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Minutes of 3/30/2017
April 17th, 2017
Town of Carroll Building Committee Special Meeting Minutes
March 30, 2017 @ 9:00 a.m.
Carroll Town Hall
Members and guests present: John Gardiner, Michael Hogan, Brad Houston, David Scalley, Imre Szauter, and John Trammell
The meeting of the Building Committee began at 9:05 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.
Attendees discussed the Mar. 28 meeting with Eversource Community Relations Specialist (New Hampshire – Northern Region), Catalina Celentano, about rebate and incentives for municipalities building new facilities, and the various options available with the Eversource street lighting program.
With regard to street lighting, discussion took place on reviewing the inventory list provided by Catalina to determine which street lights (if any) should be recommended for removal or whether to upgrade some or all existing street light units to LED fixtures.
John Gardiner recommended all street lights currently at intersections remain in place. He asked about the cost to the town for our current street lights. Imre stated that the annual cost for all street lighting in Carroll is about $25,000. He provided a summary of street lights in use from the Eversource listing and outlined the charges to the town.
Michael suggested that the Building Committee should form a sub-committee to take on the street-lighting issue and should piggy-back the street light program on any future discussions with Eversource representatives regarding a new public safety and administrative offices facility. John Trammell suggested the Select Board should handle the street-lighting issue.
Michael stated that the former Budget Committee examined the street light program and its costs, and counted the number of lights in town. The number they counted (147) was greater than reported by Eversource (127). Some of those street lights may have been controlled by the state; Imre has contacted the NH DOT for a listing of the street lights the NH DOT controls in Carroll.
Attendees reviewed information on rebates and incentives offered by Eversource for including energy-efficient products and practices in municipal construction projects. During the last meeting, Catalina stated that Eversource would assign a specialist to work with the town at no cost during the design and construction of any new facility to ensure any products energy-related products selected met relevant Eversource criteria for rebates and/or incentives.
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John Gardiner asked about Eversource involvement in solar power production options. Imre stated that Michael asked Catalina about both solar-recharging street lights and solar power production. Catalina responded that Eversource doesn’t use or support solar-recharging street lights, but does have significant involvement with solar power production net-metering programs.
Imre mentioned he planned to meet with Tom Southworth in Lancaster on Friday, Mar. 31 to learn more about their solar power production facilities. He stated that about 23% of Lancaster’s electricity needs are supplied by the solar power production systems they installed.
John Trammell mentioned that the town might view solar power production as a potential source of revenue, as he knows of several people who are receiving payments for power they produce and feed back into the grid. Michael stated that recent articles have highlighted towns that have installed solar power production facilities to meet all their electricity needs and plan to sell their excess production.
David asked if municipalities have to use certain solar companies to qualify for solar grants, rebates, and low-interest loans. Imre stated he didn’t know the answer to that question, but would ask that question when meeting with folks in Lancaster.
Imre explained how renewable energy certificates (RECs) are generated and marketed for those individuals or entities that own solar power production facilities in New Hampshire. RECs could be another revenue stream when factoring in the ROI (return-on-investment) for solar power production facilities owned by the town.
Attendees discussed the use of a template to guide the process of planning, designing, budgeting and constructing a new town facility. A copy of such a template was obtained from records provided by John Gardiner in his previous work on the Building Committee.
Brad mentioned that Fire Chief Jeremy Oleson has invited Sugar Hill Fire Chief, Allan Clark to visit with the Building Committee to discuss his role as project manager for the Franconia Public Safety Facility and see if there is any interest in having him assist us. Attendees agreed that Chief Clark would be welcome to share information with us. Brad will coordinate with Chief Oleson to make arrangements for Chief Clark’s visit.
John Gardiner suggested that proposing solar power production as part of the new building initiative would be a plus, as residents and voters would recognize the benefits of reducing the town’s electricity costs through onsite production.
Imre asked Michael to reach out to his contact at the USDA (US Dept. of Agriculture) about what low-interest loan, grant and rebate programs our new building initiative might qualify for. Michael stated that his contact offered to meet with the Building Committee to address program requirements and funding; he’ll check his contact’s availability and let us know.
Imre asked John Gardiner to reach out to Heidi Lawton at the NH Department of Safety, Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Management about scheduling a meeting with the Building
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Committee to review program requirement and funding options. Including plans for a formal Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in a new facility may qualify the town for federal and/or state grants. John agreed to contact Ms. Lawton.
David asked if the Building Committee had made contact with any architects since passage of the warrant article. He felt the committee should survey firms to get a better understanding of the fees associated with planning and designing a new municipal facility. David said that working with a project manager such as Allan Clark could reduce the project’s overall cost, as the manager’s knowledge of planning and construction practices coupled with permitting and rebate/grant/incentives programs would be significant.
David also stated that he felt, as others do, that a building site on town land near the current Town Hall is ideal in many ways. The exposure for possible solar arrays; the material excavated onsite could be crushed and reused instead of purchased elsewhere and trucked in; and direct access to US 3 for the fire department all make for a potential win for the town.
John Gardiner asked about interest rates for municipal bonds on construction projects. David stated he didn’t know what the current rates are, but would look to sources at USDA for that information.
David asked Brad if he could request that Allan Clark make available beforehand or bring with him the complete drawing for the Franconia Public Safety Building. Having those plans would serve for a more complete discussion of our town’s needs as they relate to the police and fire departments, and allow attendees to visualize the addition of the town’s administrative offices.
Attendees discussed potential floor plans for a new building, including the need to keep the police and fire department entrances separate and distant from the entrance to the administrative offices. While not wishing to restrict all access to the police and fire departments, for safety and security purposes it may be necessary to route foot and vehicle traffic away from the main entrances to these departments.
The use of a large multi-purpose meeting or community room was brought up, especially in regard to the Emergency Operations Center that would be activated during a natural or human-caused event. Careful planning for such a room would address several use issues since the closure of the gymnasium attached to Town Hall.
David made a motion, seconded by Michael, to adjourn the meeting. The vote to adjourn was unanimous.
The next meeting of the Building Committee is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, Apr. 13 at 9:00 a.m. in Town Hall.
The meeting adjourned at 1:55 p.m.
Minutes prepared by Imre Szauter.