The Bedford Select Board gave the Facilities Department the go-ahead to design an alternative egress in the board’s first-floor Town Hall meeting room on Tuesday.
Department Director Ronald Scaltreto showed drawings of a couple of options, both focusing on the window in the southeast corner as the logical site. Besides installing a door and exterior stairs, the heating and ventilation equipment “that runs through the wainscoting will need to be rerouted.”
Scaltreto said a price tag of $100,000 to $150,000 is “a very rough estimate.” Town Manager Matt Hanson said he would look into possible funding sources.
Consideration of a second way out of the room began late last summer after a disgruntled resident was arrested for disorderly conduct after refusing the chair’s directive to stop addressing the board.
Member Paul Mortenson on Tuesday was skeptical about the need. He noted that as a Finance Committee member he has participated in many meetings there and “I am not overly concerned.
“That’s a lot of money,” Mortenson said, wondering if the practice will extend to other public meeting areas in Town Hall.
Board Chair Shawn Hanegan said his preference for a second way out is based more on the possibility of escaping a fire.
Colleague Emily Mitchell agreed, describing the area as a room “with one small door” that could be packed with spectators. Mitchell added that she would prefer such a project to be integrated into the capital planning process.
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$150K to install a door? Change the location of the meeting room.
It’s not “a door,” it’s an exit to the outside that requires punching through the wall of the building and creating external stairs, like a fire escape.