Town Hall Repairs: Why You Need to Make an Appointment

Amherst Town Hall is currently undergoing renovations, which means changes are in place for town government operations in the meantime.

Town operations have been moved to the Central Fire Station and Amherst Middle School during the repairs. One concerned resident questioned why appointments must be made for certain town departments right now.

Amherst Patch asked Chair Dwight Brew why appointments must be scheduled for the Town Administrator, Executive Assistant/Welfare Officer and Finance Director during the repairs.

Here is his response:

“During the Amherst Town Hall renovations, the employees working in the Town Hall needed to be relocated. Being mindful of the Amherst taxpayers, we sought to minimize the expenses associated with the relocation. It would have been easier if we had simply rented a large space for the duration of the renovations, but this would have added a considerable expense which we did not wish to incur. Instead we chose to utilize existing space at the Amherst Fire Department and are taking advantage of the generosity of both the Amherst School District and the Souhegan School District to get us through this period.

The most public facing town departments – the Town Clerk, Community Development, Tax Collection and Assessing have all been relocated to the Amherst Fire Department. Unfortunately there was not enough space at the Amherst Fire Department to locate all of our Town Hall employees. The Amherst School District stepped up and has made space for our Town Administrator, Executive Assistant / Welfare Officer and Finance Director. Our agreement with the Amherst School District is that we will not have members of the public meet on school district property while students are on campus. When the town staff located at an Amherst School District facility needs to meet with the public, the meetings take place at a number of different locations including the Police Station, DPW Building and the Library, but not on school property. The relocation has not hampered the ability for the Town Administrator, Executive Assistant / Welfare Officer and Finance Director to meet with the public, but has limited the ability of the public to just drop in without prior notice.