 This program is brought to you by cable franchise V's and generous donations from viewers like you Okay, good evening Governors Baker March 12th order suspending certain provisions of the open meeting law Allows us to hold this virtual town council meeting Given that we have a quorum of the council present I am calling the February 22nd 2021 meeting of the Amherst town council to order at 632 Later on we will call the meeting of library trustees to order but not at this time I'm going to call on each councilor by name and at that time Please unmute and say present that way. We know we we can hear you and you can hear us I'm going to begin with shallony ball melm present Alyssa Brewer Alyssa Brewer See your name new headphones. They're not working present Thank you Pat de Angelis Present or she demand here Lynn grease Merz present Mindy Joe Hanna key present Dorothy Pam present Evan Ross present George Ryan present Kathy Shane here Steve Schreiber Here Andy Steinberg here Sarah Schwartz present Thank you. This meeting includes audio video and is available live on Amherst media It is also being recorded. There is no chat room for this meeting and For those of you there in the meeting if you have technical issues, please let me or Athena know We are showing on the screen at this time how you can connect to the meeting either by zoom or by phone and If technical difficulties arise as a result of utilizing remote participation We will address that situation and we will note it in the minutes Lindsay McConnell will take minutes for the council meeting and Athena will be managing zoom screen sharing and text support Athena will continue to Accord the official votes of the council and post them in accordance with the council rules I want to pause for a moment and take the screen down please and With President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris take a moment of silence to honor those We have lost to go bid now over half a million people. Thank you At this time, I'm going to ask the library trustees if they would I don't like to ask everybody to mute But also ask the library trustees and the other guests there with them that if you could just let us Go on with the very very few beginnings of our meeting And actually take your video down. Don't don't disconnect. Please don't disconnect just Thank you so much. We appreciate that um I want to make sure uh the counselors and the public know that we have a very lengthy agenda Tonight with several important items on them I want to alert you that in advance I will be keeping close watch on the clock and may at some point defer items to future council agendas We have a couple announcements the two that I want to make particularly sure people are aware of And an opportunity for the public to talk with us about the jones library options The first is on wednesday march 3rd 2021 at 6 The second is on march 6th at 2 20 on 2 21 at 2 o'clock the Link to the presentation tonight as well as all of the reports and so forth Will be available and are available in tonight's packet and will be available on the website in reference to those meetings So you can take the announcements down, please It likes a show of hands from the 52 people in our audience As to who would like to make public comment Are there any other hands at this time? Okay, then i'm going to ask that you please Be respectful of our agenda, but also we'd like to hear from you so When you make public comment you express your views for up to three minutes And based on the number of people who wish to speak at this point I'm seeing five the council will not engage in dialogue or comment on a matter raised during general public comment So i'm going to ask that we bring marsha You hike into the room and allow her to speak Hi everyone, my name is marcie mulkey and i am an amherst resident with two children ages three and five I was on the fence about the library renovation and extension project Until I was able to attend a library tour before covid hit Other is no doubt in my mind that we need to renovate and expand Here are a few quick anecdotes to illustrate First as a young parent who is relatively new to town I often visited the library on especially cold and short winter days with my young child He was a wonderful warm place to play and read And run into and make friends while the library's metaphorical warmth doesn't hinge on renovation and expansion The physical warmth does the library is an energy hog and the renovation and expansion Would make the building much more efficient and reduce energy bills despite being a much larger space It would also get the building off fossil fuels And make it net zero ready. Yes, please Second I love the children's room activities. They are great. What isn't so great is when your potty training three year old Says she needs to pee in the one bathroom near the children's room isn't available This leads to a very stressful Confusing and panicked run around two carpeted floors and at least one staircase of the library In search of other bathrooms. I can only imagine navigating the bathroom Navigating to the bathroom if I didn't speak english or had mobility challenges Let's make our library accessible and welcoming to all Third the public programs are just wonderful The bubble show and a classical music event were two standouts. I attended Fortunately, I didn't have to stand out in the hallway and try to watch and listen Because I know these great programs fill up quickly and I get there early Others left because there wasn't space Let's renovate and build a library to meet the needs of our community Fourth, I love the bright glass ceiling part of the library It's absolutely beautiful, especially in winter And I was super bummed to learn that it leaks and leaks and leaks and leaks What I thought was an asset to our library turns out to be a huge liability Finally, I spent as little time in the basement as possible So I hadn't seen the teen area until the library tour I was dismayed. It is dark and gloomy and sketchy not a place. I want to send my kids as they get older Let's make our library a safe Welcoming and pleasant place for teens In fact, let's make our library an accessible safe and welcoming place for everyone Let's make the Jones the living room for the whole community that it could and should be Let's invest in a wonderfully beautifully renovated functional and sustainable library Rather than spending the same amount of money on ineffectual band-aid fixes. Thank you Thank you for your comment I do want to remind people there is going to be an opportunity for everyone to comment during our public Forums on the library Lauren Mills, please enter the room state your name and where you live Yes Um My name is Lauren Mills. I live South Amherst and South Amherst and I am commenting on and look forward to the town management's discussion of the racial equity account and Answer to how the town will transfer money to communities of color for economic and racial justice Just as has been the question of what will be put in place to address alternative Services to support community upliftment stability inclusion into larger pound affairs There are many important efforts that educational institutions such as the Amherst college Is taken to acknowledge and expand understanding of systemic racism and how it continues to affect communities of color and their livelihood if um, sorry um, I congratulate the town for unanimously um approving a resolution to confront and rectify Amherst historical and structural racism as that Sorry as that Continues to unfold with research from the are are for Can you still hear me? Yes, okay reparations for Amherst um council members I think that the uh request The recent request from the are for a to town Should only go to members of color Our historians and college That live and work in Amherst. I think it needs to be clear to black and other residents of color who are Who are making up the are for a committee? Move before money is given and I know how much volunteer work goes into this work And that's why it needs to be supported financially from the town I think of reparations in two ways Monetarily and the ongoing work of repair inhaling that needs to take place I think that this type of work is um sustained by um A term called blood memory making things right for those who come before us and will come after us When I think of my blood family ancestors um And those who I've actually met I know I have my grandmother um who was from texas um and she came To massachusetts and lived in boston where I grew up and on my father's side My grandmother and her twin sister came from maryland and then passed away um in north carolina so um There are only a few um ancestors that I Actually have met So we are building a legacy on um the collective memory of our grandmothers and our grandfathers and we want to find A reparative solution that will enhance the lives of all of us in our communities and in our beloved families. Thank you Lauren thank you for your comments michelle The room state your name and where you live Hi, i'm michelle miller in north amherst And i'm the co-chair of reparations for amherst I'm here to speak about a request we made to town manager bachelman on january 25th We thank town manager bachelman for agreeing to the first part of our request and continuing the legal research Related to the creation of a fund dedicated to reparations This is an excellent step step forward for amherst's path to repair We asked town manager bachelman To agree to allocate five thousand dollars for our work Specifically so we can compensate black community stakeholders and leaders Who are supporting us in the repair process? This year the budget includes and i quote The addition of 80 thousand dollars to engage the community as we explore Identify and implement strategies to confront systemic racism On december 7th the town resolved to engaging in a path of remedy For black amherst residents who have been injured or harmed by discrimination and racial injustice It's time to activate that commitment We are confident that the allocation of five thousand dollars toward the work of our foray meaningfully advanced reparations and amherst We appreciate your consideration Michelle thank you for your comments peter blood Please enter the room state your name and where you live Hi, i'm peter blood. I live on jenck street in amherst I'm also the co-convener of the interfaith opportunities network Which is an association of about 20 faith congregations most of whom are in amherst And the ones who aren't like mine? congregation have lots of members in embers Um all of our congregations and and ion are deeply exercised about the issue about systemic racism and are doing a deep dive to look at the issue And particularly we're looking very deeply at the issues of reparations and are deeply grateful that amherst is considering some Approach perhaps similar to what evison has done There's a saying that says you should think globally but act locally reparations are a wonderful opportunity for us to Take on an issue on the national level, but also on a local level and amherst could be only the second Community i believe in the country to implement this on a local level To do this fairly and adequately We really need to engage our african-american residents I want to second the proposal from michelle moment ago that you consider reconsider giving the idea of financial support Both to bring in resource people from evison to work with african-american residents to understand more fully What this possibility could be and also to include involve members of the people of color in amherst in the process of research And investigating how this could move forward Many people i know who are people of color don't have the freedom to do this kind of work in their spare time they may have children they may have jobs and Providing a modest amount of financial support like five thousand dollars would go to long ways towards Moving this step forward I hope that you'll consider the possibilities of how we can get a more inclusive room that we have Facing you i like all of you some of you are my friends, but i think i see all white faces in front of me So this kind of step of using money to help people to be able to afford to spend time doing research and work on these issues I think could go long ways towards broadening our participation in these issues. Thank you Peter thank you for your comments. Tony cunningham. Please enter the roman state your name and where you live Hello, i'm tony cunningham oan drive In the information on the jones that will be presented tonight The information on the cost of the repair alternative Is inaccurate it appears to use different assumptions than those applied to the expansion including different principles and interest rates As a result of this inconsistency the repair is presented as costing more than the expansion How is it possible that the 36.3 million dollar project will cost the town less than a 14.4 million dollar repair I would like to see these charts updated using the same assumption so that it can be an apples to apples comparison There's a strong sense of deja vu here the package being presented this evening advocates for only one option Namely the expansion and renovation and i was struck by the unwillingness of the trustees and their fundraising team In their responses to the questions to support a repair option in any way While i've felt for a long time that this plan was based on an over-inflated service population And the program cascaded from that number. That is what water under the bridge at this point going forward I think energy would be better put into seeking areas for compromise While some people may be opposed to this project on historic preservation grounds or objections to demolishing the ADA compliant 1993 edition Personally i'm more concerned about the cost and what it would mean for other town needs both capital and operating I continue to be skeptical of the figures to date and I haven't yet heard a good explanation of how an estimate based on Construction starting two years ago has not gone up in cost at all I'm also skeptical of the promised fundraising campaign and I worry about committing the endowment to cover any shortfalls Until fundraising goals can be met. I think I recall reading that much of the $273,000 per quest was already spent on redesigns and studies So it would be interesting to know how much of the quoted raised funds are still in hand and can be handed over to the town Lastly, I take issue with the trustees counting CPA funds as part of the As if it were an outside grant It's my understanding that CPA funds in Amherst come directly from Amherst taxpayers not from the state Why then are the trustees permitted to apply for those funds and count them toward their fundraising? rather than reducing it using it to reduce the burden to taxpayers in To 14.8 million If the numbers being presented are accurate and using the endowment as collateral to bridge fundraising gaps Will not jeopardize the ability to properly operate the jones and the two branch libraries at the levels They were a pre-pandemic then it would make sense to me to move forward But there are a lot of ifs and unknowns and the risk is significant As the impact of further burden to the town would affect not only the other capital projects But the operating budgets of all town departments as it is We see that moving forward with the four projects will necessitate severe cuts to all department operating budgets Which will mean job losses in our schools libraries public works facilities and it departments Thank you Tony thank you for your comments Isabel Ramirez, please Please enter the room state your name and where you live Hi, good evening. My name is Isabel Ramirez I am from Guanajuato located in central Mexico I have been living in Amherst for the past five years with my husband who is a phd student at UMass and our children I would like to talk to you about my experience in the esl program that the jones library offers The program has been one of the main supports that has helped me integrate into the Amherst community I can still remember the frustration I felt when I first came to live here I couldn't speak much English and I couldn't even ask where the bus stop was The esl program is a unique and invaluable resource that gives us the push and the tools that we need The esl program helps develop trust and a feeling of connection with the community The library offers one one two three in conversation circles books and pamphlets in other languages and limited space to hold tutoring sessions I think it would be fantastic if there were more spaces to interact and talk without our tutors At present there are only three small rooms in the basement and they are often reserved way in advance There were many occasions when my tutor and I would tour the library looking for a space to hold our sessions Sometimes we sat in a hallway or the second floor or in the art gallery We often meet other tutors and students looking for a space. The need is great in Amherst Because of all the international students and residents the esl program is so successful That there is often a waiting list for available tutors. I appreciate that the staff at the library And in the esl program Reflect the character of the multicultural community They have made me feel that I am not alone in a strange country Away from my family in Mexico. I am very grateful to all the support from the esl program I was able to get a job at a local daycare as a pca And to volunteer in a chemistry lab at UMass the library Offers many programs for children. The programs help my kids adapt and connect easily with the community It would be very helpful if the children and computer areas were expanded The present areas are very crowded on the weekends during vacations And in the summer the craft's room is very small in the basement In the winter when the weather is not our best ally You believe me the young library is the best place for children to have fun be creative and connect with other children And it is often crowded Um It gets very crowded during the long awaited annual harry potter event as we say in spanish That means there isn't any space even for a needle Since the first week that arrived here the young library has been a wonderful place for the children and I I am very thankful But I do feel that enlarging the space for the esl program and for the children would make it even better. Thank you Thank you for your comments is bell Uh pat you have your hand up. Would you please come in and state your full name and where you live? Good evening. My name is pat anani baco and I live um on tamarack drive south amans I'm here to echo what previous speakers have said about Getting a funding allocation for recreation for amas I have lived in amas for more than 35 years I raised my five children here and To be a black woman living in amas or even in any part of the country is not easy Having to struggle and face discrimination every day in my life And I feel for the first time hopeful last year when The the time council um have made commitment to address racism and equity Therefore, um in order to get this work done it requires some funding So I'm urging you to please allow the time manager to Um provide funding to get the work for Reparation amas going. Thank you for your time Pat thank you for your comments That ends our comment period. We're going back to the full agenda And I would ask that the library trustees and others presenting with them now turn your videos on it You would like Don't have to We are going to begin with the jones board of library trustees I want to recognize that the trustees have joined us tonight And we're going to pause for a moment and have austin call the meeting To order for the jones library trustees austin Thank you, lin. I want to call the meeting of the jones library trustees To order i'm going to Ask that the library trustees present Acknowledge their presence when I call their names Robert Pam Present Alex the fave Tammy ealy present chris hoffman Who have I missed And i'm austin sarin. I am present as well And i believe leah edwards is here leah edwards leah I see her box, but she is muted leah edwards Lynn we have a quorum present so I think we can proceed Thank you in a moment. We're going to show the video the library has produced It has been developed along with a slide presentation to answer the many questions that the council put together in their memo That was approved on um January 4th At after the presentation I will call on counselors who have questions And i'm going to ask you to choose your top two questions And then make sure that other questions from other counselors are able to be asked Um, we will then have an opportunity if there is an answer to those questions tonight Uh, and if it's obvious as to who will answer those I will direct the question. Otherwise, I will direct it to um austin of the chair of the library trustees It is very likely that not all of the questions will be answered this evening Either because we run out of time Or more information is needed to provide a complete answer I am asking all counselors to send me any unanswered questions by noon on Wednesday We will not be taking a vote this evening However, we have a motion to refer the jones library presentation and all other Documents and reference documents to the finance committee to review the financial elements of each option And provide that view to the town council for consideration at their meeting on monday april 5th 2021 With that we're going to go ahead and view the um video Good evening. My name is austin sarott and i'm president of the jones library board of trustees I want to thank you for giving us the chance to present and discuss our plan for renovation in addition to the jones I mean completed all the work needed to move that plan to fruition Last october the library board of trustees unanimously voted to approve the renovation and addition plan That we will discuss tonight The board also voted to request that the amherstown council approve that plan by the end of april Those folks with a culmination of more than a decade of careful planning extensive deliberation and consultation and continuing commitment To ensuring that amherst library serve the needs of all its residents Endorsing the proposal we present tonight Will make a great library even better and sustain its greatness into the future The proposal that we are presenting points us towards a bright future In which the jones will continue to nurture democratic values And support a vibrant and inclusive culture in our town Our proposal emerged from a careful study of the library's programs and functions It embodies what the jones needs to serve the town well For the next several decades It provides for expanding the children's room providing a much needed teen space Dealing with the inadequacies of our special collection and english as a second language facilities And it will make the building accessible For all amherst residents It will also make the library a model for sustainability While preserving and restoring the unique history Of the jones building Just to be clear The vital improvements that we are proposing Cannot be accommodated within the existing facility Or in any feasible rearrangement of the jones building At the start of the process that led to the current plan We asked our architects to study whether and how To realize those improvements within the current building By reorganizing existing spaces or expanding within the existing footprint They showed us that even if we added several stories to the library We'd still not be able to do all that needs to be done Still some might ask why move forward with this plan now The trustees are asking the town council to approve the plan by the end of April for many reasons Not the least of which is because we expect to be awarded On massachusetts board of a library commissioners grant in july of 2021 And because the mblc rules allowed towns to move forward in anticipation of state funding Taking advantage of state funding is a once in a decade opportunity We're asking you to move forward because we now have a sound and feasible financial plan For the project That plan includes a library commitment Of six million dollars to help offset some of the town's costs And interest rates remain extremely low So this is in fact a great time to borrow As you will hear we've already achieved remarkable success in our fundraising efforts We've raised 13 million dollars from the state A million from cpa funds pending town council approval And more than a million dollars in private pledges Towards a total library commitment Of a little more than six million dollars We're asking you to approve our plan this spring because the serious maintenance issues and structural problems which plague the jones building urgently need to be addressed We're asking you to approve our plan this spring because a detailed study requested by the town council Of the cost of addressing the problems with the building By repairing the existing building Show that it would cost between 14 and 16 million dollars To do such repairs Those costs are very close to the amount the town would have to contribute To achieve a renovated expanded accessible and environmental sustainable jones library this slide shows The taxpayer cost comparison comparing The renovation and addition plan With the two repair estimates About which you will hear more in a few minutes We're asking you to approve our plan this spring Because delay risks both an escalation in costs And a further deterioration of the building And because Children teens english language learners immigrants disadvantage people Students of amherst history families book lovers and all of the more than 225,000 people Who come to the library every year? All of them deserve a facility that is is inspiring As their dreams We believe that a renovated and expanded jones library will be a beacon of hope And a reminder that a great town Deserves a great library On this slide you'll see the agenda for the rest Of our presentation You'll first hear about the financing plan for the project Then about the project's history development and time timeline Then we'll review the architectural plans and the future staffing needs of the building We'll subsequently review the repair estimates and conclude with a discussion of how our plan fits into a vision of efforts Which puts environmental sustainability and social justice At the center of this wonderful communities commitments And to carry on with our presentation about financing of the project. I'd now like to call on kent fervor Thank you, austin. There are many financial aspects to what we'll talk about tonight If the proposed renovation and expansion project goes forward the three most important are A capital campaign including historic tax credits The role of the library's endowment And the participation of town funding you'll hear tonight about each of them And you'll also hear about the finances of any repair option as well I'm here as the co-chair with lee edwards of the capital campaign commitment Of the friends of the jones library Which has undertaken to raise the six point six million dollar trustee commitment shown by austin Toward the financing of the proposed renovation and expansion project We have a good plan and a good start. The plan has five segments each with its own goal Starting from the top. We already have obtained a one million dollar recommendation for a cpa grant However, we've been unable to start the next two segments targeting foundations financial institutions and other government sources Simply because we can't apply to these sources without a certain project The same is true for historic tax credits about which you'll hear shortly But we're confident we can achieve the targets shown for these segments when that obstacle is removed Finally, we're also confident about our ability to meet our goal for the last seven A community campaign aimed at individual donors Amounting such a campaign is a major undertaking Involving dozens of volunteers and hundreds of prospects Without knowing for certain whether the project will go forward. This is hardly credible In addition for most of last year the pandemic's economic uncertainty And severe restrictions on human interaction Have made it even more difficult to begin that process zoom is just not adequate To nurture the kind of trust knowledge and commitment necessary for either an effective campaign organization Or the larger gifts needed Nevertheless in the last six weeks as the grip of the pandemic has begun to loosen And its financial consequences are clear to potential donors We've begun once again to ramp up both our organizing and our contacts with major donors A 19 person capital campaign committee held its first meeting last week And we have once again begun contacting prospects for the purpose of soliciting gifts Particularly at the lower end of our gift table And that short period of time I'm happy to report significant success In the table you see You can find the number of commitments we have at each level including one at $300,000 Which was given to us early last March before the onset of the pandemic A bequest we have received and committed to the campaign at $273,000 Two commitments over $100,000 and so on They comprise our present total of over $1 million toward our $3 million goal And when you add in the $1 million in CPA funds We're just over 30% of the way toward the trustee's $6.6 million commitment Significantly reducing the exposure of the library's endowment And demonstrating the depth if not the breadth of support for this project In the fundraising trade ramping up an annual fund For operating expenses is a common pre-campaign strategy Identifying prospects and volunteers And building the climate of generosity that's required for larger gifts By taking this on as well the friends have not only persuaded over 750 families to almost double the total raised But have also relieved Sharon and her staff of the substantial burden and expense of administering Between the increased amount raised and the cost savings of the library We estimated that in a distribution rate of four and a half percent We've added the equivalent of another one and a half million dollars to the library's endowment We anticipate continuing to grow the annual fund in the future So far then we're almost one third of the way Without having a definite project in the middle of a pandemic And without having been able to get started And rebutters the endowment as well with a much stronger annual fund Can we raise the rest The survival center finished the campaign for two and a half million dollars seven years ago And the hitchcock center is currently closing its campaign at seven million dollars As the chief development officer of amherst college and the president of the community foundation I was regularly tasked with raising twice this amount every year I'm confident we can do this Thank you for your careful attention to this. I'd be happy to answer any questions or discuss any of this further And let me turn you over to Doug keller who can talk about historic tax credit Thank you kent. Uh, as kent mentioned, my name is doug keller. I'm a principal here at epsilon associates and i'm going to be talking a little bit about Historic tax credits and how they may be an important funding source for for the project I'm just a little bit about epsilon epsilon is an environmental engineering consulting firm based here in manored massachusetts One of our key practice areas is our historic preservation practice We have a group of historic preservation professionals who assist clients property owners and institutions In securing the necessary historic approvals for their projects And part of that is helping them secure state and federal historic tax credits to help finance their projects What i'm going to be talking about specifically is the massachusetts historic rehabilitation tax credit um, the massachusetts historic tax credit is a tax credit against Taxes owed to the massachusetts department of revenus of state taxes They are credits that can either be used by an applicant Who has secured them for the approval of their project or more likely can be syndicated to an outside investor Who is able to then use them to offset their own tax liability Typically the way it works is the tax credits Are sold for slightly less than the face value The benefit to the seller is they're able to turn credits which they may not have an immediate need or any need for in the case of a nonprofit To Convert it into a form of equity to help finance the project The benefit to the investor is they're able to purchase them again for slightly less than face value But yet are able to use them for the full face value to offset their own state tax credit liability Um, the way the the program works. It's it's a program that's administered by the massachusetts historical commission Which is the state historic preservation office here in messachusetts Um, it's a up to 20 credit Um, and what that is it's it's up to 20 percent of the qualified rehabilitation costs associated with the project For example, all projects have you know a total project costs and of the total project costs Some of those costs qualify towards the credits. Some of them do not In the case here with the jones The work associated with the rehabilitation and restoration of the historic building would qualify towards the credit So the 1.6 million figure you saw earlier is based on the up to 20 percent of the cost anticipated costs of the Rehabilitation of the historic portion of the building The credits do not count towards new construction. Um, or site work Um, so those costs associated with with the new addition would not qualify towards the credits Um, the massachusetts historical commission reviews accepts applications For the program three times a year those being in january april and august Um projects that do not receive the full amount that they're eligible for Are able to reapply in subsequent rounds In request additional credits and they can continue to do that reapply in in each subsequent round until either the project is completed And placed into service or until they receive the full 20 percent that they're eligible for and for all intense purposes Most most if not all projects, um need to apply in multiple application rounds In order to get anywhere near the full 20 credit that they're that they're eligible for Projects need to be consistent with the secretary of interior standards. Um, which is a set of national guidelines established by the national park service And basically that for those of you who are not familiar with secretary of interior standards It talks about how the character to find features of a building need to be retained and preserved as part of the project They do allow for new construction Um, the standards as it relates to new construction talks about That they need that the new construction needs to be designed in a manner to be Complimentary to the historic building while not overwhelming the the historic building um, so I think I What might be helpful is to show you a few examples of our projects in the area To give you a sense of what types of projects might be able to qualify for this So this is the prep memorial library also known as the arms library in sheldron falls This is a project that our office was involved with that included the rehabilitation of the historic building There was no additions here But building systems were upgraded finishes on the historic interior and exterior were were preserved A new children's reading room was added to the basement level copper dome was A new copper dome was added to the roof the roof ceiling tiles were Were rehabilitated next this is an example of a commercial project In north hampton the gay with school located at the former clerk's school for the deaf This is a commercial Rehabilitation of this historic property that included a significant large New addition added on to it You can see how the the new addition was designed in a manner to be complementary to the historic character of the original building This is another example of Another library project out in stock bridge the stock bridge library museum and archives This is a building or a project that included not only the rehabilitation of the historic building both on the interior next year but also a new addition that allowed for increased accessibility throughout the building as well as upgrading the building systems and the Archive facilities at the lower level So those are just a few examples of some of our historic projects that I think are similar to to the jones Happy to answer any additional questions with that. I think i'm turning it over to bob My name is bob pam and i'm a trustee in the treasurer of the jones library You've already heard about the library's fundraising plans and prospects The library anticipates that over the course of the project the grand solicitations in our community efforts Will produce enough money to achieve the campaign goal The issue is when Our plan is to temporarily cover any deficit by using portions of the library endowment What will happen and how would that impact our operations? The endowment finance is a little over half of the non-town funded expenses of the library Books light and heat programming and the other costs that we cover in our budget Uh, we can't do without it But because of the way we've constructed it we can do without some of it as long as the shortfall is limited And does not last too long As we explain in our submission our withdrawals to cover operations are calculated Based on the last full year of data before we prepare our budget So for example, the fiscal year 22 budget includes data for the three years ending in june 2020 Further it averages the data from the 12th quarters ending at that date So that spikes in value have less impact and draws do not shift greatly from year to year A substantial drop in value if not replaced is there for delayed by one year Then the impact rises by one third in each of the three following years We do not expect a long-term continuing drop to happen for several reasons The size of the endowment depends on three things contributions withdrawals and market performance If we withdraw funds to cover a shortfall the recovery will depend on compensating gifts The size of normal draws and market performance Project related withdrawals would be caused by a shortfall and contributions by the date of project completion We know that the sale of tax credits for example can only occur after a certificate of occupancy is issued If the town wants our commitment met before that sale the shortfall will be temporary and not significant Green contributors may similarly want to see our energy usage experience after completion These are built into the process and will deal with the consequences It is possible that the shortfall will be actual rather than deferred Completion of the project will not end fundraising With inviting spaces for all segments of our community and the excitement at the completion of this communal centerpiece We expect the contributions will continue to flow in This is by the way, how the current building was constructed of the original $600,000 inheritance That created the jones over half was spent to build this amorce Landmark and within four years the community restored $200,000 The mblc grant other probable state grants and the town's share make our burden proportionately much smaller I've tried to model the impact that a real shortfall of two million dollars would have an our ability to fund library operations Including what I consider worst-case possibilities First while the endowment is now more than nine million dollars I assume that it will start and remain at eight million dollars through the construction period I have used that although our returns over the past five years have averaged about nine percent per year The historic average for a portfolio structured like ours is of the order of seven percent But vanguard has told us to expect the next 10-year average will be lower than this If nothing comes in after the project is completed and our earnings never exceed our current draw We would have to raise our withdrawal rate lower our expenses and hope for higher annual contributions But that is not all likely to happen More likely are scenarios in which the gap is filled over conservatively Over a five or at most a year period in either case draws in the range of four to four and a half percent Would maintain our ability to sustain operations at the current rate Even where investment returns don't exceed our withdrawals Alternatively assume no new contributions are received but market returns exceed our draw by no more than one or two percent Then we can still sustain about three hundred thousand dollars per year for operations So is there a risk? Yes, but the library finds it an acceptable one There is another factor that we have considered as you know We have consolidated all of our fundraising with the friends of the jones library So our outreach to potential project donors also includes our annual appeals for operating funds This has had very positive effects more dollars raised more contributors and higher dollar amounts from many regular contributors There is a synergistic impact our efforts are producing substantial pledges But also more funds unconnected to our endowment draws This reduces the centrality of endowment draws all together This is my conclusion in this area continued success in fundraising and seeking grants can do the whole job Eliminate anything more than a short term deficit The level of shortfall that seems possible can be handled and cured between continued fundraising annual appeals and historically normal investment returns As to operating expenses the redesign does not contemplate any major impacts Our staff our town employees and the town's policy is to treat the budget allocations to the library Like its allocations to the schools and town director reports as a fixed percentage of the prior year's allocation Since we may be more impacted by the rising minimum wage than others We supplement the town funding with our other income And or we adjust our staffing We expect that we will reduce our energy costs by about 8% Despite the larger building size because of our improved energy efficiency But this will only reduce our non-town funded budget by 2 to 3% New equipment will of course reduce our maintenance costs and more particularly the cost to remediate the effects of systems failures This area will be discussed again later in the presentation. Thank you Hello, my name is Sean Mangano, and I am the director of finance for the town of Amherst I have been working with the town's financial advisor to develop financing options for the library project The goal being to provide the town and the council With information on the financial impacts of the library project And how this project fits within the plan for addressing other categories And how this project fits within the plan for addressing other capital needs in town I will be sharing two financing options tonight and briefly discuss in a third For each option at the top of the screen, you will see the types of borrowings proposed The issuance date of the borrowing, the due date, and lastly the projected interest rate A go bond or general obligation bond is a long-term borrowing and is used to lock in an interest rate over an extended period of time A ban or bond anticipation note is a short-term borrowing usually for a year or less Underneath the information on the types of borrowings, you will see the projected debt schedule The column to focus on here is labeled total This column incorporates principal payments and long-term and short-term interest costs You can see the annual payment for each year of the borrowing and the entire project cost at the bottom The first financing option that you see here on the screen is for the expansion and renovation of the Jones library This option is being incorporated into the town's planning for the four major building projects It is based on a schedule of projected expenditures provided by colliers the owner project manager The option assumes a town will use grant monies first and only borrow when needed This option also assumes the town approves the mblc project in april And that the first grant payment is received in fiscal year 21 by the town The local share to be borrowed is 15.8 million The benefit of this option is the first debt payment is a couple years away Giving the town more time to ramp up its capital spending The town would borrow funds in fiscal year 23 and the first debt payment would not be until fiscal year 24 The town would need to utilize a couple short-term borrowings to fund the project while waiting for the final grant funds to be dispersed The total cost of this project with interest is projected to be 20.8 million over 20 years And to recap the town would not need to make a payment from its capital funds until fiscal year 24 If the project is approved in april The financial advisor and I are looking closely at another approach to financing the expansion and renovation project Where the town pays its share first and uses the grant monies last This approach has been used in at least one other community and was suggested by a town counselor The benefits of this option include locking interest rates in sooner limiting the risk of rates rising in the future And earning interest income on the grant funds that can be put back into the project reducing the cost of the town Under this approach the town would make its first debt payment an fy 22 Next financing option is for repair option one prepared by cune riddle This option spreads the repairs over the next five years and costs 16.8 million with cost escalation and swing space included This option requires multiple borrowings due to the extended schedule It is also subject to higher risk of rising interest rates for the borrowings farther in the future The total cost for this project with short-term and long-term interest included is 23.7 million This repair option would cost approximately three million dollars more than the expansion and renovation option on the previous slide Please note that all of the financing options are estimates and subject to change Thank you What we want to do in the next part of our presentation is to tell you a little bit about the project's history As I mentioned in the introduction The project began through a planning process And a review and assessment of the work that the library needs To serve the community now and into the future That process identified serious safety concerns Programming gaps and significant space challenges in the building Now I want to be clear It was only after that process that we began to think about renovating and adding to the jones And about applying for state funds This is not a case of grant funding leading the process It is a case of a careful planning process identifying needs That a state grant could help address Our library director Sharon Sherry will now offer a more detailed account Of the project's history development and timeline Sharon Hi everybody, my name is Sharon Sherry. I'm the director of the jones library I am going to take you back to the beginning back to 2011 when this particular project began I know it may seem as though this project happened quickly But we want to assure you that every option has been diligently researched Every point on these slides describes an event that occurred related to the project And let me highlight the most important milestones we reached during our mission to find the best way to solve our building's problems In the early stages spending money wasn't something we were eager to do We wanted to gain as much knowledge as we could without taking large draws from the endowment Thus in early 2012 we began with a space planning exercise Which was conducted by the massachusetts library system Next we invited the two mblc library building specialists to tour the jones During which we were told that the the jones library is the most dysfunctional library in the state They recommended we apply for the upcoming planning and design grant In order to have the funds necessary to go through all the proper planning processes In 2014 the trustees applied for and received a $50,000 planning and design grant from the mblc For which town meeting approved a $25,000 match We were then able to write the building program hire an owner's project manager and an architect Ever since the first set of schematics were created in 2016 They have gone through countless iterations During that process the architects conducted a massing model exercise Which showed the only way for all the program elements to fit in the existing jones footprint Would be to build an addition five stories high In the spring of 2017 town meeting approved our submission of a 35.6 million dollar grant application And in the summer of 2017 the mblc awarded the jones with a provisional construction grant in the amount of 13.9 million dollars In 2018 and 2019 the friends of the library and the trustees Approved a memorandum of understanding whereby the friends would manage the library's annual fund and capital campaign And the friends got right to work and they applied for a one million dollar community preservation act grant For the renovation of special collections And that brings us to 2020 when the trustees approved the most recent set of schematics As well as the sustainability committee's recommendations making the expanded library net zero ready Next up I want to introduce my colleague matt Hello everyone My name is mathie burby I'm the head of information services at jones and i'm going to speak with you today on behalf of our library staff We pride ourselves on delivering great services to the town and to everyone who visits us But because the current jones library building is a significant obstacle I'd like you to appreciate how much more we could deliver with a renovated and expanded building I'm going to briefly highlight three areas in which the current building impacts our staff and our services The first is safety and accessibility Our building is full of rooms and corners and out of the way spots In years past these were charming features Today they are safety concerns Many spaces are entirely unstaffed Others are extremely difficult to monitor Our staff need better sight lines throughout the building in order to maintain the safe Welcoming environment that our patrons expect and deserve In addition, many public and staff areas don't meet current accessibility standards and others are completely inaccessible The second area I'd like to highlight is programs and services To put it in the simplest terms, we've outgrown many of our spaces Our ESL and citizenship program is unable to provide adequate space for students, tutors and groups to meet Our special collections department is unable to grow and diversify its holdings of historical materials due to capacity limitations Our kids department is spread over three levels and divided into rooms that are rarely large enough to accommodate programs and visiting families And maybe most importantly, we have no dedicated space for teens Teens want to spend time at the library and we want them to come To give them their own space would be to welcome them in a way that we currently can't despite the best efforts of our staff The third area is flow and efficiency The Jones Library building doesn't really flow neither for patrons nor for staff Many spaces are segmented and inflexible Many traffic routes lead to bottlenecks or blind curves The placement of and flow around serve as a way to maintain the best of our staff And flow around service points makes it challenging to staff them We have staircases that provide access to part of a level, but not the other part We have an art gallery and a special collections That many patrons are surprised to find after coming regularly for many years Due to both its design and its evolution over the years, the building has become difficult to use In addition, our technology needs have changed radically over the last 25 years And our current power and network cabling doesn't allow for flexible use of our spaces In conclusion, our staff are proud of our work, but we know that in an improved space we can do better Hello My name is Tony Scho. I'm a principal and director design at Fine Gold Alexander and Associates divided to be here So I'm going to talk a bit more about actually what we're doing for the expansion and a renovation of the Jones Library and we'll just quickly Briefly touch upon sort of the schematic approach And then there'll be further discussion, of course about sustainability as well But let's let's proceed and I think we'll leave this image up for a second because What we want to explain in this design is that the approach really looks at trying to mask the design To scale well with existing library and what you see here in this particular rendering is showing a sort of breaking down the scale into two volumes that sort of not towards the existing building They have a roof shape that sort of bends and angles and keeping with the gable ends of the existing It also allows us to mask the building Into smaller pieces and this particular view is taken from the back as one approaches it from the CVS parking lot in the rear Which allows also direct access at the lower level, which we'll see in a moment Leads into programmatic spaces that occur within but we really feel that we're trying to blend the the new addition Not only be compatible with the scale But also materials that you're seeing here that also work with the existing building in terms of the masonry The stone the window treatment The coloration and the rest of the designers that approaches the project as a whole So I'm going to go through You know the site plan and some of the floor plans will talk about how this building is is really a complement of the existing And addressing accessibility issues as well So starting with the site plan and what we see here is that this overall project is viewed in the site plan google earth view And the way it's oriented is an amity street is at the bottom of the page And north pleasant street to the right and it's outlined in this particular drawing Is that the dash line sort of shows the demarcation between the existing library portion, which we will renovate And then the new addition which is beyond so the existing renovation comprised about 28 000 square feet And then the addition is an additional about 35 000 square feet And as you look at this site plan a couple of key things I just wanted to point out The entrance will continue to come off of amity street But we're going to introduce slopes gently slope walkways They curve up to create an accessible entrance from the front and the existing driving on the side Will continue to operate as such but will also allow it to be servicing for the library It'll be small a handicap loading and also service as well a connection to the existing addition In the back as it connects to the garden it will point out that the garden is shown in the back That connects to and is adjacent to the cvs parking lot And it will be really enhanced and and built up with the already lovely characteristics of the garden as as is and so I really attempted to try to Blend the library design, but also to try to enhance the landscaping As we can around the front as well as in the back And I'm not expecting this to be an eye chart But this is the ground floor plan or what we call the garden level And this is the plan that particularly shows what happens at the area that occurs From the entrance at the rear of the cvs lot It's at the top of the page and when you come into that entrance at the back What you see immediately to the left of that is the entrance to the meeting room in the dark blue This allows direct access to the meeting space for both after hours use as well as normal hours use And around that meeting room will be public toilets and other areas that will be in support of that space So it can really function For the library and communities use The areas to the right of that library in this plan in the sort of yellow area that is sort of the The special collections. This is where the operations both as well as the staffing and the collections itself will be housed And that is really occupying a pretty substantial part of this lower level At the top of the page and the expanded new wing in the sort of darker red That is the esl or english as second language department It will have a series of small meeting spaces and larger meeting spaces That can do do use not only for that program but for other library functions And then to the right of that in the lighter pink is sort of the tech services That really support the library functions The other areas in the library that will point out is that in the center of this Blue zone that is really the primary circulation. He will connect to a major stair It leads up to the main library above as well as a new elevator And then shown at the very bottom are really support spaces including additional mechanical storage Friends room and then additional gallery spaces, which is the area in the yellow immediately Below the blue meeting room in this plan. So this really has a lot of key components And will function as a both an accessible entrance at the lower level as well as connecting to the library above So as we come to the main level at the bottom of this drawing That is the entrance off of the main street and therefore this arrow that you can see here Shows the entrance in and the significant part of this particular plan Is that we want to emphasize that you are coming through the historic entrance It again is going to be handicap accessible at grade And you come into there and you will come through the vestibule and you will see All the defining characteristics that make this library so special Including the staircases the panelization and details within But as you move through the library, we begin to see how the new edition really expands on the existing So all the area in sort of the reddish color directly ahead is basically the new component Which will be the housing the cafe The Periodicals the new reading materials AV audio visual everything that is really the high activity zones on the ground floor of this main level So this is where all that activity will open up and will begin to sort of be visible from everywhere Now to the left of that in the yellow will be the young Young children's library and that whole area will not only consist of the existing part of the historic library That expands In a significant way into the collections to the to the upper part and to the left So this will comprise the young adult the excuse me the children's library, which is all in yellow um in the purple behind that is the First part of the lower levels of the adult collections and that's shown in the expanded area That is viewing out towards the garden at the back To the right of the staircase in the sort of orange color. This is the young adult Which is immediately visible, but also has its own area It's adjacent to circulation and then to the to the far right at the front This is really the other key parts of the library, which is this circulation areas that also consist of the The drop-offs and will be processing and bringing in collections as well when people come in for instance after hours And so this will probably be the hub of the library where a lot of the activities come together At this particular level as they move up into the main library itself On the second floor. This is primarily the adult collection everything you show in purple Really is the is the adult fiction and nonfiction And this really consists of a very open plan The stacks will be very visible the collections will be highly accessible And so this really allows a major utilization of this level In addition to that at the front of the library in this purple air That is the part of the existing library, which will continue to function Basically as it is, but it will be meeting rooms and excuse me lounge areas Seating areas and it will really function for the adults to also gather in the historic library part And we will restore retain things like the fireplaces and really use the defining characteristics of the historic library As part of this level The areas in sort of the blue color flanking it these consist of smaller quite study areas Small medium-sized meeting rooms and then they're also to the right of that will consist of the head of the collections Sort of office administrative areas and then to the upper part of that in the darker blue purple This will be additional areas, which will be mostly office areas related to The exact director business managers Administrative areas and there will also be a pair of public toilets that will be accessible as well Again, what is shown here in the middle in the blue green color? That's the primary public circulations there and elevator which will connect to this level And as a statement the entire library is universally accessible throughout And then finally at the third floor the top level This is where in the exist existing historic library portion Will continue to function as the as the board room an additional meeting room in the blue Areas of left and then the sort of reddish color will represent staff support areas And this is we accessible by the two stairs that connect up as well as the existing elevator in the sort of green purple So this does represent the library in its levels and how we organize the parts And then as part of this we we have prepared a series of Sort of images so on the left hand side. This is the before view this shows sort of the real density The fact that this library is functioning in a very tight quarters And it's often really jam-packed and then to the right is this the proposed View and the rendering that shows how the new adult collection will will appear and what you're seeing here is that We are going to be looking to do a very sustainable approach. This is timber Construction that is being posited here with a lot of natural wood a tremendous amount of natural daylight and views Flooding this area and then you can also see a part of the existing library to the right hand side of the rendering Visible within the adult collection. So this will transform this space And we'll also open up the library for the patrons and community as well Another area is the young adults Right now, of course, it is a very small almost this area that's that's practically left over In your existing area as visible in the photograph in the left And we will now be able to create a true and proper young adult room In part of your existing library as shown in the sketch on the right and that is in that Sort of double height space with the barrel vaults and this will be a really wonderful place for the young adult They will have their own their own area. It is connected directly to the other parts of the library But they will suddenly and finally have a home of their own So this is one of the byproducts of the redesign and replanting of the library And then some of the background about who we are our firm has a long history of working in adaptive use historic preservation We're really have a have a very Strong reputation in this kind of work. This is an example of the kind of things we do this episode be The executive office at the state house for the governor's suite. So we restored these particular areas for the governor's office Uh, and this is the kind of high level of careful detailing and planning and execution When we look at historic spaces and how to restore and bring them back to life And other examples of this is at the harvard faker library at the business school And here we were charged not only with a major renovation and restoration of spaces such as the great waiting rooms That you can see in some of these photos But we also did an addition that seamlessly blended the new to the existing on this particular library For harvard. So these are the kind of areas that we also get involved with Editions as well as renovation And then more recently a project not far from The jones library is the holiope library and in this instance, we were charged Not only with restoring a major part of the existing library But we actually did remove a piece of the library Here in the in the stack wing and then we opened it up to be a major new addition that that Created all the programmatic spaces that holiope needed that blended seamlessly between old and the new And one of the things that we always try to pay particular attention to in our library designs is how do we integrate Uh additions and uh existing fabric so that they really call together as one So these are the kind of things that we are all looking for in the design And of course the most important thing that we're you've already experienced is the importance of sustainability as we approach all of our projects So I think that concludes the The overview of the kind of design approach for this library So before we touch upon sustainability, uh, the other very important thing that we do want to stress is that Of course while we're dealing with our current situation with covet And the design of this library is with every intention also Really planning for that to be Accounting for things like that the the flexibility of inherent in this design Allows for the planning of the library to really function whether it's in full open mode Or in sort of partial open mode or dealing with what we're dealing with now So we're very cognizant of how we design the library and the systems we introduce including mechanical and other things Really do take this into account. Um, so that's an important part of any consideration of the library as we're moving forward Now I would like to turn the next part to alex who's going to talk about us the sustainability approach to the library Hi, my name is alex Lefebvre and I'm a trustee of the jones library The jones library created a sustainability committee made up of individuals who are passionate about climate action and professionals in the field of sustainability and sustainable design Through the hard work and dedication of this committee an updated schematic design for the renovation and expansion Was approved by the board of trustees the committee set four goals to be incorporated by the architects into the updated design First sustainable buildings must be highly efficient in how they operate Building efficiency can be measured and put into a number that can be compared to other buildings This measurement reflects the energy used per square foot for an e UI The current building does not operate efficiently with an e UI of 72 But is typical of libraries nationally The updated design will cut the buildings e UI by more than half to 29 This means that even though the overall square footage of the building will increase The building will be so efficient that the actual operational carbon and financial costs to run the building will decrease significantly Secondly a net zero energy ready building refers to a building that is efficient enough that all of its annual energy needs can be provided by renewable energy The newly constructed addition will be the workhorse Increasing the operational efficiency to the point where the entire building can be powered solely by renewable energy making it net zero ready While some solar panels will be added to the addition the historic nature of the original building and a limited on-site space for renewable energy Proclude a net zero building on day one The building however could easily move from net zero ready to net zero with the purchase of off-site renewables Third creating an efficient building is only part of the formula when looking to lower our carbon footprint The construction process has a large impact on the environment generating about 11 percent of all global emissions Every time we make or build something we're using fossil fuel energy to create that product and emit carbon There are product choices and construction techniques that can be used that emit less carbon than others Low embodied carbon refers to the environmental impact of materials that are used in construction The committee wanted to be sure to find a balance between creating more efficiency in the building with using low carbon materials By changing the major structural system from steel to cross laminated timber the carbon impact of construction was reduced by 70 The committee also recognized the challenges of making an existing historic building sustainable It was important to make sure that improving the building and creating the addition made sense from both an energy efficiency As well as a sustainability point of view To determine if the renovation and expansion are in fact the more sustainable option The architects were directed to conduct a full building lifecycle analysis for the proposed design This means that they analyzed the carbon impact of all stages of construction and operation And compared it to the carbon emissions of the existing building The resulting analysis concluded that leaving the building as is created significantly more carbon emissions than the combined impact of the demolition New construction and operation of the renovated and expanded building A renovated and expanded library will move the town one step closer to its goal of carbon neutrality and community resiliency By converting an inefficient fossil fuel powered building to a class leading sustainable net zero ready building with a space Programming and resources to help our most vulnerable neighbors The library project would also be one of the first major projects for the town that addresses embodied carbon These added sustainability features will also provide additional access to funding grants and rebates that are specific to sustainable design We hope that this building design and the work of the sustainability committee can serve as a model that we can build efficient buildings Where the net carbon footprint is actually better and still create a building that serves the needs of the whole community. Thank you Next i'm going to talk a bit about how the trustees will be able to afford to operate the expanded library specifically in terms of utilities and personnel costs The updated sustainable design will eliminate the use of fossil fuels and is projected to reduce the building's total energy use by 48 percent This means that even though the overall square footage of the building will increase The building will be so efficient that the actual operational cost to run the building will decrease by an estimated 8 No repair option can meet that The recent history costs for both gas and electricity have evidenced rising prices But we hope that as the costs of renewable energy continue to fall that this will be reflected in lower consumer electricity prices At some point we may be able to participate in town supplied solar power at a lower cost On average roughly 78 percent of the library's operating budget is allocated for personnel costs Although library employees are town employees The town does not appropriate an amount equal to 100 percent of the library's personnel costs Every year we must repurpose funds from other sources to make up the difference We will continue to cover this gap regardless of what option the town chooses to address the deficiencies of the building We anticipate that the expansion and renovation project may require one additional staff position of a custodian Despite the larger square footage We do not anticipate needing other additional staff because the improved open and efficient design Which will allow for clear sight lines Combined with the installation of an automated materials handling system Which will allow staff to remain focused on forward facing customer service tasks These gained efficiencies will allow staffing to remain level As we will be able to use our existing staff much more effectively than is possible in the current building Next up is alon Thanks, Sharon Hi, my name is a long tyranny. I am president of cuneville architects right here in downtown amherst In early 2020 jones library engaged kra to assist in determining what accessibility repairs would be triggered By the proposed building repairs outlined in the 2017 western builders building improvement cost estimate The western builders estimate included repairs or replacement of the following items The large central skylight replacement of the south elevator Interior improvements such as finish upgrades replacing carpeting painting, etc Mechanical electrical and plumbing improvements replacing systems that are At or near the end of their life Structural improvements such as those caused by the replacement of the skylight and the elevators Exterior improvements such as masonry window and trim repair and replacement Karei was not part of the initial repair assessment We were only hired to review what additional work would be required to make the jones library meet the minimum requirements The accessibility requirements that we reviewed are based on the minimum requirements outlined in the massachusetts state building code And it only and it is only repairs to existing features such as replacing door hardware Ensuring that there is proper egress and access paths to that are of an appropriate width Properly sized elevators accessible toilet rooms proper signage, etc This study does not look at changing the space programmatically It does not look at improving the space It only looks at what needs to be changed if the spaces were to stay primarily as it is today And meet minimum accessibility requirements It does not look at replacing furniture such as stacks Um, but it does look at providing accessible work in computer stations or study areas And the study did not look at sustainability upgrades Should a repair option be selected the library would need to relocate for the work To be done and similar to the new construction options Debris removal is incorporated into the costs We looked at two repair options And as part of this study the jones library board of trustees Requested that we review if the proposed work could be performed in phases And at what point the value of the work would require full compliance with the accessibility code And reviewing these potential phases. It was also asked of us to consider the following What is the most logical flow of work based on discrete construction projects? What work has a higher priority based on the age of the systems or deterioration of building systems? What is the most cost-effective way to approach phases? And what if any work could be completed while the library remains occupied? This first scenario represents the lowest cost first Approach and it looks at three potential phases The first phase being replacement of the skylight and south elevator A 30-week project which would require the library to be closed and relocated for that time period Construction would cost 1.47 million dollars And total project costs with designer fees and relocation costs would be 2.3 million Phase two occurring three years later would be exterior improvements A 26-week project which would allow the library to remain open during construction Construction costs with three years of escalation would be a little over 2 million dollars And total project costs with designer fees would be 2.26 million dollars Phase three two years later would be Interior mechanical electrical and plumbing and structural and accessibility improvements This is the point when the accessibility improvements are triggered It's a 52-week project which would require the library to be closed and relocated for that time period Construction with five years of escalation would cost 10.18 million dollars And total project costs with designer fees and relocation costs would be almost 12.3 million dollars In this repair option one, total costs after all three phases is about 16.8 million dollars Repair option two looks at the MEP improvements first as this is the highest priority work due to the age and condition of those systems It is not possible to do this work without touching aspects of the structural improvements or interior improvements And once that work is included it triggers the accessibility improvements The accessibility improvements would require the south elevator to be replaced And since the skylight is also in poor condition, we would recommend that the first phase include replacement of the skylight So option two first phase is all of the interior work A 52-week project which would require the library to be closed and relocated Construction would cost 10.3 million and total project costs with designer fees and relocation costs would be just over 12 million Two years later exterior improvements could be completed a 26-week project which would allow the library to remain open during construction Construction cost with three years of escalation would be a little over 2 million And total project costs with designer fees would be 2.26 million If these projects were completed in this time frame the total cost would be 14.37 million dollars And now I think I turn it back to for the conclusion Amherst is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience in our community This commitment led to the creation of an energy and climate action committee A net zero bylaw and an effort to achieve carbon neutrality no later than 2050 Our community recognizes that the climate crisis affects all of us But falls the hardest on our most vulnerable community members The proposal to renovate and add to the jones library building will be one of our first major opportunities to make climate action our priority The jones library is a beloved institution But its current building is stretched to the limits by the 225 000 visitors we receive each year The creation of an addition to the library will remove the limitations that exist in the current building And provide vital extra space needed to remove barriers for members of our community Who are unable to fully access the library services and programs With a larger building the library can provide more computers to the 3000 amherst residents who do not have access to internet at home It will help visiting scholars immigrants refugees fleeing war And the families of 32 of our elementary age students who speak english as a second language Build strong connections in our community while they learn and practice english Study for citizenship exams and meet their neighbors A larger more efficiently designed building will ensure that families with young children Have a dedicated space that is large enough to accommodate everyone who wants to attend library programs Meet other families and find a little respite and connection Increasing the square footage of our current building allows the library to create a dedicated safe space for teenagers Whose suicide rates have increased by 64 in massachusetts A space where they will know they are represented accepted Supported and nurtured to dream grow and thrive A library reflects the values of its community A 21st century library that is large enough to equitably serve everyone in our community and is housed in a sustainable Net zero ready building supports and reflects a vision of amherst which places social racial and climate justice at the center of our community So i want to thank you for listening attentively to this presentation I hope that you can see why we are as excited as we are About the possibilities For our renovation and in addition at the jones library And we're all eager for the conversation and eager to answer your questions Thanks again Thank you for your presentation and for all of the effort that went into Putting that presentation together. I want to remind people Both in the audience on amherst media and on the zoom meeting as well as the people who were in the meeting That this presentation now remains available for anyone to look at and review along with the slide presentation Etc that is part of the report Uh, I just want to recognize that representative dom has joined us in the audience and her ongoing interest in this project and Other things important to amherst I also want to mention that we are not going to get into a debate tonight regarding Whether we're going to approve the recommendation of the cpa funds Or whether it's going to be attributed to fundraising or to the town's debt size Okay, and finally We will be adding questions that also have come to us Via its email so that people who have In the audience or people who have sent us in emails Those questions will be added to the other questions That the counselors have tonight that we might not be able to get to So with that I would like to see a show of hands of People who'd like to ask a question All right pat de angeles Thank you If the project would move ahead Would there be ways to shift Investment towards reductions more reductions in embodied carbon carbon and operational carbon While reducing construction costs and not compromising the design con concept For example, uh, the there's a more judicious use of glazing might Really be helpful. You could focus the roof glazing at key areas such as the stairs and seating Rather than over the entire stack area. You could also take the sawtooth thing And reduce some of that to more curve smaller curve skylights Which would be helpful A lot of the roof light that are would be over the stacks Is it's it's expensive. It's prone to failure and it adds to heat at loss and cooling expenses So can there be those kinds of shift in the design? Okay, um, I'm going to just pause for a moment and Ask whether there's anybody who would like to address that or do we want to just put that question aside? I think tony from fAA might want to give you give a preliminary response tony sure great question Absolutely, I think when we go into the next phase of these kind of detail investigations will get Much more in depth. We have just basically completed a schematic level of design And so there's a lot of that kind of follow-up that we need to follow through In answer to that question patricia We we do know that the analysis of lighting is very critical But the amount of glazing also plays a huge part in terms of energy demands. So these other things we Will be exploring one of the things we did try to consider in the sawtooth approach was to look at the idea There was a combination of bringing A natural daylight in but also allowing for pvs to occur on the sawtooth part But these are all design details and will continue to evolve. So thank you for your question Thank you pat steve schreiber again, we're going to stay to the one or two question rule tonight steve Yeah, so thank you so much So my question so a lot of people have commented that it's jarring to the prospect of a 1993 edition being demolished and then replaced Is jarring to a lot of people in amorous? In particular because there are a lot of people around that were very involved in the 1993 addition, so I think I personally understood who I've been following this quite a bit. So I understand What the problems are or how we got here and you know, certainly understand that that is the only logical solution to Reach or at least that's what I believe the only logical solution to reach the goals of the The jones on this particular site, but my question is two questions here. What are we going to do to make sure that Whatever project we're doing now won't meet the same fate in just 30 years from now. So actually that's my question Thank you steve again. I'm going to ask tony to Give us a little bit of sense from the architect's point of view of how we're going to avoid that problem tony Let me unmute I think what's really important in the consideration of any project we do is one How do we really carefully? Execute the thinking of the design to fulfill the vision that is looking forward to not just the next few years But the next several decades because this is a once Shot that you know, you have in a way to get it right But I think part of that too is how a close attention we pay to how we detail the building Are we sure that we don't encounter the problems that you currently have? And a lot of that really relies on very careful execution and understanding not only Of your existing building of how to improve it and all the things that we're going to do to renovate But in the design of the new addition to be as efficient as also In terms of sustainable but in using materials that will last in details that will not be You know, um, extraordinarily subject to challenges So I think this is the kind of thing as architects we pay very close attention to And we've had a long history on doing projects Uh self-similar nature and complexity as here and we do know that that the requirement of you know buildings Have requires a lot of very careful expertise and a lot of highs on the project Thank you, george ryan Yeah, I have two very quick questions One has for dug actually i'm just curious about the tax credits I guess i'm assuming there's a market out there and that it's not hard to find people to buy them Um, that's just a question about who would actually purchase the tax credit um, the second is for alon The when I look at uh repair option number one I wonder why anyone would choose it So I just get a sense if wanted to choose between the two you think you would do the cheaper one um, what what is the uh, uh, why would one do repair option one? So let's go to um Matt, I believe for tax credits Actually, this is doug keller. I'll take a stab at that. Thank you So there's no shortage of um people looking to purchase these tax credits Largely because there's no shortage of people who have tax liability Have to pay taxes um, so we've never had an instance where we've had Particularly state tax credits where there's no appetite for an investor. So Um, I don't see that being an issue at all Okay, then Eileen The second question. Why would you choose option one? You're muted. Sorry um, it would the the first option is looking at three phases and the three phases are focused on lowest cost first um to Minimize the initial investments and avoid triggering the accessibility requirements Which are the most expensive So it's not a recommended option. It's just looking at lowest cost first Thank you um, andy steinberg well First of all, I want to thank the uh everybody for the presentation And answering the questions that have already been provided. I have one additional question that may be about mblc Grant process and it may be a general contracting um question but What happens in a library? so building plan if the ultimate Contract is sent out to bid and nobody bids for the amount that's consistent with the Financing plan that mblc and the council have approved Austin you want to Direct that question. Yeah, I think you'd either go to tony or Ken or george from the opm point of view So I don't know whether tony or ken of george wants to Take it on tony. Do you want to want to give it a shot? actually, I think this is a Case of the Reconciling cost estimate when we go through this as the project evolves we will have to do constant reviews On estimating and I think if there are discrepancies Then we have to find a way to reconcile the process of budgeting a project and estimating Is always ongoing and we that's why we have the various phases in design But I think I'm going to refer to some others in terms of both the construction side and maybe the financing side from the group And of george, yeah, I'll add to that tony's absolutely right typically At each we're going to have several phases of the design left to go before we actually get to bid day Well, we're actually putting this out on the street and at those times There's going to be two estimators or each of those phases that are going to estimate this project One from the owner's side and one from the design team side and then we're going to reconcile those costs These estimators have a much much deeper knowledge of the marketplace And they're going to estimate this project accordingly and at those various points in time We're going to make sure that there's value management in place to get us on budget before we move into the next phase And so on and so forth up until bid day that has historically been proven as a as a very accurate way of doing this kind of Of effort and ensures that we get a bid that's that's that's on budget or under budget come bedtime And can just to be clear Can you just remind us what the contingencies are that are built into the budget? How much of a escalation or contingency do we have built into the budget? Yeah, so typically what we have is we have two two forms of contingency carried within our total project budget One is what's called the owner's project contingency, which are for typically for soft costs that may be extended Professional services that need to be adjusted any additional furniture fixtures and equipment typically owner costs soft costs Hard costs are typically covered under what we call the construction contingency That would be used for any sort of bid fluctuations Or also for any sort of changes that might happen in the field during construction one of the things that we do as part of our Of our ensuring that we get a good bid value is we want to make sure we have cost certainty at the time of bid So we'll look to other avenues of potentially having alternates as part of the project as well That we can accept certain alternates as they're coming on online as we to ensure that we get the project on budget Can you just tell me what percentage you generally assign to each of those contingent series? Yeah, typically it's it's five five percent each Okay Right Dorothy Pam Hi, well, this has been very interesting and I want to go back to Doug Kelleher on the historic tax credits Just for one more question and then a question for Sean So I heard your answer to george Um, I guess I want a firmer answer Have you had experience with um Projects such as the library where nobody wanted to buy their historic tax credits Because if you can convince me that this is really something that's going to go I will feel a lot more secure about one aspect of the financing Doug so I would say, um No, we've never had an experience where there's been no one that was interested in purchasing the credits okay, um You know typically these credits are purchased by Individuals or corporations who owe a lot of tax and we have a lot of tax liability insurance companies banks, you know large corporations Um, and like I said, we've never had an instance where there's been No interest in purchasing the credits Okay, well, thank you And my second question is to Sean mangano and it's about option number two where The town puts the money out first and then Um pays itself back when the grants come in and actually earn some money with interest if it comes in before you need it That sounds like a great idea. Um, why is it just one of three options? This is for Sean so The reason why we're not moving forward that option is a definite Using certain assumptions that option is less expensive than the option that was shown In the in the presentation the downside of that option is we have to start making debt payments a couple years sooner Then we would under the other option So it so the trade-off of that option of using the grant money Last and using the town money first is that the town have to start making payments sooner So some of that's looking at the library project and how it fits in with the other four building projects And the town deciding as a whole, you know, are we ready to start making debt payments for the library project? as early as fy 22 Which is a bit that's you know, it's a big question And how flexible can you make up your mind as you see how things are going or do you have to lock something in? earlier So we would we would have to decide that relatively soon Once the product if the project is approved we have to decide that because we would have to determine if we were going to go out for a bond In late f y 21 or early f y 22 to lock in an interest rate Because again the major benefit of that route is locking an interest rate fairly soon To you know prevent any increases in the future interest rates are really good right now You know some between 1 and 2 percent for large-scale projects. So That is a major benefit and something we're really looking at seriously Okay, thank you so much Thank you. Kathy I too. Thank you for the both the presentation and the detail I'm going to try to just build on a couple questions that were already asked starting with historic tax credits you you noted that When you're applying to either be be certified for them You may have to apply multiple times to get the credit in the first place How many groups apply and never get a credit? So you don't get that credit that you can sell to someone else is my question on the credit So what share just never get it along with that is if if we were to go a renovation and repair route and would the repairs to the old part of the building Also qualify for historic tax credits You know depending on how they're done a lot. So that's to stay with historic tax credits and then my unrelated question is to Bob Pam on endowment You talked a little bit about the risk to the endowment and I think you said you could Tolerate up to a two million dollar Draw on it if all failed. So what I'm seeing is um, I'm what I'm worried about is multiple risks to the operating budget and to our capital costs So risks could be include that project comes in at a higher cost than we estimate Fundraising doesn't raise as much We don't get the historic tax credits or we get them five years six years from now So the endowment is put at risk and I'm worried if the endowment is put at risk that the operating budget is put at risk And I've been watching what's happening each time you come in for an operating budget We've been cutting back on staff converting full-time to part-time So it's already really tight and we need that endowment Endowment draw every year. So the risk I see of The endowment is that it might have to absorb shortfalls and then we Build a new library and we can't open it Those are my two one is on tax credits and the others on them do Do you want to start with the tax credits, please? Sure. So it sounded like that was a bit of a two-part question So the first part being how many don't receive the credits and really the the credits are Awarded to projects that qualify for the program. So it really comes down to the proposed scope of work And basically that how is the historic building being treated as part of the project? Um, in this case, how is the new addition designed? Is it how does it you know complement? How is it compatible with the historic building? I would say at least the projects of which Our office is familiar with and we do an awful lot of this Work here in massachusetts very few of our projects Have not received any credits And those projects have been ones where There are pretty dramatic reasons as to why they did not for example buildings were moved buildings were disassembled and reconstructed But for the most part, um, you know most projects if the project design meets the secretary of interior standards They're going to receive some form of of tax credit allocation How much, you know, they receive as far as in comparison to how much they're eligible will vary But again, they also take into certain Certain factors Are taken into consideration as part of the decision as to which projects get the tax credits Projects that have a lot of local support for them Rank very high. Um in the review process of those tend to receive more Credits, um, I believe your the second part of that question was would the renovation option? um Possibly qualify for those for the historic tax credits as well It could it could very well because again the comes down to the work that's being done and how the historic building is Is you know being treated If the renovation option was such that it's also in compliance with secretary of standards It too could qualify for the tax credits Thank you. Uh, I believe the other one we would like to direct bob him Lynn before bob answers the question. I just want to be clear linguistically We have two options one option is repair without renovation The other option is a renovation and addition So what coon riddle have presented to us does not renovate the building It just deals with mechanical electrical and plumbing and with accessibility So in that sense, I think it's better to call that a repair option than a renovation option Thank you Bob Jane hello Can you hear me? Yes So The question you're asking has to do with what is the level of risk? And you know what I've tried to do is Model it by taking as many things going wrong as I could think of that were likely to go wrong you know As of december the the value of the endowment was nine million It's now about nine point three million I don't know where the market will go. So I can't say that it'll be higher or lower But what I used was eight million as as the base from which I then did all calculations I then looked at the way in which A reduction in the the endowment of two million dollars would then affect that Our ability to take draws I Looked at it in a couple of different ways one having to do with How light how long would it likely take us to raise the additional money to restore it To eight million dollars the second What would it mean if the amount of the market without any Additional contributions occurring Uh, what would happen if the market either was absolutely flat or went up by just one percent over our draw or two percent over our draw Each of those was I thought a pretty conservative way of thinking about it When you do that and you work it out 10 years into the future There were a couple of years in which it was of the order of two hundred ninety thousand rather than three hundred thousand But for the most part it grew over that reasonably quickly and there were no No periods of time when there would be Such a reduction in operating funds being provided to the library that we would not be able to function So that was the way in which I thought about it that was the way in which I calculated it's the way I modeled it Um, I can't tell you that there are no circumstances under which you would fail Um, because I don't control the market. I don't control, you know, how fast people will will contribute money And I don't I can control to some degree how much we withdraw from the fund and we have At the beginning of the 2010s We were drawing it out a year since then there's one year which we took five percent and the rest of them have been Four or four and a half percent. And so, you know, we have been pretty consistent over these years in Trying to follow what our policy is which is to to keep it down to a sustainable rate Would the town be at risk? The town's risk is that the mblc's requirement is that the library continued to function Okay, if you are imagining that we will not have any money to run then, you know, there is some level of risk Um, but it is not a huge risk and you know, I don't see that as being the likely Issue that that you should think about Okay Thank you Darcy de mont, please unmute There you go. Um Okay, uh, I have a couple of questions. Um One is and I just have to express a little bit of frustration because I feel like Um, I would like to be asking questions about a Um, you know, a repair option of a retrofitted energy efficiency retrofitted repair and that Isn't a possibility Um, because we don't have that The data on that so I'm just saying that that that is a frustration for me. Um But I have a couple of questions One is I think for the architect about the eui and the net zero readiness and um, the other one is for The trustees about the operating budgets so, um I My question about the eui is is the eui of 29 And the net zero readiness Um Projected to be for the whole building Including the the new and old portions of the Final building or just for the new addition and if it's only or the addition Then is there a calculated Averaged eui and projected energy usage for the whole combined project um And the second question is Um, I know there's been some discussion recently at the jcpc that um The library is at least making some suggestion that Um, the branch libraries should maybe pick up the operating expenses for staffing and I'm Wondering if the library could commit to Not reducing their commitment to the branch branches operating budgets in order to complete this project So on the eui Austin do you want alex to do that or is that an architect? alex seems Alex is nodding. I don't know whether she's nodding that she doesn't want to do it. She's nodding. No Tony, I think she's nodding. No, so if you could answer that question alex would feel a hundred percent better Okay, um, this one i'm actually going to have to a little bit Have yet because I think when we did the eui analysis and we're confirming all of this This was done with the entire building in consideration It's the calculations as we put forth all of the Detailed investigation. So it is not just a new addition It includes the existing and of course, you know the existing building By comparison to the new as a different set of assumptions because of the fact that you're operating under different construction At the docks, but it was predicated on the entire building Not just in part So does that assume that the um, the Is that imply that the repair option would also be able to have a significant significant thermal improvements then If that's incorporated into the whole building plan Any question regarding are you talking about the repair or the renovation of the existing building? That goes with the renovation and expansion. Are you talking about the repair option? I'm I'm I'm saying that if the eui Is 29 Including the existing building portion of it Then that means there's significant renovation and upgrading and of energy efficiency For the existing building in order to do that. Is that correct? Tony I've not in the position to answer on the existing building just by itself that that analysis again was not broken out that way It was done with the understanding of analyzing the project as a whole I don't see. I think the answer to your question is What we were asked to do is what we did which is we got a town council asked us to get the cost for repair And dealing with the state or state and federal requirements On accessibility that is what we've done Sorry Lynn if the town council would want us To go back and get an estimate of what it would cost To make the existing building Just the existing building More energy efficient. We could do that What is certain is that it would substantially raise the cost that is now associated with the repair option Yeah, I guess what I'm asking is whether you could provide The details of your calculation Of how you came up with the eui of 29 including the existing building I believe that I mean Darcy I don't want to put words in Darcy's mouth But what she is asking is will there be things done in the renovation of the existing part of the building That will lead contribute to the reduced eui I believe the answer to that question is yes I assumed it was but that Okay, and then Darcy you had a second one Which was directed to the trustees on the operating of the budget the operating budget and the both rumor or whatever out there that the Needed staff position would come from the branch libraries So i'm going to ask the library director to respond to this Sharon Yeah, hi everybody. So no, um, what so this uh, this question about staffing and utilities Uh, it doesn't have to do with the months in branch It has to do with the north amherst branch and specifically the concerns are having to do with the expanded size event. So What what I have said to paul and what is going on in jcpc is We absolutely will continue to maintain staffing levels at the north amherst library for the library portion But we're we're not able to pay the added utilities costs. We cannot oversee The the rental of that meeting room space that's going to be up to the town. So so yes With an expanded jones library. That's not going to affect the staffing at the north amherst library. Does that make sense? Darcy does that get to your question? Is that is that a change in policy? I Don't know what change in policy you're referring to no what we're saying is the staffing at the north amherst library isn't going to change It we're not going to add staff I can't afford to add staff at the north amherst library once it gets bigger due to an additional meeting room Is that more clear? So you can't commit to You can't commit to um Completely staffing The expanded north amherst library We are not going to take on the meeting room as a library expense Correct. That is that's a it's a town building and that's a town function The town will be renting out that that meeting room and so it's up to the town to take care of those costs Okay, thank you um Mandy gel Thank you. Um I think I don't have too many questions I do want to comment on the historic tax credits that it sounds very similar to the low income housing tax credits both at the federal and state level that I just learned about in a Training I went to in terms of when you can apply how often you apply and all of that and those are important financing sources for nonprofits to finance low income housing in In buildings throughout so that actually eased a lot of my concern about historic tax credits to hear There's very similar programs for affordable housing that seem to operate similarly. Um A question on the eight percent savings and a look on the electricity generated. Um, did that include Subtracting the electricity that will be generated by the solar panels from the total electricity use in the building I think I'm trying to I think I've worded that right in other words that eight percent savings Does that include the savings you'll get from sort of Producing your own energy too or would that even lower the operational costs even more? and and then I think I just wanted to clear up I think something that Darcy was trying to get at the repair only options those don't include In general any energy efficient improvements that would result in any significant reduction of eui For the building as it exists today. Is that correct? That is correct I want to add. However, it doesn't mean you wouldn't buy a more efficient furnace It just means it wasn't factored in to Give you an eui change But I want to go back to main to joe's first question and It's regarding what was How was the solar? calculated into the Let me see if I can you had an Estimated use of kilowatt hours Did you subtract from that estimated use because then you multiplied that by a price per kilowatt hour? Did you subtract from that estimated kilowatt hours the Estimated amount that the solar panels will produce on the building Because you won't that's a sunk cost at that point. You're not Paying for them additionally, so I'm trying to figure out whether that eight percent includes Or whether it's actually going to be an even higher reduction because you have to subtract out the kilowatt hours produced by solar Austin you're muted Alex is nodding affirmatively that she would like to answer the question Way to go Alex No, Alex was going to look to ken because I think ken didn't your group generate that number And I I know that the the text says that it includes all the ecms, but I don't know If you guys projected solar costs as part of the ecm so I ken might be better Yeah, I believe that's exactly what it was. Yeah, it calculated those in as part of them as part of the savings Including the solar or not including the solar including the solar I believe And when the finance committee looks at the details we can ask some more questions about that shallony Yeah, I have a couple of questions. But before that a one to acknowledge what a thoughtful process This has been and just want to thank everyone in this room For all the work you've done and and all the people were not in the room and I've been doing this work since 2011 so I learned a lot in this process and I just want to encourage all the residents listening and and beyond that The report that you provided, you know, really provided a lot of information and helped me understand and I want to think the community that's been sending us so many good questions and so I mean, I just want to share one thing that was that really stood out for me and then I'll get to the question is that You know, we think about why is this costing so much and why can't we just Rearrange the space for example and I learned that you actually hired a mass library system to do the space planning And so it's you know, there's a reason why it's being done another question we had was Hadley did this in 8.2 million dollars and We have a great library. Why can't we do something and what I learned was that libraries The Hadley library serves 19,000 people in a year And does anyone know how many if you read the report, you'd know We serve 227,000 people So we are a regional regional library and yeah, I think Um everything that I'm hearing from climate action goals to all it seems like there's a lot of thought that's been put through and And so thank you. The questions are When is I might have missed this answer, but I'm I'm still not very clear about the question that was asked earlier about The cost. How is it that the cost of repairs is more than the cost of Constructing the news if someone could just run the numbers again, maybe Sean and the second question was more speaking As a business owner downtown That will the library be having meeting spaces for Renting so we can offer it like I know that when I didn't have a studio. It was so hard to find space affordable space downtown to offer workshops for the community and So will there be meeting spaces flexible spaces, you know from 10 people to maybe 50 people Spaces, thank you Um, Austin, who would you like to deal with the first one which is the question of comparing the cost? Think our distinguished account finance director is the appropriate person Got it. Sean. I'm not known for that, but I appreciate it. So So the repair option one Based on the the timing and the assumptions and repair option one Was more expensive than the renovation and addition option and the reason is a repair option one cost more. It was 16.8 million To the town in total again, that's not accounting for any potential offsets. I'll be fully clear on that piece of it Whereas the repair or the the renovation and addition option the net cost of the town was 15.8 So so in total dollars net to the town It was less expensive and then the other piece of that is repair option one Is over a much longer period of time and the the big borrowing associated with repair option one When it be until I think it was 2026 or 2027 when that last phase happens And so for things that happen that far in the future A higher interest rate is assumed And so for a big portion of that with a higher interest rate the the total cost when you add up all the the payments It just ends up being higher And so in other words you would be taking out Loans or you would be borrowing as you go into each phase. So you wouldn't secure all the money at once Sean you're muted. So when you borrow money, you have to spend that money within a certain period of time So when you look at that particular option, you'll see that there's Three bond anticipation notes, which is what you would use to Pay for the construction while it's happening and then at the end of each of those bond anticipation notes You would convert it to a long-term bond So you'll see three bonds as well. And so that's to line up with those three phases of that repair option Okay, um, and there was a second question which really goes to the trustees and to Sharon and that would be Renting meeting space Sharon Hi, um, okay. So That's a really cool question. Um, so there will still have the wood barrier room in that space will definitely be available After hours, which will be great. We'll still have the Amherst room I'm not sure that that space will be available after hours, but certainly it will be usable by the public We're also going to have the board room the good wind room, uh, which will be usable by the public once we expand and renovate The the benefit of expanding is because we will also have kid spaces a teen space And and spaces for esl and special collections Then when the public needs to reserve meeting rooms, they won't have to compete with staffing Staff programs that are going on so there will be greater availability for those kinds of rooms. Thank you for asking Um, thanks. I'll let you have your hand up. So I'm going to assume you might have a comment you'd like to make Yeah, so I I just wanted to follow up on the EUI question And and we'll definitely circle back in terms of what the actual numbers are on each part of the building That's that's too down deep in the weeds for my memory in terms of the report but What I did want to talk about is um an EUI of 29 for a library is Is is is pretty spectacular because if you think about the number of computers how long the lights are on the ac that we run So the average EUI in a library is 72 as I said nationally Athol when they did their renovation and addition Was a lead platinum certified um and got to 40 So the difference between Our base project that they came back with at sustainability was an EUI of 34 And then with the additional cost with the additional Energy conservation measures. We got it down to 29 and just that 34 to 29 reduced our energy Used by 15 percent so Like 40 for a library is spectacular. So I'm not an architect I have no idea what that means in terms of what we could do for the current building, but I just want to be clear that 29 is a Is phenomenal for a library So libraries are one of the biggest energy hogs when you look so you can actually look up online um all of the different energy used um Intensity for different types of buildings public building schools libraries and libraries are Notoriously the biggest energy hog. So I just want to give that piece of information, but definitely Councilor Dumont will come back and give you the specifics for each part of the building Kathy, I know you've had a question before and I just want to reiterate that this is going to the finance committee We've now spent All our in 50 minutes on this and so I want to just ask Is your question one that has to be answered tonight or can I go to the finance committee? It can go to the finance. I just want to um Ask the people that you double check the sense per hour use in the kilowatt hours on that energy table Because it's it when I did it it might have done it too fast. It looked like a higher sense for our was for current than for uh the expansion So just just double check the math was my only my only comment. It's a question also Thanks I do want to mention that I have several questions that are financial in nature And I will save them for the finance committee Are there any other questions from the council? I want to reiterate to the audience that we have two public forums dedicated strictly to this topic One is on the third at six o'clock third of march the others on the sixth at two o'clock They are meetings of the council as many counselors that can be there will be there And I also want to thank the library for and the trustees and all of your consultants for this Extremely thorough kicking off Of this public conversation We're at the beginning Uh, you've provided a strong base of information for us to go forward with And we look forward to our ongoing conversations with that. I'm going to say we're going to have a 10 minute break And we will reconvene at nine o'clock Uh, Lynn, would you like to give us the chance to adjourn our meeting? Oh, please do Otherwise we'll have to stay so I think Okay, so, uh, is there is there a motion to adjourn the meeting of the library board of trustees? Second Good fabulous. Okay, so i'm not going to call your name and if you would just please indicate whether or not you supported adjourning Alex Yes Chris Yeah Tammy ealy Yes Bob pam adjourned Lee edwards Okay, uh Austin sarah, so the meeting is adjourned. Lynn before you take your break. I want to thank the council For hearing us out. I want to thank the council for its very good questions and say how much we look forward to continuing the conversation this spring So thank you very much Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you as well. Appreciate it Thank you all. Thank you Please mute and also turn your video off And we'll see you at nine o'clock Dorothy pam Welcome back and check evan ross president George ryan president Kathy shane Welcome back and check steve schreiber here Andy steinberg president Dorothy pam present And kathy shane We need to finish up one item on the library and that is a motion which I will make at this point It's to refer the jones library presentation and all accompanying documents and reference documents to the finance committee to review the financial elements Of each option and report that review to the town council For consideration at their meeting on monday april 5th 2021. Is there a second second hannocky? Thank you. Any further discussion Okay, seeing none, then i'm going to bring that to a vote And I will start with elissa bruer I The antelus I The mont yes three sners in my hannocky I Pam I evan ross I ryan yes Jane I apologize. I came in the room late. What are we voting on on the referral to the finance committee? I Yes shreiber yes steinberg yes court I And ball mill. Yes Okay, that's unanimous We're going to move on to the consent agenda if we could just show the consent agenda on the screen The following items were selected because they were considered to be routine And reasonable to expect that they would pass with no controversy to remove an item Let me know that as I read it And the request to remove an item does not require a second The motion is to move the following items and printed and the printed materials They're under and approve those items as a single unit 8a1 Adoption to amendments to town council rules or procedure rules 2.1 4.3 5.7 8.1 And 9.5 and the addition of appendix B um I'll come back Dorothy in a moment approval of town manager appointments for the town clerk and approval of minutes for the january 20th 2021 special town council meeting minutes joint meeting with planning board january 25th 2021 regular town council meeting minutes and february 8th 2021 regular town council meeting minutes Dorothy you have your hand up Please unmute right so that means that we're 6.3 is not included in this vote. Is that correct? Correct. These are ones that people Had no questions about or um It was minor, you know editorials Okay, I I Did you ever explain 9.5? Oh, yeah, I said okay because I couldn't figure out why there was a difference between 10 and 9 You know I couldn't figure out what math that would be because nine is two-thirds What's above two-thirds nine is two-thirds. Yes. Yes. So what why 10? There is a requirement for the super majority. Would you like to pull that one out? Oh, okay, so there's something I didn't know there was something called super majority I couldn't explain Mandy Joe go ahead. Yeah, so prior to the change in the law There was a that provision that that same line that says upon a protest for Zoning bylaws required 10 votes. Um actually required a 75 3 quarter percent majority Three quarters. Um, but when they changed the law they moved that down to two-thirds instead of 75 percent Okay, all right This brings it consistent with the law Okay, so we're leaving it on the consent agenda Second to the consent agenda emotion Ryan second, thank you. Uh, any further discussion or questions? Okay, then we'll start with pat de angeles I Darcy demont Yes Riesma is aye. Hanna key. Aye Pam Aye Ross Aye Ryan Yes Shane Yes Driver Yes Steinberg Yes Ford's Aye Balmille Yes Brewer Aye Thank you Okay We do not have any resolutions and proclamations tonight And we are now going to move to the update on the zoning priorities and work plan Same as before with regard to this I will call after the presentation I will call on counselors and ask that they limit to your top question or two And if more questions we can always collect them later Unless it's obvious as to whom we would direct a question to I will direct it to David Um, and if we have more questions as I mentioned before we will Do that we are not taking a vote tonight. I'm going to be very clear No vote. All right We have assistant town manager Dave Zomac planning director Christine Brestrup and building commissioner Rob Morrow Lynn I didn't see Dave's name on the roster Let me check I may be mistaken that he would be here, but that's I just please proceed Unless you were expecting him I wasn't expecting him. May I may I begin? Please please do. I'm sorry that I made that mistake Good evening. Um, my name is Christine Brestrup and I'm the planning director And building commissioner Rob Morrow and I would like to present our work plan for working on the For preparing zoning amendments for consideration by town council later this spring A shorter version of this work plan was presented at a joint meeting of the planning board and the crc On february 9th. So some of you will recognize some of the slides Next slide, please As you'll remember on january 4th 2021 town council voted to direct the town manager to present zoning amendments to the town council The zoning amendments were divided into two groups and assigned due dates and we've been calling them phase one and phase two The building commissioner has been working with the planning department and we assessed the list and we've developed a work plan to achieve the stated goals So we're now ready to present our work plan. Next slide, please The phase one of these goals was set forth by the town council as There's only amendments that they hoped would be presented to This them in march. Um, so I'll go through that list One of the first one is adding the bl limited business district to footnote b Second one is adding footnote a To maximum lot coverage and maximum building coverage Just to let people in the audience know these footnotes have to do with Dimensional requirements that are listed in the dimensional table in the zoning bylaw The third one is to revise the supplemental dwelling unit Bylaw to allow The dwelling unit to be larger The fourth one is to revise the demolition delay bylaw, which has to do with the historical commission's ability to Um impose Demolition delays on buildings that are proposed for demolition. Um, the the fifth one is Working with the council to begin work on housing types An expansion of housing types and housing types just to give you a sense of what that is single family housing to duplexes triplexes Some towns have what they call quadruplexes and then we have multifamily housing in the form of apartment and mixed-use buildings The next one was to move apartments from site plan review by the planning board To move apartments to site plan review by the planning board instead of being Having them be required to go through the special permit process with the zoning board of appeals The next one is to remove footnote m and footnote m has to do with additional lot area that's required for Um townhouses and apartments in the rg zoning district And the next one is to revise the apartments definition. May I have the next slide, please? so The second group of town council priorities, which we were to present to town council. We believe it was september include Looking at the dimensional regulations in the rg That is general residents and rvc residential village center districts The next one is lowering barriers to development of duplexes and triplexes in other words to allow them to be Permitted in more places than they currently are The next one is frontage regulations for residential districts Sometimes particular lots aren't allowed to be developed because they don't have adequate frontage even though they may have adequate lot area The next one is to look at appropriate uses for village centers and this is something that was brought up because if we're going to be adding Dwelling units to village centers. It makes sense to think about Allowing certain commercial and retail uses that might be Useful to people who are living there The next one is transportation issues, which isn't necessarily something that would be a zoning issue But there may be aspects of transportation that have to do with zoning and the final one that we've listed here, although it's certainly not final in our minds is um Hiring a consultant to help us to develop design guidelines May I have the next slide, please? so i'm going to turn this over to rob mara now to Talk a little more about what we're doing here Hi, this is rob mara building commissioner So we had a long list that pristine just reviewed of Priorities that came from the council and we also had priorities that were established by the planning department with the goal of having amendment proposals Pretty well drafted this spring with a possibility of consideration summertime if we could have the next slide, please You can see here the list of items we chose to include in the phase one work plan Some of those items came from the town council list as I mentioned and some Also came from the planning department was we'll talk about each of these a little bit more in the following slides If we want to the next slide, please Uh, one of the items is the bl district with the the focus and goal of how to how to build more housing in the bl We decided to focus on two specific areas of the bl In the downtown area north of triangle street in the west of north pleasant street at this time We looked at a several options. Uh, you know the the Initial recommendation was to add the bl district to footnote b We did look at that in fact found that we don't think that is the desirable way to move forward and we'll be able to talk more about that In in upcoming meetings Another option was to create an overlay This would designate a more specifically the area that we want to see development And incorporate design standards in those areas that actually is the the concept that we are moving ahead with in more detail and will be Continue to talk about in the coming weeks We also looked at another option of creating an entirely new zoning district with those bl locations But chose not to move forward with that option at this time next slide please The other another item we're working on is a removal footnote m in the rg district now footnote m is the Piece of the dimensional tables in our bylaw that establishes an additional lot area For each additional dwelling unit that's proposed for an apartment or a townhouse Again in the rg district only We have been studying this in great detail both staff and the planning board has Done quite a bit of work on this foot proposed amendment over the last few weeks We are Continuing to talk about this with the planning board this wednesday and working our way to Some good recommendations for the proposed amendment to to move forward next slide, please And i'll pass this back to chris chris you're muted chris you yeah I had a whole group of sentences that I just said excuse me The supplemental dwelling units have to do with small dwelling units that are allowed in conjunction with single family houses in all of the residential zoning districts except for the fraternity residents We'd like to look at increasing the maximum size of these dwelling units from 800 square feet which is currently allowed to 1000 square feet This was proposed back in 2018 and town meeting came very close to passing it We're going we're analyzing whether the size of the Supplemental dwelling unit should relate to the size of the existing house And we're analyzing what dimensional requirements should apply to supplemental dwelling units like height and setback etc And we're finding examples of existing supplemental dwelling units in town And researching how other towns handle supplemental dwelling units next slide, please We're also looking at the apartment definition currently the definition of apartments States that you can't have more than 24 dwelling units in a in an apartment building And it states that no more than 50 of the units in a building can be of any one type and by that we mean Anyone bedroom type in other words single family Or excuse me single bedroom duplex two bedroom Studio or three bedrooms so no no more than 50 can be of any one size of apartment We're considering whether we should divide apartments into class one and class two apartments where class one would be 25 units or less And class two would be 25 units or more and we realize that design standards are very important As well next slide, please I think we're taking this one Yep, so we are looking at the mixed-use building standards at this time particularly because of the proposed potential proposed changes to the bl district we feel it's a necessary time to take a look at this This sectional bylaw as you may know the mixed-use building is not defined currently It does not establish a certain amount of non-residential space in a building It doesn't provide any other standard for types of units or mix and it doesn't Factor in the amount of parking that would be a lot on the ground floor as part of that non-residential use So we feel that's important to work on at this time next slide, please Similarly, we are looking at the inclusionary zoning bylaw and feel it's an appropriate time to bring forward an idea to Incorporate the inclusionary zoning provisions for all developments with with the exception of a standard subdivision But for all units that have 10 or more units associated with them We think this is a good time to propose an amendment and we'll be talking about this with the planning board in the coming weeks as well Next slide, please Along with this, we are working on the reconvocation that for the most part includes reformatting the bylaw making minor corrections and adjustments and adding definitions and clarifications to interpretations next slide, please So here's our schedule. You can see we're a few weeks into the work plan With this meeting here tonight tomorrow. We review in more detail A few of these items that we've made quite a bit of progress on over the last few weeks with the crc tomorrow at their regular meeting We'll be continuing to work with the planning board and which is not the planning board zoning subcommittee combined Over the next couple of weeks with the goal of bringing proposed amendments as many of these as we can have ready for the march 9th meeting Anticipating that the crc will then decide how to conduct their public process and and work on understanding the amendments and Ultimately deciding when and and how to bring those to the council for consideration to start the formal hearing process on any amendments that are chosen to move forward I think that concludes our update at this time. Happy to answer questions Thank you first of all, I want to thank the staff and crc for all of the Time you've been putting in but also the planning board As well because there's been clearly a lot of thought has gone into what you're presenting to us We're going to start with questions again George Ryan Thank you, Lynn on two questions if I'm fairly brief I'm curious about the inclusionary zoning bylaw that you're thinking about If that's something that you are considering also for what I consider the workforce housing component in other words 80 to 120 Am I can inclusionary zoning embrace that? That's the first question. The second is somewhat wistful. I guess whatever happened to 40 Would you like me to answer those questions? Please So in terms of inclusionary zoning, I think we're really sticking to 80 percent or less of AMI for now. It's a complicated enough topic to deal with and The units that are 80 percent or less of area median income are the ones that are counted on the supplemental housing Inventory which is the list that the state keeps and and that's something that we We want to make sure that we keep our numbers up on that But we'd certainly be willing to consider 80 to 120 percent. It's in future time and chapter 40 r is I would say it's on the back burner right now because of the focus of the planning board and Planning department on these zoning amendments that we've been tasked with developing We just didn't have enough bandwidth currently to work on 40 r as well but we are you know, very interested in the possibility of developing 40 r particularly for Village centers where we think it might actually be That's the best best location Before I go on to the next question, I'm going to pause for a moment. Ask Mandy Joe whether CRC has any particular comments at this time Um No particular comments. Just thank you to chris and rob and frankly the entire planning staff for all the hard work They've been doing we're going to get more updates tomorrow and they've they've really been on top of everything and and working hard to to you know Get us what we asked for and and get us something that Meets that and so we're really appreciative to the entire planning staff for that Thank you, and I think we all appreciate the enormous amount of effort Dorothy. You have your hand up No, I just wanted to clarify in case somebody was watching this who hadn't been following it um, and you can tell from the presentation that We did not We did not say this is what we want make it happen I believe the town council said look at these things and see how they work And that's what the planning board and the planning staff have been doing and I mean I have to agree with Mandy Joe tremendous work reports research A lot of stuff coming out and we're getting some really interesting results on this so I think it's an it's an exciting time And I think that we're going to have a chance to have a lot of things to talk about Great Darcy Yeah, I wanted to say that I appreciated of seeing the planning staff list with the infusionary zoning at the top of the list and sort of reflecting some of the issues that Have been brought up before And so I have a couple of questions one it is Has there been any studying of um We're targeting to live in the BL district And whether residents want additional you know additional housing in the BL So I'm just interested about that like who do we think is going to live there If we put A bunch of apartments there Okay, that's one question um Then another question is uh I guess I'm a little confused about the process with crc and the planning board And how you know what is actually required under the charter feels it feels very entwined and it's and like the planning board isn't getting to um fulfill its function as a resident committee because we're we're you know Butting in And this is what it feels like to me. And so I'm wondering How that how that all is going to work what's going back and forth with the planning board And lastly, I just wondered if um If we have a plan about figuring out Which one of all of these different items Uh does not require a two-thirds vote to pass with the council Those three questions Do you want me to answer those questions? please Try to answer those questions um The first one. I don't think we have an answer for that. I think that um, you know, we had a housing market study done That was produced in 2015 And it showed that many different types of people wanted to live in amherst And so I don't feel like we can really be um discriminatory about Who might want to live in the bl? But I think a lot of people would like to live there because it's close to services, it's close to the university and amherst amherst college and it's close to transportation, so um, it's very Desirable area to live in and um But I don't feel like we know exactly who's going to live there I don't think we can say absolutely no students if that's kind of the direction that the question was going in Um, there probably will be students there, but there will be other people as well So that would be my answer to that question. Um, as far as the process between the crc and the planning board the planning board is actually doing a great job right now of kind of being a sounding board for these zoning proposals we have robust conversations at the planning board and Many members of the public are there and chime in and give Their opinions about things and ask questions. So I think the planning board is fulfilling its role the actual role that is Determined by the state for the planning board is that they hold a public hearing on whatever zoning amendments are proposed so there isn't Other than holding a public hearing. There isn't really a formal role for the planning board in the past. They've been the entity that has sort of come up with zoning amendments, but in this case it's kind of together the planning board and this and the town council came up with a list and so we're we're working on all of those things and So that that would be my answer to that and then Which one doesn't require a two-thirds vote? I don't think we absolutely know that yet there was a proposal for accessory dwelling units up to 900 square feet as part of the state law the state package that just passed and if the town shows to go that route we would be able to adopt an accessory dwelling unit by-law, but we felt that we really wanted the extra 100 square feet to add an extra bedroom. And so that's the direction that we're going in right now so that wouldn't be able to be Voted in by by a majority it would need two-thirds Okay Steve Sharper Yeah, just this is a question that came up yesterday from a friend of mine who's on a planning board in another town How do we deal if inclusionary zoning includes all housing With a certain number of units or more. How do we deal with intentional housing like co-housing? where basically the Residents are determined not through a lottery but through some other method I'm just you don't have to answer that. I'm just curious if you thought about that That's a good question. We haven't discussed it yet, but thank you for that question All right, Kathy Shane Hi, um, I also want to applaud the direction you're going, you know, I made that comment earlier and my question is as you starting to think of design standards and you mentioned at the CRC meeting Chris including thinking about what's the streetscape look like You know in the nature of the sidewalks and are there trees and is there green strip? Are you or could you begin to think of putting some drawings into our zoning code to start to provide images and have this be the beginning? Um, and I I was looking under You know smart growth kinds of examples in aurora, colorado has a lot of a street this wide a street this wide Setbacks relative to the street sidewalks and there were just drawings that gave you a really good sense of It was in two dimensions But at least two dimension was better than none So that was one, you know, could this be beginning of it? and When you come back to us could some of this be done in 3d even if it's in small sections So we would get a sense of the potential mass um, that would be coming into a bl and or an rg if you end up Making changes in rg and I realize you can't do it for every single lot But could there be some discreet that you could mock those up? So I think we are um intending to include drawings into our new zoning by-law We haven't we haven't done that yet But we're certainly intending to make that part of the by-law because it helps people to understand What's being required and in terms of 3d? We have acquired something called sketch up for people in our department to work with to create 3d drawings. It's Something that will allow us to show you massing and size It may not be it takes a lot of time to Do detailed drawings of specific buildings with you know facade designs, etc But we can certainly give you an idea of massing in some areas and on some properties Thank you Alyssa I was just going to follow up on something that Darcy and chris were talking about in regards to the role of the planning board and The crc because right with this is different than it used to be and new form of government And just as she indicated that under state law the planning board has a hearing And of course as we also know because we've seen all kinds of wonderful flow charts about it Is that the crc is having a hearing with the planning board to so as not to just have like duplicate hearings But the other thing under state law is that they still write a planning board report And it's entirely possible that the planning board could have a completely different view of the eventual by-law Then the crc does so they could Actually have competing views of a particular by-law by the time it gets down to the actual wording of the by-law based on the hearings They've held based on the discussions they've had so I don't feel like this does cut Planning board out of the situation. It makes part of it more efficient It makes part of it more of an ongoing conversation And they still get their shot at saying boy, this turned out to be a terrible idea or this is wonderful And crc has their own separate opinion All right, I see no other hands and this is a discussion item only So we're going to go on to the action items and Given the time I am actually going to move the discussion on rule 6.3 e To another meeting at the same time that we will do 6.3 d which has been referred back to gol With some language changes So that brings us to the amendments to the town council's policy regarding the control And regulation of the public way. This is a first discussion And uh, so we have a slide Yes, mr. Rockerman I assume that you're that you're that chris and rob can Pick off Yes, they can. Thank you so much both of you for all the hard work and please extend that. Thank you to the full planning staff Thank you Great I'm sorry about that Thanks paul. Okay. So, um, we have a red line version on this That athena is showing us and i'm going to call on darcy where the town services And tsl report and then also george for gol Okay Um, the town manager presented a proposed proposed changes to the public way policy Um in an effort to ascertain what items need town council approval and which ones can be delegated to the town manager I'm not sure what's wrong with my voice Um, tso agreed that um routine maintenance doesn't need to need council approval Um, and as you can see and as reported in the tsl report to the town council um the tso recommends The changes In the red line version the most substantive substantive of which are in section three um Interestingly tso did some reorganizing and clarifying Which should have been done by the gol and the gol made A substantive change which should have been done by the tso Or it all came out in the wash as they say um, so um, let me just See what we're doing here Oh Lynn could do we have a wider version so we can see the document on the screen better Thank you. Yeah Ah, yes, and could you scroll? Uh Yeah, we mainly are looking at number three here everything else is um just um grammatical and so on if you can scroll up a little bit um, so The main thing that we did is this is d and e and f so For placement of road and temporary signs um We delegated to the town manager placement of signs that relate to the control of the public way crosswalk speed limits yield stop signs, etc and placement of movable signs not covered by the general or zoning bylaw um, and Then we As town council kept The authority over other requests for permanent changes to the public way that are listed in e Including some new items that we put in So all permanent changes to rows and sidewalks Including placement of utility structures bus shelters benches permanent signs electric vehicle and other charging stations bike shear stations The additional removal of crosswalks um major roadway and sidewalk redesigns such as the west armory project And other public way requests relating to roads As opposed to the parking or commons not detailed above But exempting maintenance and repairs conducted in the normal course of business Put that sentence in so if you scroll down to f um, we also This this was already in the policy acceptance of public ways um town council remains keeper of the public way and that is where a private way Uh becomes a public way is is accepted as a public way um, if i'm explaining that correctly So that is basically what we did Or what we what we're recommending to the council George might have something to add George not not really. Um, we did insert that one phrase which we took actually from a section up above We felt that it wasn't a substantive change But we thought it was a little bit clearer and other than that We just changed a few of the bits of formatting but the language stayed the same um Questions dorthy I'm confused by the additional removal of a crosswalk Being placed out of the town council because um That is really to me a real major of safety better dealt with by um dpw in the town Could you please scroll up, Athena? I think that we we actually did discuss that and Uh Seemed like it was an issue that was frequently a resident request a constituent request And that um, I think Uh entered into our decision there Well, that's really my problem. Um, I I don't think that the town council as a whole always We all we have different neighborhoods. We have different requests Um And I was trying to keep it from getting into political Things and I figured that if it's a safety matter, which crosswalk is That uh, it would be better served dealt with by the people who deal with road safety dpw and perhaps in conjunction with the police I wanting to avoid the political aspect Okay Mandy joe Yeah, I I don't have any questions or comments, but I did want to correct something regarding the role of gl in this matter that um, the chair of Tso indicated gl's charge Is to advise the town council on matters of town council policies? It's part of the charge and so gl did have a substantive review Part of this and so any changes they made Substantive in nature were perfectly allowable under the charge that gl has been Given by this council Thank you, I did not mean any offense. I'll have to say that It's always useful to clarify elissa So aside from the fact that I wouldn't think that individual town counselors should have anything to do with individual residents asking about crosswalks In that they should be sending those people to dpw Um, so it should not be political from that standpoint In the larger sense the public way is for a reason Under the town council We don't just give away the entire public way because it's convenient for us And I will give you my favorite example that gilford despises me bringing up Which is that we would not have a crosswalk from the jones library across the street If it had not been for the select board insisting that we were to have one because according to various standards That dpw professionals and engineers follow that crosswalk was not supposed to be there We were put off for years Finally community demand and insistence meant that we got a crosswalk there I defy people to say that crosswalk shouldn't be there, but had it just been left up to The standards it would never have existed George Yeah, just quickly. I want to endorse uh elissa's point. There is a community aspect here and is where the elected representatives And I think people sometimes feel that they make requests and they just disappear into a black hole And maybe some requests should disappear into a black hole But um, they still nonetheless, I think people need to feel that they've been heard And so elissa's example is a good one where they had to ask and ask and ask and ask and finally select board was able to do something So I think that it should stay where it is um, I have a comment as a council And that is that when we start getting into the placement of electric charging stations I'm like going are we really need to be into that level of detail I I'm buying the point about sidewalks and so forth, but there's a A couple things in that list that I'm going really that's how we want to spend our time So I just want to raise that this is the first reading. We're not voting tonight elissa Again reflecting on past practice when we're talking about electric charging stations Not not like the ones like so people can plug in their cell phones But the one for cars that is important because Where it's most convenient place to put it is not necessarily In terms of wiring is not always the best place to put it in terms of like the tone We're trying to set for where charging should be and so it was a huge Effort for staff to figure out. Where do they put it in the basement of the parking garage? Where do they put it behind town hall? How does that impact the various uses of people who are like to be able to be close to town hall because You're not supposed to park in those spaces even if no cars and they're charging if you don't have an electric car So giving up those spaces it's giving up parking spaces for everyone who doesn't charge a car So that's why it's there. Oh Hopefully it comes up when we get grants and staff always comes up with a cool place to put it But that's the rationale behind it is that it's giving up other parking by putting it there until of course the majority of us I'll have cars to plug in Thank you. I appreciate that historical perspective Any other questions on this again? It's a first reading Being none. We're going to proceed Um, we Cal manager appointment has already taken place and so we're going on to Committee and liaison reports I didn't miss anything. Do I I assume by now somebody would call me if I did. Okay. Um CRC anything else Mandy jump? Uh, no, you pretty much heard it from chris and rob today what we're dealing with tomorrow. Um We're also still working on the housing policy. Those are the two things that are showing up on our agendas pretty much every meeting. Um, I think President can confirm that we will have The goal is to have a first look At the draft housing policy at the next council meeting. So we will be talking about that tomorrow at CRC for hopefully feedback from the counselors In about two weeks On what is a draft that will not have been voted on at all at at CRC. It's still in very much in draft mode That is correct Uh elementary school building Kathy Uh, yeah, I'll just do a I didn't do a written report I think everyone knows because we put it up on the town website in the school put it out But on february 11th, we were officially Invited into the feasibility phase of the project Um, and what that means as a first, uh, critical step is Putting out a request for services for an owner's project manager for the project And we've got a subcommittee that has direct done a first draft of that We'll be reviewing it this week and the full committee will meet on march third Next week to finalize it and there are a couple issues that came up Not issues, but just we're looking at it on what goals we're setting For the project because it also will be determined the scope of work and then how we wait When we get responses to our request for proposals how we wait those proposals To cut it down to finalists So the subcommittee is working on that finalizing the draft and the full committee will meet to finalizes and then we'll be uh, taking the next steps to hopefully post it and request proposals Great. Thank you. Ql george Back on march three. We will be reviewing the decarbonization resolution that's sponsored by counselors ryan and dumont We'll also be taking up a question that a number of members of my committee are interested in discussing which is uh, whether we should have a single policy for um appointments when we do our reviews The various council committees have different policies right now in terms of how they do the interviews And there's been some discussion about whether it should be a single policy. And so we'll be taking that up We'll also be receiving um prior to your meeting a uh, to bet day Resolution as well um jcpc kathy jcpc had um Yeah, I guess the second of our meetings uh this uh in this Spring are we in the spring or winter semester and we are meeting weekly and what we Had and everyone should take a look at it presented to us Last thursday and that is available. It is posted is a comprehensive look at five years It's the really first time we've had something to Look at a capital request for all five years and it does include um potential debt service payments for the library Uh for the fire and dpw. So it's starting to incorporate the big projects into that capital plan the other thing that was included is the beginning of um an inventory of capital assets that we asked for and we are um For the first time seeing sort of a full list of all the vehicles we own all the buildings we own all the properties We own with some sense of their value There was one resident request And it's a holdover from last time and it's uh by high school students for uh canopies A beginning look at where we can put solar canopies or solar installations around town So that that is the one request we have coming through the resident piece But it was uh, but the staff did paul was just remarkable to pull to pull You and you including you to pull together that Five year look we're and we're now we're going to dive down into department of my department. That's where we go next Um indy i am coming back to you not to worry We'll do both finance and uh, so for uh tso darcy Yes, um tso is in the process of setting up outreach meetings Regarding the pomeroy intersection project One of which will probably be incorporated into one of our regular meetings And one on a weekend day in march or april, but we'll finalize that at the next meeting Um, we reached out to other relevant stakeholder committees to get feedback On the issue of roundabout versus signalized intersection And on our next agenda on march 25th is the surveillance technology bylaw In the way finding signs We'll also have updates on pomeroy outreach and on the Search for a town facility is permanent housing for homeless residents Thank you Andy Kind of who really packed finance committee meetings since we've met Yes, uh, there was a brief report that I submitted and as in your packet and it covered three items that were fairly substantial And over two meetings the most recent two meetings in the first one The first of those two meetings. We reviewed the audit that was for the fiscal year 20 the one that was just completed last summer and We met with tanya cambell and that is briefly reported. There's three things in the packet that go with it that you've Had an opportunity to see the audit itself the general audit for all government activities a special additional required report for federal grants and I think that what can sometimes be the easiest to follow through is to just look at the powerpoint presentation that Miss cambell used in her presentation And it highlights the most significant aspects of those two audits in the audit process itself So that was item one item two was that at the beginning of february Finance director mangano had sent us a memo and It was sort of a good news memo because we could make adjustments to the Plan that we adopted through the Finance committee guidelines, which had no increase for any of the operating budgets and because It had been built on assumptions about the state aid which then State aid was more generous as was announced to all of us who were at the MMA meeting And some favorable Results that we've had in the first two quarters of the current fiscal year It was a revised Estimate and allowed us to go to one and a half percent increase in each of the areas and We reviewed those numbers and I asked that the PowerPoint that Was presented the finance committee be added to the packet for this meeting So that you'd have a chance to see that and then the Most recent meeting was actually a joint meeting with the council many of you are there and it was to receive the presentation from mr. Mangano about how we could go about funding a for the four major projects and There was as I said good attendance at that. So those were the three items that we Have covered in our most recent two meetings In addition to planning for the committee itself, which I admitted And just as an aside the council does not need to approve the audit But later I believe in april we will need to approve going out Or with an rfp for audit services Yes, that was an added part in it's actually included Briefly in the written report, but it is an action item for the council at a later date And I think you have it scheduled for april Thank you Mandy joe you have your hand up. Yes. Thank you. I have a question about the modified from the town staff Guidelines budget guidelines. They are obviously a change from the council guidelines that we have adopted So I'm curious whether the finance committee is thinking about asking the council to amend the budget guidelines I don't know in history whether the select board regularly amended them for slight changes like this or not But I thought I'd ask to see whether there's a discussion as to whether the council will end up amending its current budget guidelines to reflect the additional information That town staff is provided um Yeah, we thought about that a little bit, but I think that the Basically when you go back to the guidelines themselves there was recognition that there could be changes in projected amounts that become available that was built into the guidelines and there was also Language about what we thought were the most important things that Should be considered at least on the municipal side of the budget if there were additional funds that came available and It basically tied back to the goals that we adopted for the town manager for the fiscal year they were as you know identical really and So we didn't feel that With the one and a half percent increase That there was really anything more that the council could say that it didn't already say in its prior guidelines Uh, alissa Thank you. I wanted to follow up on speaking of you know, how we used to do things is We've been getting a good amount of input from people who are telling us that We need to consider shifting some money from the municipal side to the school side Based on the cuts that they're facing even at the 1.5 percent level And back in the olden days that was the purpose of the budget coordinating group that in Calendaring and the budget coordinating group would talk about Okay, is there a way to divide this pie differently rather than saying every area gets 1.5 percent And usually as andy, I'm sure will attest in great detail That didn't happen unless there was a bridging type situation for some massive change that was occurring in the schools and Right now, although the pandemic is of course insane. It's not the same kind of situation So i'm just wondering what is it that we're telling people when they say Not looking at which budget they're saying we should be taking money out of but when they say It's not reasonable to have this 1.5 percent be across the board Have you considered some sort of shift or some sort of allocation associated with that? How Do we direct people with those questions beyond just saying stay tuned for further conversations? Is bcg gonna take that up or? um Andy do you want to weigh in? I know that I I can also respond Okay, why don't you go ahead linds? Um I Glad you've asked about bcg and whether or not it should lead at this point and it sounds to me like under the previous circumstances it would And we can go ahead and do that. We have people assigned to bcg and I do need to get the other boards to assign their people to bcg Having said that i'm not clear how that's going to resolve the issue The the good news is that with the 1.5 increase that the town manager has directed Would equally go to each department in each unit It does allow us a little more flexibility in the regional school budget Paul did you want to weigh in on this? Yeah, I mean I think um We have a very um We have a good working relationship where departments understand what they're what they're receiving the school department is getting more money It's so they're but they're making they have to make cuts because of their prior commitments So I think it's important to note that You know, they are getting 1.5 percent increase at the regional school district and at the elementary school level um So they're getting more in sort they're getting as much as more money like everybody else is But because of the contracted agreements they have with their employees for the most part it's mostly people They have to absorb that somehow and this is how they've said they're going to absorb that So when they say it's a million dollars cut or whatever it is There are people there and there are jobs being Eliminated but they're not getting less money from the town guess the other thing that just for historical perspective having surfed on budget coordinating group for a number of years of when I was a member of the old finance committee and um as a member of the select board If there was a change In the amount of money that it became available during the year We always did start with the presumption that it would be divided equally but we created a space within the budget coordinating group that if one of the Um Areas which there are four including schools and regional schools um felt that there was an exceptional Uh situation that they would one considered um that That request could come forward It would be an opportunity for discussion and to see if there was flexibility Because ultimately with the budget coordinating group It was about in that period of time and I think has been envisioned within the charter is a cooperative way of having the four segments of the budget Major segments of the budget be able to have that conversation under those circumstances Um No, and I can think of one example and it was Our quest on the town side for a little bit of additional money And it was agreed to readily by the other by the schools and by the library Nandy Joe, did you have anything you wanted to weigh in on the charter's present vision of bcg? That's that's fun um Let me uh consult with the town manager and we'll see whether or not we move forward bcg is advisory to the town manager So it's um Not a rulemaking body. It's advisory Okay, george I just feel compelled. I mean, I have my concerns about the school budget I've expressed them in other contexts, but I do feel it is an extraordinary year for our schools As we all know they're going to go a year without face-to-face instruction So I do have a concern about how well positioned the schools are for when the students return in the fall because it looks That's likely what it's going to be in terms of the fact that they're going to be behind They're going to be all kinds of issues emotional psychological educational So I wonder if that isn't something that bcg might consider. I think this is an extraordinary situation That that needs to be taken into consideration Are the schools do they need more resources because of this extraordinary event where they have not seen students face-to-face for over a year Are there any other questions or comments at this time? Then we're going to go on to uh the town manager's report And I'll mention specifically that um I'm sorry go ahead. Okay. So thank you. So um first off I do want to note that the the audit was a very good audit And it was nice to hear from an outside voice that the town's finances are very strong the reserves are are are good and um extraordinary in some ways and so it was good to hear An objective um voice to confirm what we felt We were doing on the um co vid uh the university had their um increase a cluster on steroids as it were um two weeks ago They have they they took immediate action and locked down the campus for two weeks that opened up as of today slightly and um The town for its part and the reason they did that is they had uh started to see a downturn in some of the cases There's still a lot of cases coming through Today's not a good day to judge because it comes from the weekend. So we'll look at the numbers tomorrow From test results today that happened The town did not move forward on there are um expanding the um seating capacity of restaurants and the later closing time for restaurants And yesterday uh the kind of Hadley Board of Health did open that up a little bit more We're going to again look at the um numbers that come through We'll consult with the state epidemiologist to see their take their read on things that are looking at the numbers as closely as we are So we we're going to continue to look at the data and let that drive our decision making um the Vaccination um, we did a tremendous job of vaccination that the state told us we the standard for Getting rid of the vaccine into people's arms if you get a supply is about 85 percent We are in the 97 98 percent range which puts us in good stead with the state much credit to our team, you know health director fire chief assistant fire chief Facilities people everybody who jumped in uh to make that happen um, we're hopeful that and have made a Especially with our state legislators who've been very strong on this made a very compelling argument that there needs to be a There needs to be vaccination sites in hampshire county We have talked with the state uh board of health about sharing a A regional site with city of north hampton with the city of north hampton being the lead Um, we they were receptive to our request. They have not told us anything. Yes or no on that at this point in time We're anxious to get a confirmed answer To that if that were to be a yes We'd be able to reopen our vaccine clinics for anybody 65 and older plus all the other categories that are permitted by the state Um, we're prepared to do that if they give us notice and they deliver the vaccine that we are able to deliver So both the city of north hampton and i've got with the mayor and with health director there And it's our health director and we're all on board. We submitted our application We're hoping that they'll be receptive to that um I think the next three to four months are going to be particularly challenging for the For the council, you know a lot on your plate. You have a lot of hard decisions to make Um, and we're here to give you the information you need to make these decisions I mean everything from financing to zoning to capital projects. Just just a lot coming down the road um Really proud of our work last week on the um on the four for capital projects and on the capital plan I mean The credit goes to our finance team led by shon lungano Just putting together stuff in really high level Really welcome the feedback from jcpc on how we could make that product better It's like it was the first cut at it really good feedback on what was working what wasn't working And we'll take that apart and put it back together after we go through All the information after the department's presented jcpc but feels Really good to be moving forward on some of these these projects um the So we've been doing a lot of outreach This thursday Where there's a million outreach opportunities last friday We were we had a very large turnout for our cup of joe when shon was on there talking about The capital pride the four capital projects 20 people which is unusual for for a virtual thing like that showed up a lot of people had comments and came in and talked to us The thursday prior to that we talked about the north amherst library this thursday the library director and a couple of them one of the trustees and Ken farber will be on the community chat at noon So again trying to do as many things as we can in this Virtual world to connect with with folks. I'm also holding off in office hours So people want to talk one-on-one on any issues that they want open to that We continue to meet with the university Town gown meetings every thursday. The president is their representatives from the town And the last couple of meetings we've had representatives from the state department of public health There as well to help us talk through some of the data that is being shared and The decisions that the university is facing The You know the new We'll be talking about the I know the tso has added the permanent shelter for the homelessness to their council to their meeting on At their next meeting, which is really a good thing The farmers market will be submitting its proposal to they would like to utilize the town common again Just like they did last year probably with some minor modifications. They're willing to Um Sort of not relocate, but if there's a major event thinking about the the Rotary fair they would just not hold the farmers market that day We are not really sure at this moment in time whether we're going to be able to allow anything happening on the common This year most of the things that happen. We can probably adjust around the Farmers market, but they were very pleased and it worked out well for us If as long as there's aren't many conflicts And requesting uses of the common but that will be coming to you at your next meeting I believe we scheduled that for the eighth at least for your first review of it So but it'll look pretty much what like it what it looked like last year Along those minds. So the question came up about the funds the 80 thousand dollars for our community Safety working group the community safety working group has been working and they're becoming more focused I think in their last last few meetings Um, they did put an invitation for bid out the bids were open today. There were three Proposals, I don't have the details on them. They have to be reviewed to see if they Meet the requirements And these three bids If they meet the requirements, then you have to take the low bid and so There was a pretty broad range of what those Numbers were and there's some variations that they can put together. So I think they will be looking at that on Wednesday Those funds, you know, I know there was the request from the reparations and you heard people talk about that as well And that's not off the table. But what I'm what I was trying to convey and maybe I didn't explain it well was that The first order of business was to support this group that Has been working to make sure that they have the tools that they need to complete their work And I think you're going to see they're they're struggling with they're not struggling. They're they're working really hard but Trying to get to where we need to get to in order for me to make some proposals to the council for in the budget this year um So I'll leave it at that because they're still working progress progress with them. It looks like a lot of people have questions So open that up to that I have a comment and a question My comment is that my daughter was able to get an appointment for bob and wooster. So we're going on wednesday Um, I'm really looking forward to getting it back to town. People will be very happy when you do that Then I have a rip that ring question. Uh, it's about the station road bridge replacement um Are you talking about a permanent replacement now? Yes You know when we voted for the temporary one I thought that the the the discussion was about this temporary one's going to could last 20 years We don't need to do it right away. So um I guess i'm a little surprised that with it not even three years where the temporary the permanent one is coming in Was that because of some unusual grant that came our way that we had to go for? It was I think it was the last year of the small bridge program as it was moving forward And so we put in for it. We don't and so that's you know, and we we got it And you're right My anticipation was that that the temporary bridge could last for quite some time But ultimately we're gonna have to replace that bridge in a permanent way But that will have to come back to the council as well I'm sorry, can you reuse the temporary bridge? In other words some discussion of that? Yes You can well, okay But good good now That will have to come back to the council for two front one is to borrow money and also because it's a public way Okay, thank you Well in a previous report you had mentioned that rob morrow was looking at the rental registration bylaw with an eye towards Revising it and I don't know if that he's obviously got a lot on his plate, but I wonder if there's any Development there or if I can reach out through him to learn more about what might be happening in that area Yeah, I can check with him. I think that the zoning they I mean I really appreciate that the council recognized the work that the planning department did they were On fire excited about working on this it was and they it was it was a whole team working together So it was it was really exciting to see them. Just you could hear them You know talking through everything constantly. So you really inspired them. So I appreciate that you recognize that I think they really are focused on the zoning the rental registration that is out there but I think that's falling to the side, but I'll check with him on that for you, george. You sure they weren't cursing us paul Positive, okay. All right. I'll take your word for it Mm-hmm Darcy Yeah, I just have a quick covered question. Um, I heard today that the the north hampton board of health there were vaccinations happening there and I if Did I understand used to say that we might join with them? And if so Would we be going To north hampton? Oh, good really good question So what they're giving out are just doses that they already have so we're doing first vaccinations On thursday this week. We're doing vaccinations all this week It's mostly second doses for people that we have and then we last thursday We remember all those doses got hung up in memphis and we didn't get our doses So everybody who's scheduled last thursday we moved to this thursday So all those folks are in a and if they had I think everybody's filled in their slots. So we have no slots available But if we were to if we get grants at some Vaccine from the state as as part as a partnership with north hampton We would hold it we would conduct the vaccination clinics here Most likely at the bang center in sort of all three or four hour increments So because it's easier for us to manage at the bang center and we can do it spread it over time and it's Smaller crowds and there's a lot of advantages to that Yeah, two quick questions, um They both relate to the community safety working group The first is you mentioned in your report that you might be seeking another extension for When they need to report or when you need to report to us The goal of our Dates was so that you'd have enough time to get something into your budget. So my question is Even with an extension that you're anticipating asking for is that going to still be possible because that's A concern at least of mine is to be able to figure out whatever they recommend. How do we fit it into the budget? um and the second one is the I guess it's the reparations for emmer's request and all um I don't know whether this is part of the legal opinion you're going to be asking for but I have this vague memory that I've been told in the past that towns can't just give money to non-profits or people without things like bids or projects or stuff So how does their request fit into any legal restrictions like that? And do we need to get A opinion on how that could be done if Indeed we do want to do something like that. Yeah, great questions. So, um Yes, there will be something in the budget if they if the community They know what my budget deadline is the community safety working group. It's and there's that's immutable Have to deliver something to you And I would want their advice on but something's got to be put in that budget for FY 22 You're right that there is the anti-aid amendment where you just can't vote to give money to an organization Because you like them or whatever wonderful thing they're doing What we would say is and I would actually look for guidance from the council on this If we are going to walk down the reparations route. Is that something the council really wants to embrace and what does that mean? I think the proponents have actually articulated some very fine Questions that I've posed to the town attorney in terms of ways to meet the needs through What kind of entity could be could qualify for those needs? So I think it's it's something that we have to dig into and and very clearly. It's something that not many communities I think just a one or two other communities in the country have done this. So I think we have to do it very carefully um But that's for the whole record and if we that's the whole reparations thing That's just one tool of lots of different tools that we need to bring to the table so Michelle any Continuing with that thread. Um Two things one. I want to acknowledge the work of the community safety working group They're doing tremendous very important deep work and I'm really happy to see that We do have three proposals from consultants who would be working with them because yeah, we really do need They really do need that support and we should be offering any kind of support we can give to them. So that's great The second is um, we have an amazing opportunity right now to work with alderman Simmons Who's willing to work with uh with us specifically holding to um To close your meetings closed our meetings with the black community And and the idea would be that last time when we passed the resolution for reparations and We heard very clearly and we all agree that this initiative needs to be led by the black community and what some what um Alderman Simmons is Willing to do she's like a leading expert on municipal reparations what she's willing to do is work with the black community And figure out from their perspective. What does reparations really look like for amherst? And you know, what what do they want? Who is it going to how who is it going to work for? What is that going to look like? So I think that's very important work that needs to happen and we cannot expect Ask for anyone better to lead that You know safe space for the black community and so I think that's something When we have specific numbers for that and to clarify the money is not going to the reparations for amherst group it's going to go directly to um alderman Simmons and she's willing to do this work On a volunteering basis, but I do believe we should be paying her for for her services and the money would go directly to her Either as an honorarium or you know, whatever her fees is we have very specific numbers now that we can share with you and The second thing is yes, we do need to figure out a process moving forward How do we decide who to give to money? Who do we give the money and You know and what that process will look like but meanwhile, I don't want us to lose on that opportunity It's not a very big sum of money and I don't want us to lose that opportunity where we have a consultant a very you know An awesome opportunity, so that's Kathy In my comment, paul is on a completely different topic and it's on something you didn't mention in your report We're I think at the next council meeting where due to see the north commons a potential design discussion or soon and I someone shared to me the excellent Community survey that evan put together. It was a monkey survey monkey Which said here's a plan a and a plan b. What do you like about them? What do you do, you know Cut and I'm wondering if we could get the plan We had a discussion that narrowed it down to two potential options and some discussion on what happens to vote But we haven't gotten the one revised one back and if we wanted to do it at a district level Just to get some feedback from residents. I mean evan did it in a nice way that just took the existing one and Described it in a slightly different way than the picture, but I think it would be a Good tool for others of us to use To get it in advance if we could do this simple And I think you have and I thought it was extremely well done and two residents mentioned it to me Which is why I even knew about it. Um getting some feedback from people about The potential design of that project. So we're missing the one Okay Is also on the agenda Yeah, and that's what I thought you told me lind so I thought if We need it sooner rather than later if we're going to do put out something like this And I don't know how much feedback we'll get but it was a nice way of Getting it out earlier. Um before we face uh talking about it again So that would be a requirement Packet or the council would come out early um I'll talk to Paul about how fast you think that's going to happen Yeah, and it's you know, they just and I was just said that it was described well enough that evan could easily You know do his choose a or b. We just didn't have a picture That showed a and so I don't you know, it's not that the whole so lind you can work it out And it's just like we're missing one picture. Um I mean, we just have to be careful About what material we put out sure well One purpose it has to be the material that will then come to the council. Oh, yeah. No, I wouldn't want it to be Not what we were planning on looking at Absolutely That's that's a matter of when we can get The pack the whatever is going to be in our package for march As we can get Thank you Yeah, just quick follow-up on shallowness question um To hire anyone including And specifically thinking about the person that's being proposed from revanston Don't we have to comply with the state procurement law? Yes Yes, we yes we do and um, especially So like the council if you're buying something a service or a training for yourselves. That's one thing if it's for a public purpose This one gets into an area where we're hiring a It sounds like what they're described was A meeting with people Is it how's it aligned with the town's policies and whether what public purpose is it for that? So it just I yeah I don't want to break up the flow. I want to go back to something else. Yeah, I see That's our ball mill. I probably wanted to say something. Can I yield to Yes, uh shallowness Appreciate that steve. Just a clarification call. Are you saying that uh, if for in this particular case with alderman simons We would Need to go through the wait. What is needed exactly? What do we need to Move forward because I thought if it's less than 10,000 we don't need to go through the public process You have to follow a process But you have to use sound business positions So, you know, you need to say what you want you grow out you get people who can respond to that And then if they meet the thresholds that you establish then you go you do your sound business process Usually a little bit is the is a logical thing to do So Okay, you can I mean I guess you can tell us after but it would be helpful to have specific criteria What is needed to move this piece forward and what is needed To come up with the process In the future Yeah, so I'm sorry. This is kind of a slightly different topic But so we've talked about the harm aroy intersection. We've talked about the north common Just briefly tonight But I just really the the comment was this That they're both public way projects. So the harm aroy intersection there's some description of Stakeholders or something like that. So obviously the stakeholders are the people whose property might be taken But this is a public way project that affects The town so we should think of this in the same way that we're thinking of the north Common that when we're talking about stakeholders, we're talking about anyone in the town that's interested in it Not just people that live within a certain range Of that so it's not like a the parties ever just show our butters or a butters to a butters It's a public way many of us use it whether or not we live in that part of town So we're all comfortable talking about the north common that way like everyone Everyone's from one but the palm aroy intersection also is very much Part of the fabric of the town and should be Any kind of um outreach that's done for that should involve the entire town any other comment Did send out a monthly president's report and also um the updated ongoing agenda items. Are there any questions at this point? Dorothy Yes, I don't see broadband mentioned and I know I've brought it up at a number of meetings and I'm seeing articles about it Um, you know back from the town. I lived in Norfolk, Connecticut Uh, it's getting in the newspaper more and more frequently So I really do hope that at some point we can have a chance to Talk about broadband municipal broadband Are there any other future agenda items that people want to mention? all right then um On the future agenda items pat and shallony. Do you want to update us on the train? Pat, do you want me to do it? Are you doing it? I thought you were doing it. Yes, I'm happy to do Sure, so uh, the good news is uh, we have uh We have a trainer within our budget and our schedule and we've sent out to everyone a little poll. Hope. I mean Athena sent out a little poll. Hopefully um Everyone had a chance to look at that The good news is that the trainer we have was one of the core trainers that in the work undoing racism workshop that pat and I attended and Um, we had an amazing transformative experience as we've already shared Um, so this is annie rodriguez and from equity consulting network and she has been doing this work for 10 years and she's We've spoken to reference. We're speaking to references right now. We've got excellent recommendations for her um She is I don't know what I mean, it's within the budget that we were hoping for and it's fitting our schedule and um I'm happy to share more and we'll be sending a packet along with the bios and their experiences the recommendations references and all of that Is anything else you'd like to know Lynn or counselors? Um, no that's um I'm Anything else any other uh counselor comments, Alyssa So I'm left in a slightly confused place about the reparations request So I understood all the words that that have been said so far But originally we were asking about a process for various groups to be able to access the 80 000 I understand what paul has said about not having any idea of maybe some of those Uh response to the bids are going to come in at 75 000 and that's going to use up most of the money But what I don't understand is given that we initially had in fact started asking the questions about what would be possible in terms of What kind of organization would we be able to? Give town money through would there be a town fund? Would it be a private fund et cetera? Would it look more like cdbg? Would it look more like Something else and and as he says this is a very unusual thing to do what What is also true is that years ago Even when the anti aid amendment existed We had contracts with social service agencies where town meeting directly gave the money And it was supposed to be a contractual relationship But it was not a contractual relationship where we went out and did a request for a bid To say who can do the job big brothers big sisters does that wasn't a thing So i'm not convinced That this is too hard and that we can't do this So I would like to hear some assurance that we have a future agenda item that This is not just something alice is interested in and shallowness interested in But it's something that the town council talked about in broad terms when we created the resolution And are we just pushing the can down the road and saying well, we'll talk about it when it comes to the fy 22 budget Given the timing of alderman Simmons and this very unique situation i'm struggling with the idea that it's too hard to figure this out and i'm wondering How we get over that hump Well, do you have any further comment? No, I mean, I mean if it's something the council wants to talk more about it could be added to your agenda obviously, you know me and joe Question on the training a couple of questions. I mean I filled out the survey, but It didn't have times for the days, you know, I just said the days and so that was one thing that made it hard The morning afternoon without times made it hard to and and I was very concerned Weekends provided were Passover and Easter weekends You know that of things um, so I I tried to fill it out. I don't think I was very helpful when I filled it out Um, but um, you know, I I think next time if we need another survey It would be very helpful to at least include what time of day We're looking at on each of these days um And half days and things like that. I know it's a morning or afternoon and you may not know but I do Looking at 8 a.m. To 2 or 9 to 7, you know, like it was hard to answer questions that way just just a comment We're looking at nine to five on the two days either a friday saturday or saturday sunday Depending on which dates are selected and a three-hour follow-up About two to three weeks afterwards The I will tell you now that based on the poll Of most the date that includes the most number of people Is of april's 10th and 11th, which is the week after Easter And I do think this is something that all the counselors need to attend so I'll just put that out there Oh, can I just add one more thing? Sorry about the training is that uh, we Uh We have the flex. I mean there is a framework which is very rigorous and robust and there's going to be an emphasis also on how to Practically apply the training into our work But we also would encourage once we decide and confirm That we can send our questions because that's the whole idea is that we have a safe space To address some of our questions not there's no guarantee that those specific questions will be answered indeed But I think this is also an opportunity for all of us places where we've all struggled at different points To and so we could we would have an opportunity to send our questions ahead of time So we will be going around and collecting those and sending it to the facilitators Are there any other questions moments that used to with your hinder? Yeah, um Building on what elissa said when we passed the resolution we talked about Investigating implementing Issue how to Eliminate systemic Racism and amorce and we talked about The community engaging the community in that process. I forget the exact words. I haven't written somewhere um And so to me the idea we number one we need a process and While I have tremendous respect for the community safety working group And if all the money gets used for their work, I will not be unhappy But at the same time We didn't put the money there just for that. So we need to really look at What will engage the community? And And we really do need a process and this is something that council needs to Come together on deciding what what are why did we sign that resolution? And what is it that we see going forward? Yeah, and and others let me um About how we What question we would pose and how we bring this To the council as an agenda item because I'm hearing it is being unresolved. I'm hearing it as Not being quite clear financially, but also then what is it? We're really asking for in the guidelines. Okay Any other thank you that I'm hearing there's a future agenda item. That's what I'm hearing. Yes. I'm just not quite sure how to frame it Okay, and also the immediate thing is the high and hiring Oldman Simmons for that are those two separate I I see them as two separate things one is a future process and one is right now We want to keep that momentum going while she's available because we know we struggled Half a lot to get trainings trainer for us because it looks like the whole country is doing this work right now And so we don't want to lose that opportunity to have alderman simons work with the black community So those are two separate things We'll talk with paul about that and see what we've been talking about Yeah, are there any further comments questions? If not the meeting is adjourned at 10 40