Georgia town hall renovations add accessibility, efficiency

By JACQUELINE CAIN | Staff Writer
jackie@miltonindependent.com

Renovations to the Georgia municipal building are nearly complete, with only a few “small, punch list things left to do,” town administrator Carrie Johnson said last week.

When entirely complete, the renovation project will ring up at about $115,000, Johnson said. In addition to a bond approved by Georgia voters in January 2010, funds from a federal Community Development Block Grant and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act went toward the renovations.

The CDBG money was earmarked to make the building compliant with the  Americans with Disabilities Act, Johnson said.

Specifically, the grant purchased a brand new elevator and an accessibility ramp outside the building. ARRA provided $16,000 for energy efficiency, including thermal blinds and interior insulation, Johnson said.

Though construction began in early February, the project has been in the works since 2005 when the town started an analysis of each municipal department’s needs. A consultant vetted the suggestions made by a group of community and business representatives, Johnson said.

Since then, Georgia residents have watched these changes evolve: the new Fire and Rescue station, town office renovations and the forthcoming Highway Department sand and salt shed, bids for which the town is expecting next week, Johnson said.

Built in 1989, the municipal building has remained largely untouched for those two decades. The main floor originally had an open floor plan, and town departments shared the space.

Now planning and zoning staff have separate offices in the building’s front, town assessors have separate workspaces and storage and Johnson has a bright, large office. There’s also a new restroom and a spacious, comfortable meeting room.

“I’m hoping for increased productivity, because you won’t have three or four people trying to work in one open space,” Johnson said.

She looks forward to not only more privacy for town employees but also for residents who have business in the municipal building.

“If somebody’s discussing a subdivision or any plan they have for their property, and five people are listening, they may not feel comfortable with that,” Johnson said.

The building’s basement also got a makeover. According to Johnson, it was formerly “a dump area,” where town files and archives were stored on “old-school plywood shelves.”

Now, file cabinets, which previously cluttered the main-floor meeting room, will keep documents organized and out of the way. New shelving units were built for the back of the basement, where Georgia Historical Society items are stored.

Two additional overflow meeting spaces were also constructed in the basement, so smaller groups, like the Conservation Commission, can meet privately, Johnson said.

“Adding meeting space allows us to utilize the building more effectively,” she said. “We did it before, but it wasn’t always so comfortable.”

Heidi Britch-Valenta has been the town’s planning coordinator for a year.

“Whatever desk was free, I’d sit there for the day,” Britch-Valenta said. Now, she has one of the spacious front offices to herself.

Johnson said the renovations were met with a positive response from town employees and residents who have stopped in.

“Overall, it’s more efficient,” she said.