BOARD OF SELECTMEN
TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 2013
The regular meeting for the Board of Selectmen convened at 7:00 p.m. in the Conference Room at 29 Thompson Street. In attendance were Edward A. Maia, Richard M. Smith and Edward S. Harrison. Also present were Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers and the media.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Reorganization of Board:
Dr. Smith made a motion to reorganize the Board of Selectmen by appointing Edward A. Maia as the Chair, Edward S. Harrison as the Vice Chair and Dr. Smith as the Clerk. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Acceptance of Meeting Minutes:
Dr. Smith made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of June 11, 2013 – open and executive sessions. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Memorial Hall – Status – Historic Commission and Community Preservation Committee Representatives:
Fire Chief Laurent McDonald, Leslie Duthie of the Community Preservation Committee and Dennis Swierad of the Historical Commission approached the Board of Selectmen.
Mr. Maia summarized at the last Town meeting the residents voted to spend $171,250 in CPA funds to complete the restoration work of replacing/repairing windows and doors in Memorial Hall. At the very next meeting the Fire Chief and the Building Inspector informed the Board of Selectmen of some pretty significant deficiencies with Memorial Hall from a safety perspective.
The Board of Selectmen agreed unanimously that it didn’t make any sense to spend the money for windows and doors on a building that isn’t safe. Mr. Maia suggested not spending the $171,205 on the windows and doors and go back to a Town meeting with the list of life safety items that need to be addressed in order to get Memorial Hall repaired, so it can be used the way it is intended to be used.
Ms. Duthie said the money was appropriated to preserve Memorial Hall. Ms. Duthie wondered about a comprise with the funds, and noted the historic Commission brought forward a proposal in their grant for four different alternatives that needed to be funded in order to complete all of the work on the building.
Ms. Duthie explained under alternative one, there was the survey for life safety issues. Ms. Duthie felt once the report was received, everyone would have a little better idea how much it was going to cost to bring the building up to code.
Ms. Duthie said she would like to go forward with this portion of the grant which includes funding for the survey, as well as the south and west facing windows, the front double door and the arched transom above the door. Ms. Duthie said this comes to about $93,250 including the survey, and hold the $78,000 that was for the exterior framework and trim only on the north and east facing windows, and then go back to a town meeting, as the funds have already been appropriated.
Mr. Swierad said if we get an estimate on the repairs for the sheetrock and plastering, and tearing out the M-PACT space, he felt there wasn’t any reason why we couldn’t go back for some of that funding in the fall or spring at a Town meeting. Mr. Swierad said he spoke with the woman at the coalition and she said they are all fundable projects under CPA, and Mr. Swierad agreed he liked Ms. Duthie’s idea of at least going forward with part of the project.
Ms. Duthie said they are all fundable projects under CPA, but all the funding has been appropriated for the alternative number one and number two.
Mr. Harrison replied the Town made the vote without the knowledge there were safety issues and felt it was perfectly reasonably for the Selectmen to propose something different.
It was also noted the Town could vote to rescind the money at a Town meeting for other issues, and use this money instead to make the necessary repairs; otherwise more CPA funding won’t be available until 2015.
Mr. Swierad said he felt since the Town already voted where this CPA money is going, he would like to get another opinion as to if it can be rescinded or not.
Ms. Duthie said she would like to consult with the coalition.
Mr. Maia added just because the funds have been appropriated doesn’t mean it has to be spent. Ms. Neggers noted the Selectmen have legal control over the building and need to approve any work being done it; the Historic Commission is the steward of the building on their behalf.
It was noted the other portion needing to be discussed in going forward is finding out how much the repairs are going to cost as the life safety analysis is only going to point out what the deficiencies are and not how much things are going to cost or the specs.
Ms. Neggers said some of the items needing to be addressed are the ramp, alarm systems, the sheetrock in the back of the stage; and all of these are projects with a huge cost attached. Also, since there is a historic preservation restriction attached to the building the State will have to be called in as well. Ms. Neggers said she doesn’t know how much it’s going to cost to find out how much it’s going to cost to make the necessary repairs.
Ms. Neggers said a big concern is how long Memorial Hall is going to be closed to the public, and felt you are talking about a year at least, if not longer.
Dr. Smith said the safety issues are what is impeding the use of the building and felt we needed the money available to make the necessary safety repairs. If we don’t know how much money that’s going to be, to him it didn’t make any sense spending other CPA money, which may have been earmarked for something else, that may be needed to get the building reopened. Dr. Smith noted he was in favor of doing the preliminary survey to get an idea and then maybe revisit it, but wasn’t in favor of spending money on renovations or improvements without addressing the safety issues first.
Ms. Neggers said she doesn’t expect this to be a low cost situation and felt we need to move aggressively to find out what needs to be done and just how much it’s going to cost.
Ms. Neggers said Larry Tuttle emailed her and said, their involvement was geared to generate the bid package for the windows, next phase is there’s not enough money to complete the full envelop, and to generate a prioritized report of current conditions focused upon code compliance and life safety concerns present at the building. The report was not intended to generate bid documents for the execution of any of the sited issues, but would give the town informed and not reactionary statements to be used for the pursuit and remedy of selected conditions.
Mr. Swierad said there is $3,850 in the funds for the survey.
Ms. Neggers said it will cost tens of thousands of dollars just to do the bid documents for something this complex.
Chief McDonald noted some of the items that will need to be repaired from the fire perspective are: getting to the areas that have plasterdown in the towers repaired or possibly even sealing them off depending on the determination of the use, getting the back stage area protective coating back up on the walls (sheetrock or plaster), the pull stations hooked into the alarm system (Chief McDonald estimated this would cost at least five figures), the disposal and removal of the M-PACT area, due to the amount of wood in the structure and the fact that it was built in a maze type construction, which might include seeing if any asbestos will be in the way with this removal.
Ms. Neggers said she would ask Mr. Tuttle for an estimate on how much it will cost to get a better number before the fall Town meeting.
Mr. Maia said he feels it would be irresponsible to spend $171,000 that was appropriated at the Town meeting by the taxpayers, on a building that they found out after they voted, is unusable, and felt we should go back to the taxpayers at a Town meeting, once we have more informed information to see if they want to vote to rescind the funds and vote to re-appropriate a portion of the $171,000 to address these new issues; with the understanding they will still have to do the windows and doors.
Dr. Smith was in agreement as well, to do the survey first to determine what has to be done and move on from there.
Ms. Duthie said she would ask the coalition for clarification on using only a portion of what has been granted and rescinding the rest of the grant, prior to spending the $3,850 on the survey.
Ms. Neggers said this would take another month, so funds would have to be used from the Gifts to the Town account or another source, in order to get this moving now.
Dr. Smith said a vote could be taken in contingency of, for now, to fund the survey.
It was agreed to wait until the next meeting to take a vote, to see what the DOR says first.
Mr. Swierad and Ms. Neggers said Mr. Tuttle has already started the survey.
Mr. Maia said he feels we should continue to move forward with Mr. Tuttle and find the money from somewhere else.
Ms. Neggers said she would like to know from Ms. Duthie if it is a no, because if it is she will contact the Department of Revenue herself as well.
Mr. Harrison made a motion to not allow any public use of Memorial Hall until we have a renewed occupancy certificate. Dr. Smith seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Quinlan Memorial Conservation Lands – Conservation Restriction – Leslie Duthie:
Leslie Duthie approached the Board of Selectmen and reiterated, the Conservation Commission purchased 135 acres of land known as the Quinlan Memorial Conservation land, located on Reimers Road with the land grant, Local Access for Natural Diversity.
Ms. Duthie explained the town has entered into an agreement with the OPACUM Land Trust to sell the Conservation Restriction. This restriction states the property cannot be built on, it can’t be changed into a school or housing, etc. Ms. Duthie said the Conservation Restriction is an added layer of protection that makes sure this land will remain open to the public and available for public use for nature studies, enjoyment, and perpetuity.
Ms. Duthie said the OPACUM Land Trust agreed to pay $10,000 for this document, and this money went toward the purchase of the land. Ms,. Duthie explained in order to do all of this, a Conservation Restriction had to be drawn up. Ms. Duthie noted this Conservation Restriction was reviewed by the legal Counsel of the OPACUM Land Trust, and Town Counsel. It has gone back to the State for review by the State Board of Conservation Restriction, and is now ready for the Board of Selectmen to sign.
Ms. Duthie said this restriction will make sure there are no motorized vehicles used on this land, no building and no permanent structures. It does limit commercial logging; you can’t mine the gravel or strip the forest and sell the forest off, but you can still cut wood for timber and Chapter 61 uses. Hunting and fishing is allowed as are nature trails and nature photography.
The Board of Selectmen signed the forms.
Building Committee Update:
Kurt Kaiser approached the Board of Selectmen on behalf of the Building Committee and explained the progress report, as attached.
Mr. Kaiser showed pictures of the design for the outside front and rear of the building, as well as the interior. Mr. Kaiser said the Building Committee discussed the fact that the outside of the building had five different building materials on it, and they have agreed to limit it to three or four, so it won’t be too busy.
Mr. Kaiser also noted the project is on schedule, with all of the preliminary interior designs completed, flooring picked out, textures, colors, type of woodwork, etc. The only thing left now is for them to come back with something solid that they can put out to bid.
Mr. Kaiser said the next Building Committee meeting is scheduled for July 8th and they will have construction documents, which is what goes out to bid. On July 19th they will have an estimate on those documents and this will be reviewed on July 22nd and it will go out to the Central Register on July 30th. Bidding starts in August and they hope to start construction in September 2013; taking about a year to build.
It was noted at the Selectmen’s last meeting, Highway Surveyor John Morrell expressed a concern for the parking lot design. Mr. Kaiser responded Mr. Morrell did not show up at their last meeting, however the committee did speak with the Police Chief and architect and some changes have been made; however, the barrier has to stay due to the sloop of the land. Mr. Kaiser noted Mr. Morrell has been invited to attend the Building Committee meeting scheduled for July 8th. Mr. Kaiser stated the Building Committee’s main concern is for safety.
It was noted they are hoping to have the bids awarded for September 9th, with the contractor having a certain number of weeks to complete the project. The goal is to get the foundation done prior to winter, but this is in the hands of the contractor. Ms. Neggers said the Project Manager is very aggressive on the time schedule at this point making sure everything gets done and out to bid.
Mr. Kaiser said we need to get bids that meet the budget, or we will have to go back to Plan A, and redesign again.
Ms. Neggers said there will be a 120 foot radio tower for Police communication in the parking lot behind the Police Department. The antenna used to be on the roof of the former building, but this can’t be done on the new building.
Mr. Kaiser said the Building Committee ran into a bit of a snag at the last meeting. The design and the DOER call for vinyl windows in this project. Unfortunately, vinyl windows weigh too much for handicapped access because somebody in a wheelchair doesn’t have the strength to open the window by picking it up. Therefore, they have to find a way to make those windows operable. Mr. Kaiser said the Project Manager stated once you drill holes in the window to put a handle on it, you will void the warranty on the window. Mr. Kaiser said the Committee is back at the drawing board to find out what to do for windows.
Ms. Neggers noted this is not the ideal building, but it will be functional. It’s not going to have bells and whistles and it won’t have a lot of storage. Ms. Neggers said you might see more pods out in the field for storage for Parks and Recreation. It’s offices, a meeting room, a Police Station and a vault, and that’s what it is.
Ms. Neggers reminded the listening audience bricks from the old building are available through the Selectmen’s Office Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Finalize Appointments for Fiscal 2014:
Dr. Smith made a motion to appoint the employees listed on the memo, as attached. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Vote/Announce Continuation of FT Building Inspector Hours:
Dr. Smith made a motion to continue the Building Inspectors hours at full-time. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
Correspondence was read and completed.
At 8:25 p.m., Dr. Smith made a motion to adjourn from open session to go into executive session to discuss collective bargaining pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 30A § 21 (2), not to return to open session. Mr. Harrison seconded and it was unanimously VOTED.
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Dr. Richard M. Smith, Clerk
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