Background
This committee was charged with looking at the potential capital expenditures facing Granby over the next ten years. We were asked to accomplish this by using, where possible, past studies of the buildings in Town, updated for current conditions, and informal cost estimates. The purpose of this study is to give the Town a broad perspective on all the major capital expenditures the Town could resonably expect to be facing within in the next decade.
We expect that there will be a relatively limited amount of funds tha taxpayers will make available for capital expenditures during this time. This will not allow Granby to create ideal solutions to the Town's problems.
Furthermore, the sheer monetary cost of potential projects make it clear that the Town will have to find some solutions that in many instances are far from the ideal choices for the problems the Town faces.
Granby Public Library
The Granby Public Library is the municipal facility most in need. The minimum recommended size for a Public Library for a Town with Granby’s population is 10,500 square feet. The current library building has 2,500 square feet. It was built through a Carnegie Grant in 1917 for a population of fewer than 1000 people, with a projected capacity of 5,000 volumes. The Library building has remained fundamentally the same since 1917. Today, ninety-three years later, Granby’s population is over 6000, and the same building with the same square footage serves as its Public Library, with a collection of approximately 27,000 volumes. This insufficient space has had a definite impact on Library services.
The State of Massachusetts has agreed to support Granby in building a new Library with a grant of almost $1 million if Granby were able to include the Library in the secondary school building complex. That particular plan has recently been rejected by the committee looking at the problems of the School buildings.
However, this indicates to us that the State is aware of the current situation, and that the Board of Library Commissioners has funds to support library construction. Our estimate is that they would provide approximately a 50% reimbursement for a free-standing library building. So a $2.0 million investment by the Town could build a library worth almost $4 million.
The Library’s current location at the end of the common does not lend itself to expansion. The Town does not own enough land there to accommodate a larger building of the required size and provide the required parking. Informal discussions with an architect have told us that it is very difficult to try to add to a Carnegie Library and have the addition blend into the original architectural design. Additionally, the land itself, because of ledge, would not be easy to build on. Those four problems, at least, would have to be overcome before an addition could be considered. There would certainly be additional costs.
Another possibility has recently arisen. With the purchase of a building for the Council on Aging, the Aldrich property will soon be available. If the buildings currently on that property were razed, there could be enough room to locate an appropriately sized Library building and accommodate the necessary parking.
We would recommend that the Town explore locating a new Library building on the Aldrich property. This could be a near-ideal solution for one of Granby’s larger capital problems.
The full text document of the Report of the Ad Hoc Capital Committee can be found down the page under "Trustee Meeting Minutes."
Board of Trustees
Virginia Snopek - Trustee Chair Person
Dianne Barry
Carol Battersby
Leah Condon
Nancy Evren
Amy Kimball
Gwen Morrissey
Bridget Roy
Renee Still
Trustee Meetings
Held in the lower level of the library.
The next meeting is set for Monday, August 2nd. The group will be meeting promptly at 6:30 p.m.
Present: Renee Still, Leah Condon, April Judicki, Virginia Snopek, Nancy Evren, and Dianne Barry and Director Jennifer Crosby.
Absent: Amy Kimball, Bridget Roy, and Gwen Morrissey
The minutes from the June 2nd meeting were accepted with corrections.
Report from the Nominating Committee: Since members of this committee could not meet, a new committee was formed. The new committee consists of Nancy Evren, Amy Kimball and April Judicki. They will meet a half hour before the next meeting to make their choices for officers.
Review of Pavilion Policies for Library use and for Non-Library use: The committee met to create policies for use. An application was also created. The policy for use by the library was approved as written. The policy for use by non-library use was discussed, amended and approved. Virginia will check with Chris Martin regarding insurance coverage for the new pavilion. She will also bring him a copy of the amended policies.
Pavilion Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Subcommittee: This committee met to discuss the ceremony. The original date was changed because the builder could not attend on the original date chosen. The new date and details will be published in two local papers.
After much discussion a motion was made to name the pavilion “Friends of Granby Public Library Pavilion”. This passed unanimously. After much discussion and two trips out to the pavilion to view the space for letters, the Trustees decided to discuss sign details with Frank Boron. We will take into consideration his recommendation about size, color and type of lettering to use. Virginia will call Frank on this matter. We will try to have someone make a computer generated picture of what it will look like to be displayed at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
Dedication for Patti Kislo: The Trustees want to designate something about or around the new pavilion to be dedicated to Patti. Various suggestions were made including; a bench, a tree, or a garden. In the end, a unanimous motion gives the Friends permission to use some of the funds contributed in Patti’s honor to be used for a landscaping project in connection with the pavilion.
A discussion about the Trustees making donations in Patti’s memory was tabled until the next meeting.
The position of the Time Capsule will be recorded and the measurements kept in the Policy Manual. Jennifer will gather this information.
Virginia received an e-mail from Ann Larsen, Library Building Consultant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. Granby is currently #27 on the waiting list. It is possible that the $100 million bond bill will be passed by the end of the summer. Conditions of placement on the Waiting List: A written agreement as described in the application, between the Public Library Trustees, the town and the School Committee, must be submitted for review by the Board of Library Commissioners prior to being executed. The agreement must be executed before an actual Provisional Award can be made.
The library design must be modified so that Public Library staff has visual control of all spaces within the Library, including both public library spaces and school library spaces.
The Board of Commissioners wants to know if such an agreement exists or a draft of new one is in the works.
Virginia will forward this to the building committee chairman, Mike Quesnel. She will also send a reply to Ann.
Director’s Report:
The bequest from Rita Moore’s estate has been received. Jennifer will ask Chris Martin to set up a trust fund in her name. A unanimous motion was passed to set up the Rita Moore Trust Fund in the amount of $10,000.
Joe Rodio from the South Hadley Library has assured our director that if assistance is needed due to a disaster, it will be available.
Security System Update: The library is still waiting to receive bids for the work requested.
Waste Management Open House date: The second annual Open House will take place on July 25th from 4:00-6:00. There will be a catered old fashioned barbecue. The Greenopolis Center will have a display. There will be games. Everything will be provided by Waste Management.
The Adult Summer Reading program is underway. There are passes for various events provided by Waste Management.
Our website design: Jennifer thinks we need a better web design. Our current one is inadequate. Melissa Aldrich has offered to re-vamp our site and put in a content management system for us. After this, Jennifer can easily update the site, or even have a volunteer do this. This discussion was also tabled until the next meeting. Jennifer will review all the information and bring it to the next meeting.
Warrants in the amount of $1,426.90, $575.33, and $1,523.73 were approved.