From left, Pomfret Highway Superintendent Jude Gardner, Pomfret Town Board members Adam Rak and Mike Lee, and Pomfret Town Supervisor Dan Pacos sit at the Pomfret Town Board’s regular November meeting. P-J photo by M.J. Stafford

The town of Pomfret’s government is moving ahead without the town of Dunkirk in its planned shift of operations to a former church on Chestnut Road.

Pomfret Town Supervisor Dan Pacos said at the November regular town board meeting that officials were working through a renovation floor plan for just Pomfret. There were two plans in place for the re-use of the former Mormon church — one with Pomfret moving in, the other with the town of Dunkirk also bringing in its government offices.

Pacos was anxious for a decision from the town of Dunkirk, in order to move ahead as quickly as possible. However, town residents and board members Phil Leone and Shari Miller pushed back against Pacos’ time frame at the October Dunkirk Town Board meeting. They wanted more time to make a decision.

Leone motioned for no vote on the matter until January, but the board amended it to reflect that no decisions would be made at that meeting.

Speaking about the pressure to make a decision quickly, Priscilla Penfold, the outgoing Supervisor of the town of Dunkirk, told the OBSERVER, “I think we owe it to the town of Pomfret, so they can move on.”

Pacos and other Pomfret officials evidently did just that. Pacos first publicly mentioned his proposal in April but said he had reached out to Dunkirk town officials beforehand.

At Pomfret’s November meeting, Pacos left open the possibility of sharing space with the Dunkirk Town Court in the new building. He said that “we are keeping our options open.”

The Pomfret Town Board approved a contract with CPL for architectural, management and construction services on the renovation project.

CPL is to “make sure the plan we’ve developed is doable,” Pacos said.

He said Pomfret is “looking at about a year” before it moves offices to Chestnut Road.

Pacos later offered a bit of bad — but perhaps unsurprising — news about project costs: Remodeling will be “significantly higher” than when the project was initially planned two years ago. Town Attorney Jeffrey Passafaro said the town can move ahead with the project and amend bonds as needed.

The remodeling cost was listed as up to $600,000 when the Pomfret board passed a resolution in March to acquire the building. The property purchase price was $370,000. Pomfret planned to use grants for the bulk of the funding, with “availability of satisfactory financing” mentioned to cover the balance.

As for the town of Dunkirk, the Town Board is exploring renovations to the existing Town Hall and Court. The Board has also had discussions with the West Town of Dunkirk Fire Department about utilizing space in its fire hall, located within the same parking lot as the Town Hall and Court on Willow Road.

Penfold told the OBSERVER that she is “open to everything”, including the idea of sharing space with the Fire Department. She stated that her preference is to keep the town’s offices in the town of Dunkirk.

Town of Dunkirk Code Enforcement Officer Ryan Mourer urged the Board to stop “kicking the can” on the issue, regardless of what option the town decides. Mourer stated that the employees of the town deserve a better facility, and highlighted concerns with overcrowding and safety regarding the court.

The Town of Dunkirk will evaluate its options over the coming months.

OBSERVER Reporter Braden Carmen contributed to this story.