PIERMONT — Two Upper Valley towns will consider upgrades to their town office buildings during Town Meeting this year.

In Corinth, voters will decide whether to authorize using about $130,000 in grant funding toward restoration work at Town Hall on Tuesday, March 4, during a floor Town Meeting. 

During the floor portion of Town Meeting in Piermont on Saturday, March 15, voters will decide whether or not to appropriate $1.05 million to build a new town office building next to an old farmhouse the town has owned since the 1950s.

Both town halls are aging and in need of repairs. Corinth is working to restore its building, while Piermont is proposing to use money from a town trust fund to build new. 

First constructed in 1912, the Corinth building — located at 1387 Cookeville Road — was home to a general store, then a school before becoming Town Hall   in 1972.

“It’s been an important focal point of the village for many, many years,” Corinth Selectboard Chairwoman Holly Groschner said. “It has the kind of character that we’re proud to be able to keep in our village.”

Corinth recently earned a $20,000 grant from the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation and the Vermont Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to use to replace the vinyl siding on the building’s south wall with wood clapboards and trim. Other grant funding will pay for a generator. 

“We are very positive about the grants we've received so far and the town hall really needs the TLC that we will be able to provide with this grant funding,” Groschner said, adding that the Selectboard is not asking taxpayers for additional funds for the project.

Meanwhile, Piermont officials are proposing to build a new town office building behind the current one — a farmhouse that was first built in 1830 and purchased by the town in the 1950s.

Plans call for using $98,700 from the New Building Capital Reserve Fund and taking out a $950,000 bond, which could be between 10 to 15 years. 

In order to pass, 60% of voters at Town Meeting need to support it.

The bond would be paid for using annual payments from the Herbert A. Clark Memorial Trust Fund, which was established in 1938, according to a presentation put together for a bond hearing on Feb. 1.

As of December, there was $1.8 million in the account, which gathers interest and dividend payments each year. Since town officials want to continue to get interest from the money in the account, they want to keep the balance at a healthy amount and therefore are advocating to take out a bond as opposed to paying out a lump sum.

“We are not anticipating an increase in the tax rate for the payment of the bond,” said Piermont Town Administrator Sarah Tucker.

Town officials have been discussing upgrades to the town offices on Route 10 since at least 2012, Piermont Selectboard Chairman Wayne Godfrey said. 

“We looked into adding on, but it was going to be way more expensive,” he said.

The proposal calls for putting the town’s police department — currently in the Old Church Building across the street — and town offices in the same building.

The library, which shares space with the town offices, would have the opportunity to expand into the current town office building, and the Piermont Historical Society, which stores its archives in the town office building, would move to the Old Church Building.

Currently, town employees share 310 square feet of office space and have an additional 100 square feet of space for sensitive documents. Piermont has three full time employees: Tucker, Police Chief Brandon Alling and Road Agent Frank Rodimon, Godfrey said. There are also three part-time employees, including Town Clerk Bernadette Ratel. 

“We’re cramped in here,” Tucker said.

The building isn’t compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and there aren’t any places where town officials can meet with residents one-on-one to discuss sensitive topics, such as tax matters, Godfrey said. Over the years, the town has painted the building and performed other repairs, as well as installing a ramp to the library.

Library staff and patrons, along with other town employees, share one small bathroom “which is about as big as a porta potty,” Godfrey said. “The only advantage is it has running water.”

Conceptual designs call for a one-story building that has almost 2,000 square feet for town offices and about the same for the police department and storage.

The proposal does not include funding for the library or any concrete plans for its possible expansion.

“We don't have the details of that yet, but it would be great for them to have more room for what they do,” Tucker said.

The historical society is holding off on discussing any specific plans for the Old Church Building until after the vote takes place.

“We stand to benefit,” said Piermont Historical Society President Fred Shipman. “If we get more space we’re going to have to refurbish that space to our needs. It’s not going to be free.”

Voters will have a chance to learn more about the Piermont proposal during a community gathering from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 1, at Piermont Village School. The event, which is being hosted by the Piermont Recreation Committee, includes a free spaghetti lunch, children’s activities and a Q&A session with candidates for Piermont town offices.

Corinth’s Town Meeting begins at 10 a.m. Tuesday, March 4 at the town hall in Cookeville. Piermont’s  Town Meeting begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 15, at the school.

Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.