Rumney Library Trustees - 11/7/2012

MEETING MINUTES - APPROVED BOARD OF TRUSTEES BYRON G. MERRILL LIBRARY Rumney, NH Nov. 7, 2012 Meeting began at 1:00 PM. Present were Roger Daniels, Tom Wallace, and Leina Smoker. REPORTS 1. Review Draft Minutes Sept. 27, 2012 Meeting It was moved (Roger Daniels) and seconded (Leina Smoker) to accept the minutes for 9/27/2012 with the following addition under NEW BUSINESS: b. 2013 Budget Planning: Selectmen have scheduled meeting on October 1, 2012 to begin 2013 Budget Planning process. Tom will be away and cannot attend. Roger will attend in his place. It was agreed that the Library will submit a Budget request totaling $ 37,730.00 comprised of an Operating budget of $ 37,730.00 funded by the Town (same as 2012) and no expenditure of Trust Fund money for building maintenance work. 2. Treasurer’s Report a. Account Balances: $ 101,090.82 b. 2012 Spending “to date” report reviewed. c. Copy of 2013 Budget as submitted to Town distributed 3. Library Director’s Report (None – Susan away) OLD BUSINESS a. 2012 Endowment Fund Projects Status a. Chimney re-pointing work has been completed by Benjamin Billin, as authorized. b. Tom Wallace reported he had painted the trim around the main entry door as well as most of the basement windows. He also made a temporary replacement for the sill at one of the basement windows, on the north side, which will need a permanent repair next Spring b. Feasibility Study – Disabled Accessibility 1) Tom Wallace outlined the Architect’s Study Report (Vol. I & II) which he had received in electronic format from the Architect. He identified the following concerns: • The report identifies Schemes E-1 and F-1 as the viable options with E-1 requiring land acquisition. Scheme F-1 limits new construction to within the existing library property boundaries. Tom advised that F-1 may not be feasible as it places the edge of new construction on the existing rear property line. • Tom also reported that, after further investigation, the Architect advises that a LULA elevator is not allowed by the State for our application. This results in a more expensive project and makes it more difficult to keep the historic character of the building and to fit the construction on the library’s site. • Tom expressed disappointment that the report did not include 3-D illustrations of Schemes E-1 and F-1, which would help evaluate how the new construction would integrate with the existing building. • Tom advised that he contacted the Architectural Historian and asked if relocating the Lower Level Stage, as proposed in both Schemes E-1 and F-1, had a negative impact on the historic character of the building. The Historian, he reported, advised among other things; that this would depend on how significant the Stage was to the history of the building’s use. Consensus reached among Trustees that the Stage could remain “as-is” in both Schemes E-1 and F-1 thereby helping to reduce the project cost. • Tom commented that he was not sure that the location of the new “accessible” toilet room in the Basement (Schemes E-1 and F-1) was the best location as it required a sewage ejector and would be difficult to monitor. He noted that, for Scheme E-1, it might be possible to locate the toilet room at grade level adjacent to the new accessible entry. • Tom noted that the report did not include an evaluation of the existing building and building system. He will ask the Architect to add this to the report. 2) The suggestion to the Library made at the Oct. 22 Selectmen’s meeting that the Library propose a Warrant Article at the 2013 Town Meeting to fully fund the project was discussed at length. Leina Smoker expressed concern that the project cost would be a very hard “sell” and that people would want to know how the cost would affect their taxes. Roger noted that a Bond issue, perhaps for 10 years, would significantly reduce the impact. A possible strategy discussed was to have a 2013 Warrant Article with a Bond issue to fund the project with, in the event that this Article failed, “back-up” Warrant Articles that would allow the library to proceed with land acquisition, final design, etc. and, then, present a Warrant Article in. This would allow the Library the opportunity to pursue grants and to implement a fund raising campaign, both of which could reduce the amount needed by Town appropriation. No decision reached. 3) The need to ask the Town to add and additional $ 5000. to the Library Capital Reserve Fund was discussed. No action taken. 4) The possibility of including a Hazardous Materials Survey or an Energy Audit into the Study was discussed. Tom advised that it looked like there might be around $ 1500. available from the original $ 25,000. LCHIP Grant for this. No action taken. 5) Status of negotiations with the Rumney Baptist Church regarding land acquisition for the accessibility project was discussed. Leina advised that the contact information requested by the Selectmen has been given to them. Leina also suggested that it might help with negotiations that the Church be reminded that the availability of a small meeting area in the library basement that would be made possible by the “accessibility project” as envisioned would available to the Church for their use. All three trustees felt this was a good idea. 6) After discussion, it was agreed that knowing whether the necessary land acquisition to implement Scheme E-1 was a possibility was essential in order for the library to make a recommendation to the Town. It was agreed that the first priority for the Library was that this acquisition, if possible, be addressed at the 2013 Town Meeting. NEW BUSINESS a. Roger Daniels reported that, after discussion with the Rumney FD, Carl Doe has installed two new replacement oil tanks in the existing boiler room. The new tanks will replace the tanks currently feeding the boiler, one of which developed a second leak that was discovered on Oct. 20. Before the new tanks can be filled and used, the existing boiler must be re-oriented to comply with fire code regulations. Roger advised that Carl’s plan is to work around the Library’s schedule to complete this work. Tom Wallace reported that there appear to be sufficient funds in the 2012 appropriation to cover the cost for this work. b. Tom Wallace reported that the Library has been informed that the Café on the Common has applied for a liquor license and asked if the Library wishes to comment on this application. After discussion, the Library agreed that it would take no action on this request. c. The Rumney Planning Board has asked the Library to update its 2005 Capital Improvement Plan Projections. A copy of the 2005 Projections was reviewed. After discussion it was agreed that Tom would advise the Planning Board that they would work on and updated projection, but that the Library would need a better sense of how they were going to address “HC Access” before they could comply with the request. d. We will meet next after Susan’s return. The meeting was adjourned at 2:10 PM.