Board of Selectmen’s Meeting
October 2, 2007
Chairman Whitcomb called the meeting to order at 4:00PM with all members and Mr. Hinchey present.
Ms. Connors moved the Board of Selectmen vote to approve the minutes of the September 25, 2007 Board of Selectmen’s meeting. Mr. Bergstrom seconded the motion and the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously in favor.
Public Hearing - Fuel Storage
Chatham Municipal Airport
Mr. Whitcomb read the notice of a public hearing to be held this date on an application from the Chatham Municipal Airport for a license to store 10,000 gallons of aviation fuel 100LL.
Chairman of the Airport Commission Richard Hunter attended this meeting. Mr. Hunter told the Board this is part of the Ten-year Plan at the Airport and had been requested by the Cape Cod Commission.
Ms. Connors moved the Board of Selectmen vote to grant this license. Mrs. Bohman seconded the motion and the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously in favor.
PD/Annex Design Review Task Force
Discussion of Recommendations
Mr. Whitcomb reviewed the actions that have led to this recommendation and the vote from the Annual Town Meeting of May 2007.
Mr. Whitcomb introduced the Chairman of the PD/Annex Design Review Task Force Robert Stello.
Mr. Stello said he considered it a privilege to have worked on the Task Force and had learned a lot about the government and Open Meeting Law. He thanked the Task Force members: Mr. Poyant, Mr. Oppenheim, Mr. Whiteley and Mr. Sreibert. He also said he would like to thank the Task Force Recording Clerk Sandra Porter and the members of the Project Oversight Group for their input.
Mr. Stello commended the Police Department employees and the employees at the Town Hall Annex for working under the current conditions in their respective buildings. The Task Force toured the facilities and consider the current buildings to be in deplorable condition.
He also thanked the public at large who attended the meetings most notably Mr. Hallgren, Mrs. Seldin and Mrs. Aikman.
Mr. Donald Poyant, Vice Chairman of the PD/Annex Design Review Task Force addressed the Board of Selectmen to highlight the recommendations of the Task Force. Mr. Poyant described the develop of the recommendations through review of documents for the proposed preliminary design, meetings with key department heads, and site visits of other Town buildings.
Mr. Poyant said the key recommendations are to have the project re-designed as two separate buildings, move the buildings to the front of the site to allow for future use of the remaining land, and reduce the overall square footage of the structures.
Ms. Connors asked Mr. Poyant where the two buildings will be situated on the site. Mr. Poyant said the task force did not have a specific recommendation of how the buildings should be place on the site, but by moving them forward it will allow for future use.
Mrs. Bohman thanked the Task Force for their work. She agreed with Ms. Connors that the two building concept makes sense and she agreed there should be a basement under the Annex building. She does have concerns about the parking being in the rear closer to the residences. Mr. Poyant said the Task Force believes the residences could be protected from noise and lights at the complex with plantings or other barriers.
Mr. Bergstrom said he supports the recommendations from the Task Force.
Mr. Poyant also said the Task Force realizes that demolition of the current annex will be an inconvenience, but felt a “clean” site would mean completion of the project sooner.
Ms. Connors asked Chief Pawlina how he felt about the reduction in square footage. Chief Pawlina noted the comparison of the needs assessment vs. the square footage of the preliminary design was most helpful. He felt the reductions would be acceptable, but would need to look at the new design.
Ms. Connors asked Mr. Poyant how the relocation of the staff would be worked out. Mr. Poyant said his Task Force felt that would be handled administratively.
Ms. Connors asked Mr. Hinchey how this would effect the vote at Town Meeting where it mentions the nine month deadline. Mr. Hinchey said it was Bond Counsel’s determination that the nine months refers to the re-design and the project could go back to Town Meeting anytime after that.
Mr. Whitcomb asked Mr. Poyant if the Task Force had looked into changing the angles of the original design and reducing the size. Mr. Poyant said that they had some discussion but, once the Task Force determined the two departments are not compatible and that this is a better way to use the site, they decided they were beyond going back to the original design to reconfigure it.
Mr. Whitcomb asked - if the Town did look at that in moving forward, did the Task Force think that would result in enough cost savings. Mr. Whitcomb explained it was his understanding that the original design was going to take advantage of the topography and the abandonment of the basement under the annex was to reduce the size and therefore the costs. He also said he favors parking in the front to protect the residences. Mr. Whitcomb pointed out the new airport terminal will be a massive building on George Ryder Road and if the Town moves two more buildings closer to the street, it will be too much mass in this location. Mr. Whitcomb said he is uncomfortable with letting go of the original proposal. He asked the Board members if they would be in favor of two re-designs and then
compare the costs. Mr. Poyant said the Task Force feels it is the Board of Selectmen’s purview to do both re-designs and the Task Force has no objections to offering Town Meeting two proposals. He also said cost was not the only consideration and the Task Force would feel comfortable asking for more funds at the Town Meeting because of their conviction that this is the best thing for the Town.
Mr. Hinchey said it is difficult to make these decisions without a visual of the site using these proposals. Mr. Hinchey said he talked to the architect and he could do both re-designs with cost comparisons in three months.
Mr. Bergstrom felt that if due diligence was done at the time of the design, reduction of the building size should not reduce the cost significantly.
Mr. Whitcomb said the Board of Selectmen was assigned by Town Meeting to bring back the new design and it was up to the Board rather than the Task Force to make a recommendation to the Town Meeting.
Mr. Stello said he wanted to reiterate that the costs were not the most important thing to him and, as a citizen, he wants to be proud of the Town and respectful to the people who have to work in the buildings. He said he had knowledge that Orleans had a building that was finished early because the staff was relocated and the site was cleared.
Mr. Summers said he had concerns about the space needs because the end users were planning it. He said he is very comfortable with the changes to the site and with the recommendations of the PD/Annex Design Review Task Force and thinks the Board of Selectmen should accept the recommendations.
Mr. Hinchey noted that if the Board of Selectmen does not explore both re-designs the Town will have lost more time and building becomes more costly each year.
Ms. Connors moved the Board of Selectmen request the architect to review the recommendations of the Task Force, work with them and come back with a new schematic showing the two buildings on the site. Mr. Bergstrom seconded the motion. Mr. Whitcomb felt the Board of Selectmen should have both designs come back. The Board of Selectmen voted four in favor, one opposed (Mr. Whitcomb).
Mr. Whitcomb moved the Board of Selectmen vote to have the architect return with two designs; one based on the recommendations for two building and one with the original design scaled down. Ms. Connors seconded the motion. The Board of Selectmen voted one in favor four opposed.
Mr. Summers said he was still not in favor of an Annex because he believes it would be more efficient to have consolidated town offices, but if the Town wants to build an Annex it should be the Task Force recommended design.
Mr. Summers noted the recommendation of the Task Force to have citizen design review for future public construction projects. Mr. Summers moved the Board of Selectmen vote to create a permanent building review committee to review all municipal projects. Mrs. Bohman seconded the motion. Mr. Bergstrom said he had mixed feelings about the recommendation because all projects come to public through the Board of Selectmen meetings. Mr. Hinchey said he would support this recommendation but asked Mr. Summers to clarify which projects should go before the committee. Mr. Summers amended his motion to say “all major capital projects”. After realizing this needed further discussion, Mr. Summers withdrew his motion, Mrs. Bohman agreed.
The meeting adjourned at 5:30PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Ramona M. McDonald
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