Woolwich residents have formed a new committee to investigate the possibilities for a municipal building addition.

“We’re basically starting from scratch,” the committee’s Chairman Dana Lindsey said. Lindsey also serves as the town’s EMS director.

Woolwich selectmen decided not to include a proposed municipal building addition on this year’s town warrant after hearing negative feedback from some residents. At a public hearing in April, Road Commissioner Jack Shaw told selectmen he had heard from residents that the proposed $1.2 million design was “too big, too expensive.”

While Shaw and other town officials supported the design, selectmen decided to let another committee develop other alternatives.

Board of Selectmen Chairman David King and town staff have remarked on numerous occasions that the municipal building’s meeting space is too small.

Code Enforcement Officer Bruce Engert calculated how many people, beyond board members, desks, tables, copiers and file cabinets can legally and safely attend a meeting. According to his chart, fewer than six people can legally attend a Selectmen’s meeting and no more than 15 people can legally attend a Planning Board meeting. The Planning Board meets in the front room of the town office.

Town administrator Lynette Eastman said there is a safety concern. A large attendance, approximately 30 people, at a public hearing with the Department of Transportation earlier in the year filled the front room of the town office. Such a large attendance posed a safety hazard, because there was standing room only and people were blocking entrances, Eastman said.

The Building Addition Committee held their first meeting in the front room of the town office on July 2 to get organized and to start a conversation. Lindsey said the 12 member group (nine regular members, three alternates) is quite diverse, with members’ experience ranging from construction to public relations.

Committee member Allen Brawn said he would like to see the addition built. He said selectmen did a fairly decent job in preliminary work, but he would like to see the original proposal fine-tuned.

Brawn said he did not think the original proposal was too expensive, but the committee should “tweak” the design so that a new addition to the town office has enough space and will provide needed services for future years. He said it would be nice if the design the committee comes up with costs less than the original proposal, but members have just begun the process of exploring other options.

For now, the committee is meeting once a month. Lindsey said they will possibly increase their meetings to twice a month by January. The goal is to have a proposal for the next town meeting in May 2013.