A Maxwell School capstone · June 2026

Town of Manlius Re-envisioning Project

A community-centered assessment of the Manlius Town Hall and Police Station — identifying the facilities' core problems, prioritizing them, and laying out clear, costed options for the road ahead.

Maxwell Team: Ryan Brouchoud, Meredith Bruster, Owen Robinson, and Rob Warrick

Overview

What this project set out to answer

What are the key issues at the Manlius Town Hall and Police Station, how should they be prioritized, what options exist for addressing them, and how can they be communicated transparently to the community?

Town staff have long known of facility issues across both buildings. In response, the Town Board initiated a community engagement process and convened a study group of community representatives. Our Maxwell team was brought on to compile and refine that information into a clear, data-driven set of findings and options the community can weigh.

32
issues identified
5
options developed
2
facilities assessed
3
peer towns compared
Our approach

How we identified and addressed the issues

We grounded the work in the community's own priorities, then built outward through site visits, peer comparison, legal research, and cost analysis.

What the community told us

The listening session shaped everything downstream. Residents asked for a clear list of problems, insisted that transparency was essential, and named safety and ADA accessibility as top priorities. They wanted decisions to be data-driven, were wary of tax increases, and asked that the facilities be made functional rather than impressive. Many also wanted to see how Manlius compares to neighboring towns.

Findings

Where Manlius stands

Compared with its neighbors, Manlius is the largest town by both population and area, and has the highest median household income — yet it carries the second-highest tax base, the third-highest budget, and the lowest property tax revenue. In short: larger and wealthier, but facing greater problems with fewer resources.

Peer towns set a useful bar. DeWitt operates with a larger staff and stronger security — bulletproof glass and doors, interconnected private workspace, and full ADA compliance. Camillus has a designated buildings supervisor, an electronic lock and badging system, and is actively investing in ADA compliance such as an elevator retrofit.

The 32 issues, organized

We sorted every issue across both buildings into four categories — Accessibility, Security/Safety, Operational, and Electrical — and three priority tiers: Legally Required, Should Fix, and Ideally Fix. That structure lets the Town see at a glance what it must do, what it should do, and what it could do.

The options

Five paths forward

Each option packages the issues differently, trading up-front cost against how completely the facilities' problems get solved. The cost-benefit analysis details the financials behind each.

A
Do MinimumFix only the urgent problems in both existing buildings.
B
Full RebuildOne new combined building for Town Hall, Police, and Court.
C
Rebuild Police + Renovate Town HallBuild a new Police/Court building; fully renovate the Town Hall.
D
Purchase Police + Renovate Town HallBuy and convert a building for Police and Court; fully renovate the Town Hall.
E
Purchase Police + Do-Minimum Town HallBuy and convert for Police and Court, with only urgent repairs to the Town Hall.

How the options compare

The headline figures from the cost-benefit analysis. All dollar amounts are present value over a 30-year horizon, discounted at 4%; the full model behind these numbers is in the Deliverables section below.

Costs shown as present value over 30 years. The lowest 30-year net cost is highlighted; lowest upfront cost is Option E.
Metric ADo Minimum BFull Rebuild CSplit DPurchase EPurchase + Min
Upfront project cost $1.2M$47.3M$44.5M$20.8M$8.1M
30-year net cost (PV) $23.7M$51.0M$49.8M$22.7M$20.6M
Est. tax increase, median home $0$199/yr$187/yr$86/yr$32/yr
Solves the building problem No — defersYes — fullyYes — partialYes — partialYes — partial
Estimate confidence LowerHighestGoodLowestLowest

Note: Option E has the lowest upfront cost but carries a deferred Town Hall rebuild in Year 30, which makes Option D the lower cost once measured across the full 30 years.

Slate of options

Which option fixes what

This is the slate residents asked for: every issue we identified, mapped against the five options. It shows, issue by issue, which paths forward would resolve it — so the trade-offs are visible rather than buried in a cost figure.

× Option addresses this issue ? Depends on implementation
Priority Issue A B C D E

Priority tiers: Legally required, Should fix, and Ideally fix. The full slate, including issue categories, is in the downloadable file in the Deliverables section.

Deliverables

The full body of work

Everything the team produced is collected here — viewable in the browser and downloadable as the original files.

CBA Guide

Ready

The companion guide to the cost-benefit analysis — the purpose of the study, a walkthrough of each scenario, why specific cost items are included, and where every number comes from.

Read the guide (PDF) Download Word

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Ready

The full CBA model comparing all five options across capital cost, 30-year present value, tax-levy impact, and monetized benefits — with per-scenario detail, assumptions, and sourced parameters. The headline figures are summarized in the table above.

Download Excel (.xlsx)

ADA Justifications

Ready

The detailed accessibility analysis behind the findings — each Town Hall and Police Station issue tied to the specific ADA requirement it addresses, organized as must, should, and could address, with the cost thresholds used to judge undue burden.

Read the document (PDF)

Non-ADA Issue Explanations

Ready

Plain-language explanations of every non-accessibility issue in the slate — security, operational, electrical, and space concerns across both buildings — describing what each problem is and why it matters, grouped by priority tier.

Read the document (PDF) Download Word

Slate of Options to Address Issues

Ready

The full issue-by-option matrix — every Town Hall and Police Station issue, by category and priority tier, mapped against which of the five options resolves it. The interactive version is in the Slate section above.

Download Excel (.xlsx)

Communications & Outreach Strategies

Ready

Strategies for sharing the findings and including residents in the re-envisioning process — a dedicated Town web page that links this site, mailed handouts, short videos documenting accessibility issues, and updates through Town newsletters and forums.

Read the document (PDF)

Final Presentation

Ready

The full slide deck delivered to the Town — project background, community engagement, peer comparisons, the 32 issues, all five options with space-and-tradeoff detail, and the cost analysis.

View slides (PDF)
References

Sources and supporting materials

Every source consulted across the project — the commissioned professional studies, the Town's own records, peer-town data, and the government and professional standards behind the findings. Figures rest on authoritative sources rather than commercial or marketing material.

Commissioned studies & estimates

Town & peer-town records

Government & professional standards