the village, is one floor and has plenty of parking — something Noble Street lacks.

Trustee Sandra J. Veivia said that the recreation center isn't a possibility because it's in a flood plain, which would mean the village could not apply for several record management grants. Mr. Boucher told the library board the same thing and said the village wants to apply for grants that would pay for a special climate-controlled room to store village records.

Mr. Boucher said the move to the second floor appeared to be the cheapest alternative. He did not have a price tag for the move, but said he knew it would cost at least $500,000 to renovate and bring the current offices up to code.

He said he brought the plans to the board on Wednesday night to discuss what changes would be made and to get its input, not necessarily to make the decision on where the village office will end up.

"We want to work closely with the library board and hear their concerns," Mrs. Veivia said Thursday. "We want to hear them and we want to do everything properly, but in the end it is a village board decision."