TURNER – The Leavitt Institute Committee proposed to selectmen Monday night that the Town Office be moved to the Leavitt Institute building in Turner Center. Committee spokesman Ralph Caldwell asked the board to place an article on the April town meeting warrant so voters could decide on the proposal.

Citizens have set aside money for the past four years, a total of $178,000, to put an addition on the current Town Office in Turner Village. Residents, at meetings and through a poll taken for the new comprehensive plan, have expressed their desire to keep the Town Office where it is currently located.

The institute building is owned by the town, but sits on the Turner Center school campus amid two schools, playgrounds and playing fields. SAD 52 owns the land and has an agreement with the town that specifies what can be housed in the building.

Until this fall, a large portion of the building was leased to the school district to house classrooms and administrative offices. That arrangement ended after Turner voters gave institute decision-making powers to the committee; the committee then withdrew from the leasing arrangement.

School board’s role

The SAD 52 Board of Directors, under the terms of the building’s sale to the town, would have the final authority on allowing the town office to be located there. Caldwell said he hadn’t talked to the SAD 52 board about his proposal.

“I’m not looking for a great deal of cooperation. We thought that if the town passed it then the school board might be more amicable,” Caldwell explained. “State law says we can do it without their permission.”

Caldwell was referring to a state statute that says a town may use any old school building no longer being used for education, said Town Manager Jim Catlin on Tuesday.

“But, we have a signed agreement with SAD 52 concerning that building,” Catlin said, “so I don’t think the statute trumps that.”

Several audience members and selectmen expressed concerns over the proposal, saying townspeople had already made the decision to keep the current Town Office and that there are safety issues about traffic and the schoolchildren at the institute site.

“The town has already spoken, and to bring this up again is just unfair,” Selectman Jennifer Wadsworth said.

Caldwell said that the townspeople might change their minds because the proposal “could save them $300,000” if the addition isn’t built.

Selectmen decided not put an article on the town meeting warrant until the institute committee can meet with the school board and until the town manager gets final estimates on the new addition at the current Town Office.

The Leavitt Institute Committee could have an article placed on the warrant without the selectmen’s approval by gathering signatures on petitions.

Special town meeting

In other business, selectmen scheduled a special town meeting for 7 p.m. Jan. 3. The board is seeking voters’ permission to spend up to $21,690 for repairs to a firetruck.

Fire Chief Steve Fish has talked with selectmen and the Budget Committee about whether to repair a 30-year-old truck or purchase a new one. Selectman Dennis Richardson, who made the motion to hold the meeting, refused to schedule a special town meeting for discussion of a new truck, but only to expend surplus funds for repairs. Richardson said that discussion of a new truck should be held for annual town meeting on April 9.

The next regular selectmen’s meeting will be held after the special town meeting on Jan. 3. The special meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will have only two warrant articles: election of a moderator and authorization to spend funds to repair the firetruck.