Voters will likely be asked if they want to spend $29 million to renovate the old Westport High School property, decommissioning Westport's aging town hall, town hall annex and Council on Aging buildings along the way.

Members of Westport's Long Term Building Evaluation Committee voted unanimously earlier this month to recommend to the select board that the town attempt to save the school building and re-purpose it for town municipal offices. Members also recommended that the town put a non-binding question to voters at the next town-wide election next April, so the political will behind the proposition could be gauged.

The move comes several months after a consulting firm determined that the old high school is worth approximately $11 million as is. But with an uncertain real estate market, increased maintenance costs on the town's current municipal buildings, and other impacts on sports and the school department that would come with selling the property, reuse committee and select board member Brian Valcourt said he believes the town needs to hold on to it despite the financial pain of not selling.

"We need $11 or $12 million worth of work to all of these (current municipal) buildings," he said. "And so, do you keep throwing good money after bad? Or do you bite the bullet? I feel that if we divest ourselves of this piece of property which has been central to the town for the better part of the past century, I just think in the long term we will regret it for a short payout of $11 million, which will be going to these buildings, and then some, and we'll still have issues."

Four options

Keeping the building and re-using it for municipal use was one of four options presented to the committee by town manager James Hartnett, who differed from committee members in his desire to sell the old building. His options include:

•Sell the school: If the town were to sell the school for $11 million, renovations would eat up all of that windfall and then some. According to his report, the current town hall needs $4.08 million in renovations; the annex $4.53 million in renovations; the Council on Aging building $2.4 million in renovations; and costs for relocating the school department's administrative offices would run $2.4 million. He estimated that the net cost to the town if it chose this option would be $2.68 million.

•Save the school for municipal use, sell current town offices: Under this scenario, the town would spend $29.05 million to renovate the school for re-use as municipal office space. That cost would be offset somewhat by the sale of the town hall at its projected value of $1.3 million; the annex at $834,200, and the Council on Aging building at $653,700.

Subtracting the sale price of those buildings from the cost to renovate the school, Hartnett estimated the net cost to the town would be $26.27 million.

•Use the property for affordable housing: Under this scenario, the town would seek to develop affordable housing on the property. Tcost to the town would be $14.18 million.

•Keep the property, including ball fields, and demolish the school: This option would cost the town $15.98 million, most of that due to the costs of renovating the town's current municipal offices. As with the second option, to keep the school, it would allow Westport to retain the ball fields on the site.

Would it sell?

Though he spoke in favor of selling, Hartnett agreed that the uncertainty of the real estate market presents a big unknown, as there are no guarantees.

"The $11 million is nice, but in reality we might not get anywhere close to that," he said, and school superintendent Thomas Aubin agreed.

"If it was a good sale, people would be knocking on the (town's) doors right now."

Still, Hartnett said keeping the building would cost a substantial sum, with maintenance and upkeep on the old school costing the town $200,000 to $300,000 per year. Coupled with the town's structural deficit and other budget issues, "I have to recommend to the committee that we sell the property.

When asked by a committee member what would happen if a developer dropped a $10 million check on his desk tomorrow, he smiled:

"You'd have a very happy town administrator."

What's next?

Under approval of an earlier town meeting vote, the select board was given and has the authority to sell the property right now, with no further approvals needed. But Valcourt said that given the ramifications, "I really feel that this needs to be a town-wide decision."

If the select board agrees with the board's recommendation, a non-binding question would be placed on the ballot next April.

If there is a clear directive from the town, members said, the wheels would be put in motion to follow that directive. And if the option to keep the building and spend $29 million to renovate it comes out ahead, "then in 2024, bring a debt exclusion up (at town meeting) to do the project if that's the direction we're going to go," Valcourt said.