Facilities Steering Committee
Meeting minutes for 1/23/18
5:30 pm at town hall annex
Attending for the committee: Chris Conway, Karen Cruise, Steve Mirick, Larry Todd,
Mary Jo Wojtusik
Attending for the town: board of selectmen member Edith Morgan, advisory committee member Judy Dino
Karen opened the meeting at 5:30 pm
The agenda called for meeting with JWA but they were unable to attend due to weather.
The minutes of the 1/16/18 meeting were amended to include the names of those attending for the BOS and the advisory committee. So approved.
There were 11 members of the community in attendance.
The committee received a revised proposal for the new public safety building:
The original proposed 16,000 sq ft at a project cost of $8.96 million
The revised proposal is for 11,900 sq feet at a project cost of $6.8 million
The noted changes include: no training room, apparatus bays reduced from 6 to 4, sally port reduced from 2 bays to 1, shared fitness space is slightly reduced in size.
Chief Bennett was copied on the information by Kristian at Jones Whitsett and chief Bennett responded with some questions which JWA should address at our next meeting.
Karen has asked chief Bennett to help develop materials to support the need for a new public safety center and answer townspeople's questions.
There was discussion about the proposed addition to Bagg Hall; can an addition be done while leaving public safety where it is ? Could be a space problem on the site.
Karen handed out 3 sets of sheets the ad hoc finance committee produced. Discussion of these was limited as the information was new to the committee.
The committee recapped the priority of needed work as they see it:
- Bagg Hall stabilization
- More parking
3. Limited work on annex; continue to use for meeting space
4. New public safety building
5. Addition to Bagg Hall to open up second floor and provide community space
There followed a lot of discussion, including questions about sources of state funding. It was pointed out that although a bond bill is passed it may not be funded. Larry is attending a workshop this week about the Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund.
The handouts Karen provided are a good starting point as we look at financing the projects.
There was concern expressed that the Bagg Hall addition may be postponed on and on.
The committee agreed we need to have a plan to present on February 3.
The committee would like to create a video of the facilities; we may do something with this in the spring. Nina told Karen that the town could pay if it were kept under $200.
Chris and Steve offered to review the annex work proposed by JWA with a view to eliminate all but basic work needed to keep the building in use.
At 6:40 the meeting was opened to comments and questions from those in attendance.
Deb Cary commented we should not underestimate what the Princeton community will get behind. She suggested we reach out to our state reps sooner than later to look for funding. She felt we need a clear and strong vision and we need broad community support.
Matt Lindberg, a member of the historic commission, felt we should preserve the facade of the center school building. He thought there are many people in town with attachment to the building. The committee will ask JWA to include this option in their revised public safety proposal.
A point was made that the committee should be prepared with a cost estimate for building a new town hall and/or community center as an alternative to an addition to Bagg Hall as this will probably be a question from the community.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 pm
Submitted by Larry Todd, secretary
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