Town of Newbury
Municipal Building Committee
MINUTES
DATE: June 26, 2014 Approved as Amended, 7/21/2014
Present: Eric Svahn, Chair; Tracy Blais; Sam Joslin; John Lucey, Jr. (part-time, due to flooding issues in the PD); Richard Ronder; Martha Taylor;
Eric Svahn, Chair, called the meeting to order at 7:05 a.m.
Motion: A motion was made by R. Ronder and seconded by T. Blais to approve the minutes of June 13, 2014 as amended. The motion passed with four in favor (Blais, Ronder, Svahn, and Taylor) and one abstention (Joslin, who was not present at that meeting). J. Lucey was not present for the vote.
- Recap of Presentation to Board of Selectmen:
T. Blais reported that reaction to E. Svahn’s Municipal Building Committee report to the Selectmen on June 17 was very positive and that the Selectmen agree that it is time to take action to address the Police Station’s deficiencies. E. Svahn requested to be on the agenda for the Selectmen’s meeting of July 22 to follow up. T. Blais will also include regular updates to the Selectmen in her Town Administrator’s report.
The Committee members noted that the day’s flooding issues in the Police Station after $30,000 worth of repairs have been done to it highlighted the need to find a permanent solution for the facility’s deficiencies. S. Joslin is to send E. Svahn a tabulation of what was spent on repairs to the Station in FY 14, including PD staff hours and downtime.
- Program/Schematic Design Alternatives:
S. Joslin distributed a draft report from CSS outlining space needs for the Town Hall offices and the Police Station and presenting two design options to meet these space needs on the Town Hall site: 1. An expansion of the existing building, and 2. A totally new structure in place of the existing building. The Committee members are to review the report and bring their comments to the next MBC meeting so that revisions can be made before the Selectmen’s meeting on July 22.
The Committee discussed establishing evaluation criteria for the sites that are actively being considered for a Police and/or Town Hall facility: the current Town Hall/PD site, the Governor’s Academy site on Route 1 (PD only), and the commercial building which has been proposed for purchase. E. Svahn will prepare a spreadsheet including cost and square footage comparisons of the options and how well they meet the evaluation criteria.
E. Svahn will provide cost estimates for the different alternatives to T. Blais, who will develop financing scenarios. She noted that no grants are available for public safety facilities and the cost of financing has doubled in the past year. She also noted that it will no longer be possible to work financing for the proposed project into pay down of the existing debt service in a timely manner to keep tax payments for residents relatively level.
Cost of connection to Newburyport’s sewer system is to be included.
The Committee briefly discussed the possibility of regional dispatch. T. Blais noted that the concept had been explored and it was determined that cost savings would not be significant. Someone would still be needed to staff the Police Station for walk-in business.
On a motion by J. Lucey, seconded by S. Joslin, the meeting was adjourned at 8:14 a.m.
NEXT MEETING:
To be determined
Respectfully submitted,
Martha L. Taylor, Town Planner
MBC Secretary
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