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Minutes of 3/3/2017

March 22nd, 2017

Town of Carroll Building Committee Meeting Minutes
March 3, 2017 @ 9:00 a.m.
Carroll Town Hall

Members and guests present: John Gardiner, Greg Hogan, Brad Houston, Bonnie Moroney, and Imre Szauter

The meeting began at 9:00 a.m. and was recorded.

Attendees stood and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

A draft agenda was distributed and a sign-in sheet was routed around.

Attendees introduced themselves.

The draft minutes of the Jan. 31, 2017 informational session were discussed. Bonnie made a motion, seconded by John, to approve the minutes as written. The vote was unanimous.

The draft minutes of the Feb. 10, 2017 meeting were discussed. John made a motion, seconded by Greg, to approve the minutes as written. The vote was unanimous.

Attendees discussed the Feb. 8 deliberative session and comments they heard from town residents regarding the warrant article to begin planning for a new public safety and administrative complex. Brad stated that he’s been hearing positive comments as long as the Town Hall’s fate is addressed. Greg mentioned he’s been hearing the same thing.

John stated that he believes we have to keep the message going and that a new facility will enhance the image of the town. He commented that years ago the town was vibrant with activity and had many hotels, motels and campgrounds that welcomed visitors; most of those facilities are gone now.

Bonnie stated that she has spoken with a number of people about the need to build a new facility to replace the aging structures that house the police and fire departments and the administrative offices. She has been encouraging residents to learn more about the issues with the current buildings and support the effort of the town to become more efficient by combining the three functions into one building.

Imre commented that Kelly Trammell mentioned the reduced heating oil consumption at Town Hall since the closure of the gymnasium in December 2016. Greg stated that he will gather information on heating oil deliveries for this season to show the actual cost savings compared to previous years. Even though the rest of Town Hall is still being heated, the reduction in heating oil consumption has been dramatic with the shutdown of the old boiler.

Greg mentioned that he and Scott will be setting up a trial layout for the Mar. 14 second session (town vote) in the Town Hall meeting room. Along with Ben Jellison, Town Moderator, they will determine if the layout works for efficiently moving voters in and out of the smaller meeting room. Previous voting activities took place in the gymnasium, where space wasn’t an issue.

Bonnie asked if additional copies of the informational session handout were available. Imre said he would make more copies and leave them at the office window in Town Hall and at the transfer station. John suggested condensing the two (four-face) handout down to one page. Imre stated he would try printing two faces on one side to see if the print was still legible.

John asked if anyone knew how many registered voters reside in Bretton Woods. Attendees thought the count might be between 40 and 50. Bonnie suggested contacting Sue Kraabel, as she might have ways to reach the voters in that area.

Imre mentioned he contacted the office of John Santaniello, managing director of the Omni Mount Washington Resort, to set up a meeting to discuss the Building Committee’s work, but had not received a call back.

Bonnie suggested reaching out to Charles Whalen of Bretton Woods to determine if he might be interested in joining the Building Committee. Mr. Whalen asked several questions regarding the Building Committee warrant article at the Feb. 8 deliberative session. She also stated that Sue might be able to suggest a representative from the Bretton Woods community.

Bonnie asked John if the Historical Society had discussed using and maintaining the Town Hall if a new public safety and administrative office building was constructed. John stated that they don’t have the funds on hand or other funding sources to maintain the building.

John stated his concerns about the Historical Society’s collection. He is worried about its current location on the Town Hall’s second floor, as a natural or human-induced disaster could ruin everything. John further stated that moving the collection to other locations presents security and accountability issues.

John mentioned the town library has several known deficiencies, and that the library board has been setting aside dollars in its capital reserve fund to address some of them in the future. He suggested that perhaps the Historical Society and the library could combine their efforts for the betterment of both functions in the future.

Greg suggested that a new facility would hopefully have the storage space for the Historical Society’s collection as well as places to display portions of the collection on a rotational basis in conjunction with the library.

John mentioned that if a new building is approved by the voters, repurposing a portion of the current fire department building for a combined library and Historical Society storage and display area might provide an acceptable alternative location for both. He also suggested a central meeting or community room would be an ideal place to display Historical Society materials so residents and visitors could learn more about the history of the town while attending other functions. Attendees agreed that a multi-function room could be an additional selling point to attract voter support.
Imre asked John if he thought the Historical Society and library boards would be willing to issue statements of support for a new public safety and administrative complex if the 2017 warrant article passes on Mar. 14. John responded they might do so, as library visits are up for 2016, indicating that residents use and support the library.

Brad suggested that clearly establishing the property tax impact of a new facility is critical to building voter support. Bonnie cautioned that broadcasting a construction cost amount too soon could cause problems down the road. She suggested that if the 2017 warrant article is approved, additional informational sessions might be the proper venue to introduce cost figure estimates from the paid professionals.

Attendees discussed sizing a new facility to accommodate future needs, such as adding more equipment in the fire department or expanding the library for additional materials and programs. It would be advantageous to build in some expansion space so the town doesn’t have to return to the voters within a few years to add on to a recently-constructed facility.

Bonnie indicated she would not be able to attend future daytime meetings of the Building Committee. She offered to continue working with the committee as her schedule permits. Attendees thanked her for her contributions to the effort.

Attendees felt positive about passage of the Mar. 14 warrant article to begin the first phase of the new facility project and looked forward to the work ahead with more informational sessions, guided tours of the fire and police departments, and increasing support through community involvement.

The next meeting of the Building Committee will be Friday, Mar. 17 at 9:00 a.m. in Town Hall.

Bonnie made a motion, seconded by John, to adjourn the meeting. Vote was unanimous.

The meeting adjourned at 9:45 a.m.

Minutes prepared by Imre Szauter.

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