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Community Corner

Plans Advance for New Asharoken Village Hall

Presented by Neil Hoffman of Hoffman Grayson Architects, plans for a new and updated village hall were proposed.

Asharoken's plan to update its Village Hall is advancing.

On Monday night, the saw a presentation on the proposal of building a new village hall. The current 1,900-square-foot building houses not only the administrative offices, but a meeting room and the police station.

Neil Hoffman of Hoffman Grayson Architects presented detailed floor plans and projected images of what the new and updated building would look like.

"It's too small of a building, too old, falling apart, and there is insufficient insulation," said Hoffman about the current location.

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The new village hall would be next to the current location, and keep the same address. It will be 3,800 sq ft, which is twice the size of the current building.  The architectural style will also be more modern, and will be one floor with an expanded attic space.  The village is still in the beginning stages of the process, as it needs to submit a full application to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation for approval, and then be approved by the New York State Department of Health.

The buildings costs will be handled largely through donations, grant money, assessments, bonding and stimulus money from the federal government.  

"The prior administration accepted donations for an addition to, or a new Village Hall, of approximately $170,000 - plus additional pledges. Under the Obama stimulus, we had hoped to get grants to build a new Village Hall. Every grant opportunity, not only the stimulus, required shovel-ready projects," said Asharoken Village Mayor Patricia Irving. "In the meantime, we are still looking for grants and once the project is ready to go, and if there is no grant money available, we will explore other funding options."

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Shovel ready is when all plans, permits and approvals are in place, including the Village and the DEC. "It's very important to have a shovel-ready project. We are always thinking of money, but this is a very presentable building," said Mayor Irving.

As of now, the vllage's preliminary budget for the construction of a new village hall is $800,000.  The village will continue to make adjustments to the proposal and prepare to submit an application to the DEC, the board said.

Editor's note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that municipal buildings cannot be paid for by taxpayers. Patch regrets the error. 

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