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Home My WebLink About2015-10-13 Permanent Building Committee MinutesOF;? O r Town of Reading Meeting Minutes F�ECE:IVE:ll �639,iNCOa4 °` P� TOWN C L E R K Board - Committee - Commission - Council: �� Mr �' Permanent Building Committee ; b P 2:45, Date: 2015 -10 -13 Time: 7:30 PM Building: Reading Town Hall Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: General Business Attendees: Members - Present: Location: Selectmen Meeting Room Session: General Session Gregory Stepler, Bradford Congdon, John Coote, Patrick Tompkins, Michael Bean Members - Not Present: Nancy Twomey Others Present: Selectmen Daniel Ensminger and Barry Berman, Town Manager Robert LeLacheur, Facilities Director Joe Huggins, Cemetery Trustee Bill Brown Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Bradford Congdon Topics of Discussion: Cemetery Garage This was the initial meeting of the Cemetery Trustees and newly formed Permanent Building Committee (PBC). Various documents were distributed in advance of the meeting for PBC members to review and gain an understanding of the current status of the Cemetery Garage located at Laurel Hill Cemetery, some of those documents are referenced below. Bill Brown represented the Board of Cemetery Trustees. During the meeting, he presented the following key points: • The current garage is approximately 100 years old, the division has outgrown the facility, and the building is nearing the end of its useful life. • They cannot wait another 5 to 10 years for a new facility. • The existing site is not ideal due to grading; trailer storage and parking are issues. If Laurel Hill facility is renovated/ replaced, the staff would need to be temporarily displaced; recommended new location be at Forest Glen. • There is a tentative meeting for the Cemetery Committee and Board of Selectmen scheduled for October 20, 2015 to update Article 13 for Town Meeting consideration. • Offered site visit for PBC members to visit Laurel Hill Cemetery Garage and all 4 cemeteries in town on October 24, 2015 for those available; and he would accommodate alternate dates for those not available. • Most surrounding towns have storage /maintenance garages on cemetery grounds. • The town has the most grave lots available at Wood End then Charles Lawn; not many left at Laurel Hill or Forest Glen • The Division supports approximately 125 burials a year, of which 40% are cremations • Board of Cemetery Trustees is willing to fund further studies if necessary. Tompkins noted that Weston & Sampson (W &S) performed an extensive study for the DPW in December 2014. The Cemetery Garage was only briefly mentioned in this study. Stepler and Congdon concurred. Tompkins recommended a comparable study be performed Page I 1 Permanent Buildinq Committee Minutes - October 13, 2013 - Daae 2 specific to the Cemetery Division to ensure current needs are fully understood and the new building suits the long -term need. Brown supported this suggestion. Congdon later suggested finding out cost for the W &S report, Huggins indicated he would. A discussion of the Cemetery Division's equipment and logistics ensued; i.e. loading and unloading of mowing equipment takes 30 to 45 minutes each morning and afternoon; some mowing equipment is only used at Laurel Hill due to spacing between headstones; the fueling of the larger mobile equipment is done solely at New Crossing Road; the DPW performs maintenance on the heavy equipment while they maintain their own smaller equipment; the cemetery division supports DPW in the winter with snow plowing and snow removal. Coote suggested equipment utilization and logistics might play a role in evaluation of a new facility. Tompkins and Stepler suggested consideration of smaller storage facilities at all of the cemeteries, instead of one large centralized facility. Stepler identified the list of Cemetery Division equipment in the Engineering Department's 2010 Cemetery Garage Site Selection report, and asked if the list was current. Brown indicated it is, but one truck or trailer bed may be longer now. Stepler identified a property included in the 2010 report on Pearl Street at Audubon Road that was considered for the new garage. Brown noted that this property was sold by the town and no longer an option. Tomkins recommended the committee consider the growing needs of the DPW facility in conjunction with the Cemetery Division's needs, identified that the W &S report appeared cut short due to the identification of possible wetland areas, and suggested this be confirmed by an expert so that the New Crossing Road location could be further assessed. Laurel Hill Cemetery is on the National Historic Register; Brown indicated that the cemetery is historic, the building is not. This should be confirmed for any consideration of renovation or new construction in existing location. Huggins noted that Facilities has addressed most hazards identified in the MIAA inspection dated September 10, 2015 including installation of CO2 and smoke detectors, hand railings, and planned installation of fire board and replacement of the heating system to improve the overall safety of the building for its occupants. Selectman Ensminger suggested that the PBC be prepared to make a recommendation on the Cemetery Garage at November 9th Town Meeting. Selectman Berman suggested the PBC target April 2016 Town Meeting for requesting a budget to support independent studies for their evaluation process. RCTV Drone John Coote announced that he has a relationship with RCN and that they recently purchased a drone and have a pilot. RCN is currently lacking projects for which the drone is needed, and it may be available for our use to perform aerial building assessments. The committee and Selectmen were open to the idea, but the consensus was that this new technology would require further research to determine use guidelines for Town purposes. Stepler suggested obtaining more information and pushing further drone discussions until after November 9th Town Meeting. PBC October 6 Meeting Minutes Stepler motioned to review meeting minutes from October 6th. Tompkins proposed approval of the minutes, Congdon seconded, all five members voted in the affirmative. Page 1 2 Permanent Buildinq Committee Minutes - October 13, 2013 -page 3 PBC Contact List Stepler inquired if anyone had comments with the contact list he distributed; none noted. PBC Charter Review Congdon noted the committee identified a need to revisit the PBC Charter in previous meeting, and whether this should be on the agenda for next meeting. Committee acknowledged that updating the charter may need to wait until we have further developed the process for the committee to review projects brought to their attention. Stepler and Tompkins discussed the importance of the committee to develop a fair and consistent approach, so that favoritism would not be present for this committee or future members. PBC Next Meeting Next meeting for the PBC scheduled for October 22 at 7:00 pm to further discuss all information provided to date on the Cemetery Garage. A motion by Coote seconded by Tompkins to adiourn the meeting at 9:15 p.m. was approved on a roll call vote with all five members voting in the affirmative. Respectfully submitted, Secretary Page 1 3