Mendon Boards Weigh Senior Center and Library Futures With No Site Chosen

Select Board · Meeting of June 5, 2026

Mendon Select Board joins library and senior center boards to map long-term facilities future, with no site chosen and a 2031 debt window in view. At a special joint session with the Council on Aging, the Taft Public Library Board of Trustees, and the Capital Planning Committee, Town Administrator Jeremy walked attendees through two recently completed studies — a $45,000 ARPA-funded alternative sites analysis by Abacus, and a $25,000 state-earmarked rectory feasibility study by GLRA — with hard construction cost estimates ranging from $8 million for an expand-in-place senior center to $12 million for the Greenfield site on North Avenue, all before the 20-to-30-percent soft-cost adders. Library Trustee James Thatch presented a rebuild-in-place rectory plan at $2.1 million in hard costs that would add roughly 4,000 square feet of community space to the library's current 6,000.

Council on Aging representative Phil said the Abacus study "fell short to make a decision" and called for a visionary campus approach. Jeremy identified a $420,000 annual debt service drop between fiscal 2030 and 2031 — equivalent to $7 million in borrowing capacity — as the target window for any new building, with MURSD's anticipated operational override request looming in the same fiscal period. No formal recommendation has reached the Select Board, and no ballot question has been authorized.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,782 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of June 5, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.