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The decision, which the Board of Selectmen recognized as difficult, came after a lengthy three-part presentation by the Penfield Building Committee, the chairman of the Parks and Recreation Commission and the town’s chief financial officer.
“This has been a very long process, a very difficult and challenging process with a lot of competing interests, ideas, considerations, thoughts and plans,” said Selectman Kevin Kiley. “[The process] is far from simple, far from easy, very complex.”
The resolution will now advances to the Board of Finance and the Representative Town Meeting for their approvals.
Penfield’s Building Committee was charged by the Board of Selectmen in December 2013 to do an in-depth study to review and recommend options to repair the pavilion. It had been significantly damaged twice in the last three years by Tropical Storm Irene and Superstorm Sandy. The Pavilion has remained closed since 2012.
Members of the public in attendance said the pavilion could be destroyed in a future storm.
“Whether it is Mother Nature or finance, there is risk involved in this decision,” said Selectman Cristin McCarthy Vahey, who on Tuesday was elected to the state House of Representatives.
Some, including Jan Rebar of Belmont Street, came with a slew of questions. He questioned the depth of the Penfield Building Committee’s research, noting that none of cost figures factored in a possibility of not receiving FEMA aid.
Others, such as Jane Talamini of Old Field Road, were “totally opposed to everything that has been presented this afternoon.”
“I read the committee charge, I was horrified,” she said. “The thing is [the charge] presented the committee with a narrow path, you have got to rebuild and find a way to rebuild.”
Talamini’s remarks were reinforced by Representative Town Meeting member Gaylord Meyer (D-1), who read a couple of “over 300 emails” she has received from residents asking the town to “tear [the pavilion down] and just walk away.” Meyer said she was there as a representative of the people and supported their stance.
Much of the trepidation is based in a hyper-awareness of the town’s $4 million debt on the existing structure, and the ability to use insurance monies for other purposes.
First Selectman Michael Tetreau suggested moving the vote to a later date to give the board time to process all the data received during the presentation and to get back to the public on questions posed.
However, given the time sensitivity of the process, both Kiley and McCarthy Vahey saw it important to move the project forward, and Tetreau agreed.
The selectmen agreed that despite the risk, rebuilding the pavilion protects a 120-year-old town asset and provides the town with a revenue stream.
“We looked at the cost of building, the cost of reimbursement and the cost over 20 years,” Tetreau said. “We have $4 million in debt. If we just magically swept the beach clean, we would still have $4 million in debt that we would have to pay off for the next 20 years.
“So the option here is to create a venue that actually creates a revenue stream that not only pays for itself, but also helps pay for that $4 million in debt, and we can’t change that.”
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