Planning
Board
Town of Washington
October 26, 2009
Space Task Force Working
Session
Attending: Planning Board: Jack Sheehy, Tom Marshall, Nan
Schwartz, Jim Crandall, Dennis Kelly
Municipal Space Needs Task Force: Dennis Kelly, Tom
Taylor, Steve Hansson, Steve Terani, Jim Russell
Visitors: Ron Jager, Carolyn Russell, Al Krygeris
Sheehy opened the meeting at 9 AM. He said that the
meeting was scheduled to have the Planning Board work with the Space Needs Task
Force and be brought up to date on their on-going Town Building and Space Needs
project.
Dennis Kelly began for the Space Needs Committee and went
over their previous report from September. He explained their process and the
data and ideas included in the report. Tom Taylor then talked about their next
steps, specifically Step 3, which is to meet again with town staff and
departments and get together groups that work together to talk about their
needs and how they interact. He explained that Step 4 is to look at long range planning (up to 15 years out) for
the buildings and staff needs and tie it to the capital plan.
He talked about the old highway garage. At present it is
not heated but used for cold storage of equipment. The equipment in there is
needed but not all the time. The cold and wet conditions can contribute to
rusting. The police cruiser is stored there when it is not being used and Steve
has to remove critical equipment each time and reinstall it before use. The
building has problems with moisture seeping in from the back wall but could be
fixed. Ed has said that a shed could be added to the new highway garage for
equipment storage for around $24K.
The Elementary School is in good shape right now and there
is room there to expand. They have 70 students right now with capacity for 100.
Camp Morgan has a lot of clutter downstairs. They are
adding showers downstairs for use when it is used as a shelter. They cited a
need for a coordinator other than the Selectmen who are busy enough. The
building is also used as an emergency space for the school when evacuation is
needed.
The Library is in good shape but could use the space
downstairs if the archives were moved to a new space.
The Public Safety Building houses Fire, Rescue and the EOC. The building needs an exhaust system. The door sizes are a problem, they could be widened but because of the roof trusses they couldn't be made higher. Used fire trucks are hard to find and may not fit through the doors. Custom trucks are expensive but can be made to order for their needs and size requirements. There is a need for some kind of decontamination space. We discussed what is required for decontamination. A shower space and changing space would be a start. Fire and Rescue members have to go home at present and may be covered with undesirable substances. The meeting room is also used as the office space and emergency management space and not ideal for any one of those uses. They have 120 sq ft for the office but could use double the space. The Police Department could be moved there and is a compatible use. The building is on leased land and the town is not actively negotiating to purchase it at this time. The owners did show a willingness to sell when asked.
The Meeting House and old School House are both in need of
upgrading. An engineer needs to evaluate, it is felt that all systems need
upgrading as well as structural work.
Tom spoke about their next steps. They are following a
process of 4 steps. Step 3 should give them options. They are meeting with
department heads again right now. Rescue has told them that they lack storage
space because medical supplies they used to pick up at the hospital as needed,
they now have to keep, in quantities, at the station. They also said they have
less volunteers and more requirements and training. In the future (5 years out)
they may have to go to a paid EMT on duty during the day, which would require
space for a day room.
The Police have a problem with the separation of juveniles and privacy concerns. Steve has several part time officers and finds that follow through is hard with this arrangement. He would like to have a second full time officer for better continuity. He also has a problem with storing evidence. The police cruiser is left running (idling) outside the building all winter long because the equipment can't freeze.
The EOC operates very well at present in the space they
are given. Ed Thayer is the director but Bob Hofstetter runs it so Ed can be
out and about, where he is needed. They need to set it up for each incident.
Fire would like to have access town data for their
computer system. Rescue has their own laptop computer and does most of their
reporting on the way back from a call.
The committee is meeting with Fire, Rescue, Police and EOC
personnel to brainstorm and challenge their stated needs (hopefully on the 11th
of November but it may have to be changed for Steve, who has a conflict). They
will next meet with the Town Hall personnel and will then meet with the School
people. The school bond will be paid off in 7 years.
Tom said many of the Committees and Commissions keep their
records at their homes at present because there is not enough room to keep
things in the Town Hall.
Tom said the Task Force is looking at long range planning to support a spending plan for the town. Nan requested that before the 2010 budget hearing we should have a public meeting to lay out the data and facts from the Task Force, even if they aren't yet done.
Dennis said there is a census next year and we can use
this information to take a better look at the population and how it might be
changing. He said facilities should be evaluated yearly to catch problems as
they arise. He thinks that the new computer system the Selectmen are talking
about is a good idea and should include backup, a network and better security.
Nan said that the Energy Committee is working on getting
data on the energy consumption and needs of the town buildings and asked Al to
coordinate with the Task Force and share any information they uncover. Al spoke
about getting 2 estimates for energy audits on the town buildings. On November
5th they are meeting about the Municipal Energy Assistance program.
They have done energy bill inventories on the 2008 bills and are working on
this years monthly bills to help show inefficiencies and to use as a baseline
for improvement.
We then talked about some options. Jim Russell suggested
putting Rescue and Police under the Town Hall (if a full basement was added).
Tom Marshall suggested using the Old Highway Garage for
Rescue and Police and adding a second story if needed. A few other ideas were
tossed out. Nan said that programming for the Town Hall should include the
School House next door. If the Police were to move to a different space this
could be usable office or meeting
space and should be taken into consideration.
Dennis talked about the 3 Meeting House proposals and that he wasn't happy that they had dropped 2 so quickly in favor of the one they went with. One was for a crawl space and 2 others were for a full cellar, one with offices in the cellar and the other with offices just on the main floor.
Jack is concerned about the pressure being put on the Task Force committee's process and hopes that their work won't be rushed.
The committee was thanked and told to keep up with their
work.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Nan Schwartz
Secretary, Planning Board