FLY CREEK - The town of Otsego narrowed its design choices for an addition to the town office building during a special meeting Tuesday afternoon.

The primary reason for the changes to the building is the need to provide fireproof storage for town records.

Board members met with architect Hans deWaal to discuss floor plan proposals he had presented earlier.

The board settled on two designs, one of which includes a new meeting room, and asked deWaal to make some alterations and develop cost estimates for each design.

The less ambitious design calls for a 12 foot by 64 foot addition to the south side of the current building. It includes a 12 foot x 23 foot fireproof records room, office space and two entryways. The remainder of the building's floor plan would be retained.

In the other option, the current meeting room and offices would be reconfigured to locate the records storage room in the current building and add a 30 foot by 32 foot meeting room off the south side of the building at the court room end. It also calls for a eight foot wide covered entrance along the addition and a new main entryway to the building.

Town supervisor Tom Breiten said the decision will hinge on two questions. Does the town need the additional space provided in the plan with a new meeting room and how much will each design cost?

"I can't see going $100,000 in the hole when all we wanted was a record room," said town board member Les Weir.

"I think we need that meeting room, otherwise we have the same thing we have right now," said board member George Tucker.

"If we're looking down the road more than 15 minutes it seems like the thing to do," Breiten said about the meeting room addition.

Brieten said the town should be able to pay for the changes to the town offices without having to borrow any money.

Currently the town has $135,500 set aside in current appropriations and a capital reserve fund that includes a state grant in the amount of $42,500. Breiten said that right now estimates place the cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000 to $180,000.

More definitive cost estimates will be available when deWall returns to the board with new drawings.