We heard from a concerned citizen about the contract placed for an architectural review of Concord’s Town Hall.  What seemed to be a rather simply story ended being very messy and confusing after reviewing the contract and video of the Trustee meeting in question.

The concerned citizen wrote:

The Concord Trustee have entered into a contract with Burgess & Niple to look into expansion possibilities of the existing Town Hall.  Burgess Nipple Contractor 2019-18

During the Trustee meeting July 17, Andy Rose, the Administrator, stated the real reason for the contract – to look at expanding the administrative part of Town Hall.

However, Paul Malchesky, during his presentation of the resolution, talked about flooding, water, drainage, ADA, etc and specifically stated they weren’t looking to expand the admin building. Paul displayed a “lack of candor” moment. (edited by LFC). The contract specifically states looking at a 4,000 sq ft expansion!!!!!

(LFC Comment: Concord does a great job of providing transparency of their meetings. We are able to review the video below.)

Click on https://concordtwp.com/government/public-meetings/ and then July 17 Trustee meeting, video  Andy Rose speaks at time stamp 14:23 and Malchesky at time stamp 1:01:00.
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We then sent the following email to Andy Rose, Concord Administrator, asking for clarification, or clean up of the seeming discrepancy.:

We have a question regarding the B&N Contract.  The actual contract speaks specifically to an expansion of the existing building. However, when we listen to Mr. Malchesky’s comments on the on-line video (7/17 about the 1:00 mark), he told the audience that it was not expansion study, but rather a study to look at the drainage problem.

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Here is Mr. Rose’s reply to our email:

With regard to the B&N contract, the contract is to evaluate town hall and determine if expansion is feasible along with looking at ADA issues.  With that, the study should address water issues we are having.  I can tell you that B&N is aware of our storm water concerns (especially in the elevator well) and any study/potential plan will address water control to keep it out of the building.

Water is Paul’s main concern which is why he stated it is his “intent”.  We are on the same page in that this is a study to look at options.  There is no addition currently planned and we will reassess after the B&N study is complete.

Thank you for the transparency comment.  We appreciate that

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Thanks to Mr. Rose for his reply…..

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On a side note, we met Mr. Rose at the Mentor Rocks concert on Tuesday.  Somehow he was able to see me in the mass of humanity.

While discussing the beautiful amphitheater, he stated that it was his project while he was employed in Mentor.

Me to Andy – How much did it cost?

Andy’s first reply to me: $2.2 million dollars…

Andy’s second reply to me:  “And it was built “on-time” and “within budget”……

Now, I have to admit that did bring a smile to my face…..You see, Andy wanted me to know that he is more than capable of bringing a significant community project to completion within the time-frame and budget established by the Trustees.

That issue was brought up in our article about the fire stations bond levy.
https://lobbyistsforcitizens.com/2019/07/23/concord-s-o-s-save-our-seniors/