The Marion Selectmen on Tuesday approved the creation of a committee to explore the cost of building a new Town House at the VFW site.

Alan Minard, chair of the Finance Committee, and Rob Lane, chair of the Planning Board, presented the idea to the Selectmen.

“We’re here as private citizens, not as committee members,” Minard said. “What we would like to arrive at is a position where the town citizens have information at their disposal to make a decision that is smart for the town, smart for the taxpayer and smart for the Town House…”

The road to a new or renovated Town House has been long and winding. Since the Town House Building Committee was formed, it has primarily been focused on exploring four options.

The first is the $12 million total renovation plan that was originally going to be voted on at Town Meeting in October, the second is to reduce the size and only renovate the original 1876 part of the building and remove the back section, the third is similar to the second, but with an added area in the back for a meeting room and the fourth option is the possibility of building a new building on the VFW site.

The committee chose to explore the options, after realizing that the $12 million renovation plan would likely not be approved by Town Meeting voters.

Now, Minard and Lane think it would be beneficial to have a fresh set of eyes focused solely on researching the potential development of the VFW site.

“Our proposal is about building a Town House on the site, but make it a campus-like community with the senior community center there,” Minard said. “I think that’s the proposal that would benefit the town. It would use the property to its extent and let us move forward."

Also on Tuesday, the Selectmen officially designated the VFW building for the Council on Aging, which was a request of the former members of the VFW.

Minard also requested the allocation of $25,000 of the Community Preservation funds that were previously appropriated for Town House renovation research.

“We believe using the funds is fully within the intent of the funds,” Minard said. “We would use it to create a floor plan and elevation plans and get cost estimates.”

Select Chair Jody Dickerson’s only qualm was that the town was preparing to send out surveys with the census about Town House location.

“What if the majority of the people say they want the Town House to stay [in the Village]?” he asked.

However, Lane said he doesn’t think there is enough information to be sending those questions out anyway.

“I think that questionnaire should not be sent out,” he said. “We should have specific proposals with details to make an effort to engage the community. We need to show details of layouts and cost comparisons, and then we can ask people the questions.”

Selectman Steve Gonsalves said he strongly supported the idea, and that he hoped it would help make the decision easier for the town.

“I feel that the Town House Building Committee did due diligence and did exactly their job, over and over,” he said. “But I would like to see the same weight and time given on the new possibilities of the VFW property…I think we really owe it to the taxpayers to get both sides, the costs and let the people decide.”

Selectman Steve Cushing said he fully agreed, but that he wasn’t sure if the already allocated Community Preservation Act funds would be able to be used.

The Selectmen agreed to a small committee to look into the possibilities of the VFW site, and said they would find out if the Community Preservation funding would be available.