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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - AC - 04/10/2018 COHASSET ADVISORY COMMITTEE io April 2oi8 Cohasset Town Hall, Selectmen's Office FIRST DRAFT MINUTES Attendees: John Chapman Richard Fitzpatrick Ralph Tulio Paul Carlson Michael Dick Leland Jenkins Nan Roth Tanya Bodell Absent: Helene Lieb 7:00 pm Advisory Committee met with the Capital Budget Committee,no votes taken 8:35 pm Advisory Committee and Capital Budget Committee reconvened its meeting in the Selectmen's conference room Town Hall Renovation Advisory Committee presented a revised request for funding. The current funding request is$12.5M up from the$12M prior estimate. $500K increase attributed to replacing the Annex with more square footage plus an allowance for inflation. • Maximum Debt Exclusion set by the BOS-$8M • CPC total contribution-$4M (split into$1.55M from CPC revenue &$2.5M bond supported by CPC future revenue). Currently,there is a$500K shortfall based on the current and approved funding breakdown: Questions: What grants are possible?Several grants are proposed,the Town Hall Building Committee wont know which grants will be realized until Fall 2018. Which building will be eligible for those grants?The Historic Town Hall edifice is the only beneficiary of the grants,the Annex is not. What features were included in the original$12M estimate that are deleted from the$12.5M estimate?A stand by generator for power failures,air conditioning for the Historic Town Hall, theater curtain,furniture Could the Historic Town Hall 2nd Floor be designated as swing/meeting space to reduce the increase of square footage in the proposed new Annex? How much would be needed for repairs instead of rebuilding: $1.5M estimate coming from the Town Facilities Department. To replace both buildings' roofs,windows, siding,repair leaks, renovate bath rooms Concerns: Advisory Committee should have the Town Manager's debt exclusion/ funding motion to consider but the motion is not ready. Problem with the lack of documentation on the Annex condition. design is is centered on the employees and is not welcoming to the public,not a good public space. Notes by Michael Dick io April 2018 Page 1 of 3 COHASSET ADVISORY COMMITTEE io April 2oi8 Cohasset Town Hall, Selectmen's Office FIRST DRAFT MINUTES Should the Town revert to the Special Town Meeting feasibility proposal?Keep offices in both buildings?Tear down the Annex and rebuild the same building? Nan Roth commented that the new town hall currently has no additional plans outside the current usage between town government,school events and play performances. Added use makes it more palatable for the town residents to vote for the renovation. Mike Dick pointed out that the renovation committee failed to provide a more accurate alternative cost to fix the buildings and felt the issue was side stepped despite multiple requests to do so. Mike D. reminded the committee that the request for alternative cost to fix was part of the conditions to approve the schematic design last Fall. Nan Roth asked Paul Schubert,BOS Chairman (in the room along with Selectman Kevin McCarthy,for the reasoning behind the$8M debt exclusion ceiling for this project. Mr. Schubert responded that it seemed a good round number and can be changed if warranted. Nan Roth asked if the BOS will consider increasing the current ceiling from$8M to$8.5M to cover the shortfall. Paul Schubert was confident that he could convince the majority of the Selectmen to approve the increase. Kevin McCarthy agreed with Paul Schubert. Recognizing the pending BOS approval to increase the debt exclusion ceiling,Nan Roth moved to approve Article 7,Rich Fitzpatrick seconded-Approved 6-2 YES: Tanya Bodell, Ralph Tulio,John Chapman,Richard Fitzpatrick,Nancy A Roth,Paul Carlsson NO: Leland Jenkins,Mike Dick NOT PRESENT: Helene Lieb Tanya Bodell commented on the need to maintain the buildings moving forward and thus, assuring the longevity of the buildings hopefully passed its expected life span and not prior. 9:15 p.m. -Ralph Tulio provided an update on Electronic Data Management. He reported that he and John Donohue from Capital Budget Committee held a conference call with the EDM consultants -Norwell Technologies. During the call,the consultants said that they were given the direction by the towns CIO to conduct the study with Laserfiche software. Ralph Tulio reported his concerns for the Laserfiche single solution recommendation from Norwell Technologies and the Town CIO. Ralph Tulio reported to the Advisory Committee that$20K of the appropriated$50K was a waste given the less than adequate and biased study conducted by the consultants. The remaining$30K from last fall is still un-accounted for. The approval of the proposed additional $88K for EDM under article 8 will bring the total for EDM to$138K just to implement phase 1. Based on the CIO's projection,phases 2 and 3 will add another$585K. Ralph Tulio suggested that the Town appoint an overseer to the project to insure future funds are properly Notes by Michael Dick io April 2018 Page 2 of 3 COHASSET ADVISORY COMMITTEE io April M8 Cohasset Town Hall, Selectmen's Office FIRST DRAFT MINUTES appropriated and spent. Chris Senior agreed on the idea of oversight and instructed Ralph Tulio to contact the town CIO to begin the oversight process. No motion to rescind the prior vote on article 8. That vote stands,however,Tanya Bodell moved to require the Town Manager to track EDM expenses and report twice a year. The semi- annual report will cover spending and provide an estimate to complete the project. In addition, the motion allows for the Advisory Committee to appoint a Committee liaison to the EDM Project. Paul Carlsson seconded,the motion passed 8-0. 10:15 pm-Meeting adjourned. Notes by Michael Dick io April 2o18 Page 3 of 3