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 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

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

 

November 2009 Trustee Meeting Minutes
Posted on Jul 13 2010
Board of Trustees >>

Granby Free Public Library Trustee Meeting Minutes

 

 

 

Meeting Date:  November 2, 2009

 

Present:           Virginia Snopek, Dianne Barry, Carol Battersby, Leah Condon, Nancy Evren, Amy Kimball, Gwen Morrissey, Bridget Roy, Renee Still, Jennifer Crosby

 

Absent:            none

 

Visitors:          none

 

 

The meeting began at 6:38 pm.  Minutes from our previous meeting of October 19, 2009 were read. Carol made a motion to accept them with corrections; seconded by Dianne.  All in favor.

 

Leah and Renee presented the Board with the new Children’s Room computer station.  The design looks neat, orderly and ergonomically correct for children’s use.

 

Gwen made a motion seconded by Amy that we approve the Five Year Long Range Plan.  Discussion followed as corrections were made to the document.  The updated plan was voted on and was unanimously approved.

 

If possible, Jenn will attempt to launch the wireless internet campaign this month.  She will first need to have the upstairs table and underneath the table cleared of processing materials to enable patrons to sit down.

 

Frank Boron was contacted regarding the pavilion landscaping project.  He marked off on the pavilion where the gutters and downspouts should be installed to provide for the best drainage.

 

Virginia sent a letter to National Grid (see attachment) following Jenn’s telephone call regarding the street light.  No one from National Grid has come to fix the light or contacted the Library.

 

Carol made a motion seconded by Bridget to give Jenn permission to contract with Rosazza Electrical Co. for the installation of lighting along the sidewalk if under $1,000.  All in favor.

 

Carol asked for permission to discard the stuffed bird display cabinet.  She cited the cracked glass and general condition of the cabinet.  The Board agreed and instructed Jenn to have Dave Turcotte remove the cabinet. 

 

Virginia read to us the e-mail regarding the Rally for Libraries November 4^th in Boston. 

 

The next item for discussion was what to do with the donated yarn.  Nancy made a motion seconded by Bridget that the closet under the stairs be used for adult program storage.  Discussion followed regarding the yarn and other adult program storage.  The motion was unanimously approved.  While on the topic of what to do with stuff, Leah brought up the fact that the wood doors and screen door are still in the shed.  Jenn will have Dave Turcotte remove these items.  She will also ask Dave if there is room in storage for extra computer chairs and the MassMutual donated computer table.

 

Volunteer coordination and scheduling was brought up to see of they are still running smoothly.  No complaints were reported.

 

Renee took pictures of the urns located in the front of the library to present to Chicopee Masonry.

 

The Board gave permission to Leah to sell several old Bibles in our collection on e-Bay.com.

 

Library Director’s Report: 

 

Jenn regretted to inform the Board that the bookmobile will no longer exist as of December 31^st.  This will have a significant impact on small libraries.  This will also affect inter-library loans for all other libraries.  Budget cuts may also affect the inter-library loan deliveries.

 

Progress is on-going in setting up the Tech Services room and cleaning up other tables upstairs as was noted in a previous discussion on the launch of the wireless internet campaign.

 

In our effort to enhance communication between the departments, it was requested that Jenn represent the library at all inter-departmental meetings.  Jenn will attend the next Town Department Head meeting.  There will also be a town-mandated sexual harassment meeting to be held next week for all employees.

 

 

A warrant in the amount of $917.01 was unanimously approved. 

 

The next meeting will be on December 7th, 2009 at 6:30.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

 

 

 

Nancy C. B. Evren, Secretary

 

Attachments:    Agenda

                        Letter to National Grid

Last changed: Jul 12 2010 at 8:50 PM

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