Facilities Steering Committee
Meeting minutes for 3/20/18
7:00 pm at town hall annex
Attending for the committee: Chris Conway, Karen Cruise, Steve Mirick, Larry Todd, Mary Jo Wojtusik
Attending for the town: BOS, Edith Morgan
Attending for the advisory committee: Judy Dino
Karen opened the meeting at 7:00 pm
The minutes of 3/6 and 3/11 were approved. (No meeting on 3/13 due to snow).
Review of the public forum held on Sunday, 3/11. There were a number of new people in attendance. Jim Martin, who attended, sent an email with some thoughts and also an offer to help the committee. We will try to involve him.
There was an email from Len Haug asking that all options be presented and to be sure we don’t leave out community functions.
Edith gave the committee an update on selectboard activity. There has been contact from Deb Cary regarding possible grants from the state. The BOS will be meeting with Deb Cary to learn more.
Edith is hosting an informal meeting on Sunday to discuss support and strategies regarding private fundraising for Bagg Hall community space.
Larry mentioned funding sources related to the Whately Town Hall project, which included Community Preservation funds, a green communities grant, a grant through Mass Historic and funds from the Friends of Whately Town Hall.
The committee approved payment of an invoice from JWA for $15,000.
The JWA final report draft was sent to the police chief, the fire chief and building maintenance for their review and input.
There was response from the fire chief which disagreed with the JWA proposal for the new facility, specifically the number of apparatus bays. The committee will invite the chief and deputy chief to the next meeting to discuss and try to come to agreement on the proposal.
There were many detailed points made in the response from building maintenance (Phil Connors). The committee will pass them on to JWA; there may be some points they wish to include.
Discussion on the proposed warrant articles. Various opinions were given.
Is there additional space available at Post Office place ? What would the cost be ?
There was brief discussion regarding financing.
The advisory committee, at their meeting, was asked to give their opinion on the building proposals. Of the six members present, four favored option A.
A question was asked; if option A is approved do we put off the envelope work on Bagg Hall ? The committee said “no”, it needs to be done now.
Karen handed out a revised page with the warrant articles for review.
The committee changed the dollar amount on article 1 to $1.3 mil and noted we need to double check the other dollar figures in the articles.
Steve advised if we use existing funds in a stabilization account for the work on the Bagg Hall envelope work we won’t need an OPM and can save some money.
There will be a joint meeting with the FSC and the selectboard on 3/27.
A poll was put on Next Door regarding public safety. One important finding was that about cation and communication are important.
There is someone coming tomorrow to make a video with Chris touring Bagg Hall, the safety complex and the annex.
Mary Jo is working on a list of questions we anticipate (FAQ), with responses.
The committee agreed to ask the moderator to give us more that the 10 minutes already agreed on. JWA will be present and we would like to use an abbreviated version of their presentation. We also need to discuss with JWA what role they will play at town meeting.
The meeting was opened to public comment:
A video will help convince people of the problems with the buildings. This is in the works (see above).
Phil suggested if the town uses existing funds in the stabilization accounts for work on the annex and public safety the articles for these could be removed from the warrant. The committee will ask the selectboard about this at our meeting next week.
A question was asked: could the town find a non-profit or some organization that could do some of the work on the annex and public safety as part of a training program ? Something to look into.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.
Submitted by Larry Todd, secretary
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