Acting City Manager Scott Clarenbach brought new information to a Franklin city council workshop Monday about the cost of renovations to Soldiers Memorial Hall, the building which houses City Hall and the Franklin Opera House.

The city council previously approved a bond for $6.8 million, which Clarenbach discovered did not include architectural fees, which were instead charged to the city’s operating budget.

This discovery prompted Clarenbach to schedule a video conference with Franklin Fire Chief Mike Foss, and Tracy Kozak, founding principal architect of ARCove, the architecture firm in charge of the building’s renovations. During that meeting, Clarenbach found out 20% to 30% above the budget for construction are additional soft costs. These are expenses necessary for a project’s completion, but not directly related to labor or materials. Soft costs come out to $1.4 million to $2 million, in addition to the $6.8 million bond, which surprised councilors.

“I don’t think any of us believe it’s an $8.5 million project,” City Councilor Olivia Zink (Ward 2) said.

Staff at ARCove Architects did not respond to a request for comment before press time.

Zink made a motion to instruct the city manager to make the total budget for the project $6.8 million, including all soft costs and engineering, and the priority is life safety, occupancy, mold and roof. The vote was 7-1 in favor of the motion, with Councilor Delaney Carrier (Ward 1) voting against, and Susan Hallett-Cook (Ward 2) absent from the workshop. Later in the evening, Zink shared her intention to resign from the council, as she has plans to move out of the city.

Clarenbach said no one received this information regarding the soft costs prior to the meeting, as he discovered it the day before. After the workshop, Carrier said his vote was due to a lack of adequate discussion, and the inability to review the discrepancy before the meeting.

“I really hate showing up to do to a debate and having five minutes to prepare for it,” he said.

Carrier believes the discovery should been included on a future city council meeting agenda, with materials provided to councilors a week before the Friday preceding the meeting, giving councilors 10 days to review.

Franklin Opera House Executive Director Dan Darling was in the audience of 20 at the workshop Monday night, held at the Elks Lodge. Darling was surprised to hear of the increased cost, and said the overall scope of the project was determined by city staff and ARCove. Staff of the nonprofit which runs programming at the opera house gave input on their wants and needs, but had little influence on final cost. Darling wishes only to fulfill the mission of bringing performing arts to the community.

“The position of the opera house, as has always been that we are happy to work within whatever space the city provides,” he said. “We just want to get back in as soon as possible.”

Clarenbach reminded councilors bond payments are made annually. While city staff and those of the opera house nonprofit have applied for some grants, including the Community Development Block Grant of $500,000, if the opera house nonprofit cannot pay their share each year, the responsibility will fall on the taxpayers.

“Any money that the opera house can help with, obviously, is great, but I still say that the people signing the bonds are the City of Franklin,” Clarenbach said. “We’re going to be responsible for that payment if the opera house is able to help or not.”

Darling said his organization does not intend to leave the city hanging.

“It’s obviously in our best interest to assist in the overall costs of this, to the best of our ability,” Darling said. “We still have our plan to initiate a capital campaign. We will continue to apply for any grants that are possible.”

With the original renovation plan, the Franklin Opera House nonprofit was expected to put on 50 events for the 2026-27 season. The nonprofit projected an average of 149 seats sold, with an average ticket price at $29.35. The annual income would be $218,400, with a net profit of $49,507. Before the renovation, they were operating 45 events with $100,000 in ticket sales.

Mayor Desiree McLaughlin was visibly frustrated by the opera house discussions. Tariffs set by the new presidential administration, as well as increased prices more broadly, will create an adjustment in the concept plan. Following Zink’s motion in place, McLaughlin reminded those in attendance that it essentially scraps the previous design concept, and presentation of a new one will be likely.

“Maybe by that time, we will have something, politically, a little bit more concrete,” she said.

Councilors also discussed the next steps in the search for a new city manager. There were discussions on recruitment firms, including Mercer, the previous firm used, as well as First Choice and Municipal Resources Inc. MRI, headquartered in Plymouth, was used by the Town of Meredith in their recent hiring of Franklin’s former City Manager Judie Milner as town manager.

MRI was also councilors’ top choice. The price range for consulting with MRI is between $9,500 and $21,500, with an average cost of $15,000. The process takes between 60 and 90 days, and the council must decide on a firm by Monday, April 7. Clarenbach spoke to councilors on the importance of doing this right.

“This is probably one of your most important jobs as a governing body, is to find an effective and efficient CEO that you can work with and we can move forward, for a price,” he said.

Zink said at the end of the workshop she was resigning from the council. She has plans to get married next fall and move away from Franklin. She inquired whether she should resign when she lists her Franklin home, or wait until after it is sold. Councilors agreed she may serve until her home is sold. McLaughlin, who is fond of Zink, joked she hoped her house isn’t sold too quickly.

“We wish you luck, and a long, long listing,” McLaughlin said.

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These articles are being shared by partners in the Granite State News Collaborative. For more information, visit collaborativenh.org.