HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - AC - 04/05/2018 Town of Cohasset
Advisory Committee
Minutes,April 5, 2018
Place: Basement Meeting Room
Attendees
John Chapman Richard Fitzpatrick Paul Carlson
Nan Roth Helene Lieb Leland Jenkins
Michael Dick Tanya Bodell Ralph Tulio
7:05 p.m.—Meeting was called to order.
Minutes—03/08/18 minutes approved 7-0; 2 abstained. Minutes for 03/22,03/27&03/29 will be reviewed and approved
in future meetings.
07:06 p.m.—John C.recognized Mary McGoldrick of the Town Hall Building Committee. Mary M.provided the latest
update to the committee.
• Atrium—they will make similar rendition of the hallway as requested by the BOS.
• Her committee's meeting on 04/06/18 will be mainly to conduct a line by line review with Wayne to see if they
can further trim the cost. One known item is the elimination of$200K for phones since the town has a new
system in place.
• Landscaping&furniture cost can be put aside for now.
• The current cost of$13.4M is entirely a different building from the previous $12.8M because of the changes
requested by the BOS. Additionally,there is 5%inflation factor because of the 6-month delay,which is earmark
for construction in Jan 2019 instead of mid-2018.
• The current proposal increased the square footage due to the relocation of the offices from the historic building
now to the administrative building as requested by the BOS.
Mike D. re-visited the question of the cost to fix the building as an alternative to the renovation project. Per Mike,he has
yet to see some documentation that was requested as part of the conditions made last Fall. Mary M.pointed to the
documents presented prior to the feasibility study,which has a cost per square feet estimate,which totals to an estimated
$8M. Mike was expecting a deeper and itemized costing. Further discussions followed.
Tanya B. suggested to Mary to take the prior study and present it to the town as an alternative during town hall meeting in
the event the proposal is voted down. Later,Tanya mentioned that the alternative cost needs to be firmed prior to town
meeting in order to provide the town a view of voting for or against the article. The estimated$350 per sq.ft. may not be
accurate enough. John C.mentioned that it may not be possible to firm up the alternative cost prior to town meeting due
to time constraints.
John C.may speak about the estimated$8M to fix vs. $13M to renovate at town hall meeting.
Per Don Piatt,the funding for the current$13M will come from: $8M debt exclusion, $3M CPC &$1M from Capital
Budget. This is included in the current 10-year capital plan,which is currently being compiled.
Sam Wakeman of Capital Budget pointed out that the $1 M supposedly from Capital Budget have not been voted on.
Mary M. mentioned that private donations may absorb the $1 M shortfall should Capital Budget vote against it.
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Per Chris S.,the $8M debt exclusion(which will be bonded)will affect the median household approximately$140 to
$150 per year for 20 years. BOS dictated a ceiling of$8M on last BOS meeting.
Lee J.pointed out that we need to keep in mind that the final cost of this project including interest is not$13M but around
$19M.
8:30 p.m.—Ralph T. requested to re-visit the EDM portion of Article 8—Capital Improvement Budget before the
committee reviews other articles yet to be voted on. Ralph T. commented that he just received more details and
documentations regarding the EDM proposal which, after his review,raises some flags. He questioned how the previous
$50K approved during special town hall last Fall was utilized.
Originally, it was proposed that:
• $20K of the $50 was for consulting fees to conduct a study for what the town needs to implement EDM. This
includes ROI and cost of ownership along with in depth work flow recommendations.
• $30K was for seed money to purchase the software once the appropriate software was chosen based on the
consultant's recommendation.
This is important to understand since article 8 is requesting another$88K to implement phase 1. The latest cost of
ownership breakdown from the town's CIO,the $30K seed money is not mentioned. Additionally,the consultant's
study was deficient in many ways and eludes to justify a pre-determined software. Ralph T. suggest we need to have a
closer look at this project. He feels there are much cheaper alternatives that will deliver the same if not better results.
John C. and Sam W. suggested Ralph T. to get together with John Donohue of Capital Budget since John D.performed a
dive on this project. Chris S. also suggested to get with Ron and reach out to the consultants as well if needed.
8:45 p.m.—Article 21 —Zoning Bylaw Amendment-Large Home Review Process-John C.recognized Clark Brewer of
the Zoning Board to provide clarification on the language as the result of the committee's request during the 03/22/18
Advisory committee meeting.
Clark B. re-iterated that the board does not want to deny the permit should concerns are raised by the surrounding
neighbors but rather to work on a compromise. John C. suggested that the language should be written to approve or to
approve with conditions. Clark will consult the board during his next meeting.
9:05 p.m.—John C.recognized Katie Dunn to address Article 26—Citizen's petition—Plastic Bag Reduction Bylaw.
Discussions commenced on the verbiage in the definition of Single-Use and Compostable bags. John C. recommends
revision in the language so that it clearly defines which type bags will be allowed vs.banned.
Paul C. asked how big of the problem are the bags in Cohasset or are we just following other towns who adopted the ban.
Back and forth discussions commenced.
Nan R. motioned to approve,Mike D. second. Approved 9-0.
9:21 p.m.—John C.recognized Jason Federico to request funds for emergency repair caused by the recent storms,which
Jason is requesting$105K. The needed repairs around town are as follows:
• Clearing and screening of rocks and sand off the roads along the shore that were dumped by the storms.
• Parking lot repairs estimated at$50K.
• Causeway erosions along Jerusalem road. It will require to hook the retaining wall to bedrock and extend it
farther to prevent it from future erosion.
• Miscellaneous storm cleanup
Advisory Committee Minutes—April 5,2018 Page 2 of 3
Rich F. motioned to approve, Tanya B. second. Approved 9-0.
9:34 p.m.—Article 22—General Bylaw amendment for Prohibition of Marijuana Establishments.
This article was previously voted against by the committee on 03/29/18. Some committee members misconstrued the
"No"vote as approving the prohibition. After clarification of what the article meant, discussions commenced to allow the
committee members to decide whether to rescind and re-vote.
Rich F. asked if it can be amended to allow non-retail. Chris S. suggest to amend during the Fall should this article is
voted in favor of the prohibition. Discussions followed. The committee members elected to rescind the 03/29/18 vote and
followed by a motion to approve by Paul C.,Tanya B. second.
Approved 5-4 in favor of the Prohibition.
Article 23—Zoning Bylaw Amendment for Prohibition of Marijuana Establishment.
Chris S. clarified what this bylaw meant as he did with article 22 above.
Lee J. motioned to approve,Ralph T. second—Approved 5-4.
Article 24—Zoning bylaw amendment to extend Temporary Moratorium
Chris S. clarified what this bylaw meant as he did with article 22 above.
Tanya B. motioned to approve, Lee J. second—Approved 9-0.
10:26 p.m.—Meeting adjourned
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