The George Holmes Bixby Memorial Library is in need of new windows.
Last year, the town approved a $26,000 warrant article to replace the windows, although those funds have not yet been spent.
The allotted money has to be spent before Dec. 31 or it will be redirected into the capital reserve fund and possibly reallocated to other projects.
One bid to replace all of the windows came in at $35,000, a sum that exceeds the warrant article for the project.
During a regular Select Board meeting on Monday evening, members asked the trustees to scale the window replacement project back, by either reducing the amount of units that are replaced or seeking cheaper material or labor.
“There’s a lot of competition for scarce dollars,” said board member Henry Kunhardt, noting that repairs to the town hall, police station, and the basement of the heritage museum are major expenses the town is taking on in its upcoming budget.
But some trustees expressed concern about lowering the project’s costs, arguing that looking for cheaper alternatives could lessen the quality of work or diminish the overall aesthetic of the building.
“The windows in the back, someone fixed them that didn’t know what they were doing and it created water dams that were coming in,” said Chair of the Library Trustees Elizabeth Hunter Lavallee.
“If you don’t get good people than you may pay the price down the road.”
Board members agreed, but still pushed the library to look into alternatives.
“It would be great if we had the money to do everything,” said board chair Brad Howell. “We’re asking that you look at what needs to be done the most, which [windows] need to be repaired the most, as opposed to totally redoing everything.”
Trustees said they would revisit the project and bring a proposal forward before Dec. 31.
Kunhardt suggested possibly implementing separate expendable trusts for two line items in the budget.
He said welfare and legal expenses can vary drastically from year to year, which makes it hard to project spending in those areas.
If two separate expendable trusts were established, excess money from the line items would rollover into the accounts on surplus years to be dipped into as needed. Kunhardt said that method could potentially reduce the overall price on the two line items on a yearly basis.
Howell said the plan could make sense, although no action was taken on the matter.
The board will not meet for a public session next week, instead it will reconvene for a regular meeting on Nov. 28 at 5:30 p.m.
Abby Kessler can be reached at 924-7172, ext. 234 or akessler@ledgertranscript.com.