Report of the Ad Hoc Capital Committee
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
The State of
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
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
Trustee Meetings
Held in the lower level of the library.
The next meeting is set for Monday, September 13th. The group will be meeting promptly at 6:30 p.m.
Meeting Minutes
March 2010 Trustee Meeting Minutes |
| Posted on Jul 13 2010 |
March 15, 2010
Present:
Absent: Amy Kimball, Carol Battersby, Renee Still, and Nancy Evren
The meeting was called to order at 6:40. The minutes from the previous meeting were readed by Jennifer. Gwen made a motion, seconded by Leah to accept the minutes with corrections. The motion passed unanimously.
After a review of the proposed FY 2011 budget with a 0 % increase, it was determined that staff hours will have to be cut. The Director’s hours will be cut by one half hour, and the Children’s Librarian’s hours will be cut by three hours per week. This matter has been discussed with Janice and Jennifer. Both are willing to make this concession. We cannot submit a budget with a 5% decrease. This amount would be less than the Municipal Appropriation Requirement. We would lose our certification and be ineligible to receive grants. Our patrons would not be able to use other
A letter was sent to the Personnel Board requesting that Director Jennifer Crosby be allowed a two-step increase in wages as she has earned her M.L.I.S. degree. This will place her on Step 5 in her current Grade Level 8. The original letter was lost by the Board, so we sent another.
A second meeting with the Historical Commission about siding the library was attended by Virginia Snopek, Nancy Brooks, John Brook and Alain Boudreau. Certain architectural details such as cornices and moldings cannot be covered. These must be scraped and painted. The siding style that matches the existing molding is expensive. An estimate from Mr. Boudreau to cover part of the building with siding that is approved by the Historical Commission comes to $13,360. The moldings and cornices still need attention. We have two choices; scrape and paint the entire building, or partially cover the building with siding and paint the other pieces. There is an allotment of $12,500 to do the job. New laws pertaining to handling lead paint take effect in April of 2010. Leah made a motion with a second by Bridget to paint and scrape all portions that are currently painted, using mandated lead abatement measures. The motion passed unanimously.
The School Building Committee voted to exclude the library from their building plans. We must start making plans for our future library needs. The Ad Hoc Capital Committee, including Virginia Snopek, Al Bail, John Libera, and Stan Kapinos has named the library as the municipal facility most in need of replacement.
March 11, 2010, a workshop was held to discuss the next round of M.B.L.C. (Massachusetts Public Library Construction Program) grants. We must now pursue construction of a new library. If we do not apply for this round of grants, in the 2010-2011 cycle, we will have to wait at least five years. In order to pursue these grants, we must have a site, an architect, an O.P.M. contract and building program by October 5, 2010. Chris Martin estimated the cost of the contract and architect at $200,000.00. We discussed having the library provide one half of this cost and put a request for matching town funds on the warrant at the next town meeting.
Bridget made a motion with a second by Gwen that the Town contributes $100,000.00 and the Trustees put up $100,000.00 towards the design phase of the new library construction project. This motion was defeated. Another motion was made by Bridget with a second by Gwen that the Town contributes $100,000.00 along with a contribution of $50,000.00 by the Trustees and $50,000.00 by the Friends towards the design phase of the new library construction project. This motion passed unanimously. The Trustees have already asked to be on the agenda for the upcoming Friends meeting so that we can ask for their help.
We then discussed future locations available for a library construction project. We see only two possible sites. The first is the land that is adjacent to our current building. In the past, two architects have said that it would be difficult to build an addition to this building. The addition would be three times the size of the current building, and keeping the architectural integrity would be very expensive. Referring to a study done in 2003, there is also an issue with ledge and its impact on placing a new septic system. The parcel of land currently used by the Council on Aging would be suitable and desirable.
The Trustees were reminded that everyone needs to complete the on-line ethics test and print out the receipt for the Town Clerk.
The Trustees were encouraged to contact our State Representatives and Senators about the W.M.R.L.S. elimination.
There is one Trustee position on the upcoming ballot for which no one has taken out papers to run for yet. We were all asked to suggest candidates.
Library Director’s Report:
A letter has been sent out to our neighbors about unauthorized parking in the library lot.
Tom Smith, from National Grid, has finally returned calls about the requested flood light to illuminate the back parking lot. Putting up a 250 watt light would add $24.00 per month to our bill. We decided to table this discussion.
Janice wants to start a face-book page for the teens. The Trustees want her to contact libraries that currently have one. We want her to work on a policy and guidelines for use. We will likely approve this after reviewing the policy and guidelines.
Jennifer wants to look into purchasing management software for the public computers. This software will manage time and log in and log out. Overuse by some patrons has become a problem. She will look into prices for this purchase and report back to us.
Gwen made a motion with a second by Leah to approve warrants in the amount of $1,397.05, $512.27, and $961.18. These were unanimously approved.
Our next meeting will be on April 12, 2010 at 6:30.
The meeting adjourned at 8:40.
Respectfully submitted,
Never Falter, Never Quit!
Attachments: Agenda
0% Budget Request
5% Budget Request
Letter to Personnel Board
FY 2011 Budget Sheet
Copy of letter to neighbors re: parking
Last changed: Jul 12 2010 at 8:55 PM
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