On Monday, the Town of Jaffrey submitted a petition with the Cheshire County Superior Court, requesting permission to hold a special Town Meeting with a single warrant item – a request to use $1.2 million of the town’s undesignated fund balance to purchase the former TD Bank on Main Street to use as new town offices.

The town announced its intention to seek the special meeting earlier this month, and after an obligatory 10-day waiting period, submitted the petition to the court, asking for permission to hold the meeting on Nov. 23. The Superior Court must review the case and make a ruling before a special Town Meeting would be allowed to occur.

According to the filing, submitted by the town’s attorney, Kelly Dowd, the town’s undesignated fund balance is currently $3.3 million, and purchase of the property can be made with those funds without any additional taxes raised. The current town offices, which are next to the bank on 10 Goodnow Street, were purchased in 1995, and the town offices were movedthere from their previous location in the current Police Department.

“It was recognized from the beginning that the 10 Goodnow Street space was inadequate, but the original plan was to use the location on a temporary basis for five years,” the filing reads.

Listed among the issues with the building is its age – having been built in the 1930s – lack of energy efficiency, inadequate ventilation, no waiting area for the public and offices that are immediately accessible to the public, which is a security concern, along with a lack of additional office space for new personnel, inadequate meeting space for municipal hearings and lack of storage.

This is not the first time the town has sought new office space. In 2011, the town put forth a warrant for $3.1 million to replace the existing offices, funded by bond, but it ultimately failed at Town Meeting. In 2017, the town established and began funding a capital reserve for the purpose of acquiring land, designing, engineering and building a new town office.

The bank was put on the market for an asking price of $1.5 million, but according to the filing, the town has reached an agreement to buy it for $1.2 million. The town argues that the building going up for sale was not foreseeable, that purchasing the building would be significantly less cost than building a new one, it would provide better facilities with more-secure offices and that the town has been seeking a solution for its town office facility for decades without a good option. The town argues that waiting for the 2025 Town Meeting could result in the building being sold to another buyer.

“In the course of seven years, there has never been a commensurate opportunity (either in cost or proximity) for the location of a Town Office, and it is urgent that this opportunity not be lost, as there exists no more suitable site available in town,” the filing reads.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, Ext. 244, or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.