Students' security a concern
Town offices might move into school
Last year, when cracks in the beams and joists forced municipal employees to evacuate Town Hall, they scattered to offices in four locations.
Now officials are considering relocating most of them to a building housing a preschool, but there is one possible hitch: a proposed state law that would, among other provisions, further restrict where registered sex offenders can go.
Since a municipal building must be open to the public, a Westford selectwoman says she wants assurances the measure will allow the move.
"We just want to know what the Massachusetts law is going to look like," said Valerie Wormell, chairwoman of the Westford Board of Selectmen. "If we're not grandfathered, there's absolutely no sense in relocating all town staff at great expense, only to learn we have to move them out."
A legislative cosponsor says Westford officials have nothing to worry about.
"I stand to be corrected, but I know of nothing in that bill that would cause any future problems," said state Representative James R. Miceli.
The bill, stalled on Beacon Hill, is sometimes called Jessica's Law, after a measure passed in Florida named for 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who was raped and murdered in 2005 by a convicted sex offender.
The Massachusetts version, filed in early 2007, would strengthen sentences for child rape using force, with the first offense carrying a mandatory minimum prison term of 20 years. The bill also would prohibit registered sex offenders from living or working within 1,000 feet of a school.
No provision of the bill now explicitly prohibits housing municipal offices open to the public in a school, even though security should be considered anyway, said Miceli, a Democrat who represents parts of neighboring Tewksbury and Wilmington. "There are inherent problems in doing that that the town has to face up to," he said. "Do they want to create all this exposure to the kids?"
Westford officials addressed that question recently as they grappled with where to put municipal employees after closing Town Hall on Main Street.
In December, Town Hall, built in 1870, was declared structurally unsound after cracked beams and joists were discovered, according to town engineer John R. Livsey. Municipal employees were evacuated immediately. While officials found offices for them, the four new locations lacked basic equipment, such as storage for files.
Some of the employees were put in empty classrooms at the Integrated Preschool, in a prefabricated structure called the Millennium Building on Depot Street. Now officials say they are hoping to set up shop there for most of the remaining employees.
Livsey estimated it would cost $275,000 to renovate offices and relocate the majority of the employees to the school, with the rest setting up quarters at the Rogers Fire Station on Town Farm Road. A vote on the necessary funding is scheduled for Town Meeting, which starts May 10.
Still, officials had concerns about security for the 82 children who use classrooms next to the temporary offices. The concern is that the public can traipse in and out of a town hall without any identification checks, and nothing would prevent a sex offender from slipping in with the traffic and having access to children.
Officials are going to great lengths to provide security at the preschool. Entry to the school will be possible only with key cards, Livsey said. Wormell said additional measures may be taken.
Paula Davis, cochair of the schoolwide Special Education Parent Advisory Council, said she believes the town has taken sufficient steps to ensure the children's safety. "I do feel they will be securely tucked into their environment."
As for the future of Town Hall, nothing is certain. The building - listed as part of the Westford Center Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places - could be renovated for use again as municipal offices or for some other purpose, Wormell said.
A request for proposals for a preliminary architectural study, to cost about $35,000, is due next Thursday, Livsey said. If that indicates the building can be salvaged, the town would commission a renovation design, then begin reconstruction, he said. The project has no price tag yet, he said.
Meanwhile, Jessica's Law languishes on Beacon Hill, with no vote date set. Miceli called the current version "a good first step."
Wormell said she believes it could be a year before lawmakers consider it.
Connie Paige can be reached at cpaige@globe.com. 