OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford Paul Dudkowski of CPL describes a proposed floor plan for Pomfret’s new town hall at the October Pomfret Town Board meeting.

Pomfret’s Town Board spent a chunk of its October meeting hashing out details of the town hall’s move to Chestnut Road. Although the town of Dunkirk government still hasn’t confirmed it will join Pomfret in the space, it looks like there is a lot of interest.

Dunkirk Town Supervisor Priscilla Penfold attended the meeting as an audience member along with the Dunkirk town board, Penfold pointing out that all five board members were there. Dunkirk Town Justice Chris Penfold attended as well.

All took an interest in a presentation by CPL’s Paul Dudkowski about proposed floor plans for Pomfret’s new building, a former church on the northern end of town — not far from town of Dunkirk territory.

“We are excited to look at what your plans are,” Priscilla Penfold said.

Dudkowski said changes to the building will be “minimal” to remain within budget constraints. The main renovations will be the additions of doors and walls to create new office spaces.

Floors will also get recarpeted. Mechanical equipment rooms are staying in place and workers will “keep toilet fixtures where they are, when we can,” Dudkowski added.

He showed building maps for three configuration options. Dudkowski called Option 3 the best because it would put the towns’ offices right across the corridor from each other. The option would also allow revision of the former sanctuary into a new shared courtroom.

Pomfret Town Supervisor Dan Pacos asked Penfold if her town might need its own space for an assessor. “I don’t think we need a generous amount of space but there are some maps, so we do need a little space,” she replied, adding that the towns’ assessors could probably share space.

There was also talk of sharing a computer server area and court offices. Pomfret Town Clerk Samantha Kellogg put in a plea that printers and copy machines not be placed “on the other side of the world” from her office.

Pacos and other Pomfret councilmen liked Option 3 the best. “When I originally developed this scheme, this was more along the lines of what I was thinking,” Pacos said of the option.

Dudkowski also showed a time frame for the project. It’s envisioned to go out to bid Jan. 13, with construction happening from March 20 to July 2. “Substantial completion” will be by July 30.

Priscilla Penfold asked her board to bring CPL’s plans to the next Dunkirk town board meeting. “We may have some direction at that time” as to whether Dunkirk will join the new town hall, she said.