Town of Stoddard, NH

Building Committee Minutes

7:00 PM November 19, 2009

Stoddard Town Hall

PRELIMINARY

Members present:, Dick Briere, Lou Grandpre, Sandy Holland, Harry Power,  Amy Rokoszak

Absent:  Penny Betz, P.J. Lamothe, Alan Rumrill, David Vaillancourt

Quorum:  Yes

Attendees:  Carol Clark, Arlene DiCorcia, MaryLou & Arnie Stymest

Dick Briere called the meeting to order at 7:08 PM.

The Committee reviewed, item by item, the Baybutt proposal for the Gould House, “Gut and Rebuild”.  Many questions were posed that will be asked of Rod Parsons.  Dick Briere read aloud Architect Richard Monahon’s report as well, and comparisons were made to reports of all architects and engineers.  Amy Rokoszak remarked that all the architects who have inspected the house have indicated that the work could be done for significantly less than what Baybutt has proposed.  Mr. Monahon is working up numbers, which will be available soon, to the work he has proposed.  It must also be remembered that it is up to the Committee to tell Baybutt exactly what they want and don’t want, which will significantly alter the numbers they have provided.

Amy Rokoszak inquired whether a contract had been signed with Baybutt.  Dick Briere answered that after this commitment for the work currently underway is completed, there is no legal requirement to continue with them. 

Harry Power asked, relevant to the Gross Maximum Price (GMP) quoted by Baybutt, how would we know what the real cost is?  It is customary to quote a “not to exceed” price but to bill at actual cost of time and materials, including fees, overhead, etc. up to that not to exceed price.  Further clarification will be sought from Mr. Parsons.

Amy Rokoszak stated that Penny Betz has asked if we can have a meeting where Mr. Monahon can present and defend his findings.  It was agreed that we can do that.  She also asked that it be a date separate from regular Building Committee meetings.  This meeting should be a widely advertised meeting for all interested townspeople to attend.

In reference to how long the Gould House could serve the town’s population, Dick Briere commented on an Emergency Management meeting he had attended the previous night.  The Emergency Management Director had stated that there were 900 residents in Stoddard in 2004, and now there are 1100.  It is difficult to gauge growth, or lack of, but current statistics would indicate growth is going to be slow to stagnant for at least a few years. 

Dick also noted that the Fire Chief has been trying to contact Peter Bonneau of MacMillin to inspect the fire station.  MacMillin installed strain gauges more than a year ago.  One has shown minute expansion and other cracks are appearing.  Arnie Stymest commented that Mr. Bonneau is presently unavailable but MacMillin will send Steve Tarbox to do the inspection. 

Dick Briere reminded Committee members that other town buildings (fire station, police station and library) also need to be remembered and addressed.  At present, however, town offices are the greater priority.  The other buildings will be considered and addressed at the earliest opportunity after town offices.

With four members absent, it was decided to delay discussion of the quote for the Town Hall until more members could be present.  The next meetings are scheduled for December 3^rd, 10^th and 17^th.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 PM

Respectfully submitted,

___________________________

Sandy Holland

Building Committee Minutes

7:00 PM November 12, 2009

Stoddard Town Hall

PRELIMINARY

Members present:, Dick Briere, Lou Grandpre, Sandy Holland, P.J. Lamothe, Harry Power,  Amy Rokoszak, Alan Rumrill, David Vaillancourt

Absent:  Penny Betz

Quorum:  Yes

Attendees:  Carole Briere, Carol Clark, George Davenport, Arlene DiCorcia, Beverly & Jerry Gay, Terry & Pat McMahon, Pat Putnam, Ed Saleski, Joe Van Schaick, Dale Smith, MaryLou & Arnie Stymest

Dick Briere called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.

As Rod Parsons and Fred Mohr of Baybutt Construction were in attendance to provide a numbers-based presentation on options for the renovations/restoration of the Town Hall and renovations for town offices in the Gould House, Dick requested the public hold any questions or comments until after the meeting, and then they were welcome to approach any member of the Building Committee. 

A question had been raised at a previous meeting whether the concept for the Cahill property had paving included.  Mr. Parsons stated that it had not and would cost about $23K.  He said the coverage area would be any of the gray on the color rendering they had submitted to us previously. 

They had also been asked if they could do an elevation to see what the property might look like and distributed copies of a floor plan as well as a view from outside.  Rod explained that the rendering has a second egress where the shed was removed and the building adapted with a ramp at ground level with a slight slope at the top, but protection from rain, ice & snow would be provided.  Amy Rokoszak felt that it didn’t look historical. 

Itemized schedules of cost for each building were distributed.  Two were provided for the Gould House, one for gutting and rebuilding and one for renovating, with the cost for renovating being the less expensive option.  The schedules were reviewed line by line and questions answered as posed.  It was noted that it would be less expensive to install two separate heating systems rather than combine as the Committee had previously discussed.  If radiant tubing would be installed in a slab under Town Hall, the oil tank, oil tank shed and boiler would all be unnecessary. 

Harry Power asked about moisture under the floor:  could we not use fans, vent better to prevent the moisture issues we currently have?  The engineer said such measures would not be adequate to prevent moisture problems.  It was reported that Ted Fellows was not comfortable with the structural integrity of the Town Hall foundation.  Amy Rokoszak stated though that he had not gone under the Town Hall himself, only looked at photos to make his judgment, and she wanted an engineer to go under it to make a determination.

Dick Briere stated there was no information provided yet from Architect Rick Monahon, but he had spent several hours on the site Monday, November 9^th, had looked at the KSC drawings, made a number of evaluations and took a lot of notes.  Dick and Penny Betz and Charlie Faulkner, along with Dick Briere, were on hand.  His priority was to examine the Gould House although he spent a little time at the Town Hall.

He noted that the ceilings had been lowered in the Gould House because he could see that window frames had been covered up.  He said that a lot of work would be required to rip out and make fixes to strengthen and preserve the historic aspect.  He understood that office space was to be shared and stated the stairs could be located, both basement to main floor and main floor to second.  Mr. Faulkner indicated his pleasure at learning more about the building and stated that he liked the concept of the Town Center.

Rod Parsons stated that their proposal would take care of every structural issue with the Town Hall, probably forever, and whether the Gould House is rebuilt or fully renovated, it would be structurally sound as well.  Harry Power noted that the prices given by Baybutt for replacing clapboards and roofing were good. 

Amy Rokoszak inquired what was the $36K+ for “design Town Hall” and Rod explained that they will need plans to accomplish the electrical/plumbing/ADA, etc, essentially specifications.

Rod stated that their target date to have their work wrapped up is mid-December.  They will need some feedback from the Committee prior to then. 

Penny Betz had asked for additional information on flowable fill.  Rod explained that it is a low strength concrete material, a recognized product and one Baybutt has used a lot, citing Thayer High School in 2004 as one example.

David Vaillancourt asked if there is any impact on the septic if we go from residential to commercial use at the Gould House.  It was determined a septic would have to be designed, although not necessarily installed.

Rod Parsons was asked to follow up with Catamount Environmental re lead and asbestos testing, as when Sandy Holland had contacted Don Yanke there, she was unable to adequately answer his questions about the level of testing/ inspection that Baybutt would be comfortable with.   

Homework for the following week is to go over the cost schedules line by line, prepare questions and comments to be shared during the next meeting on November 19^th. 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:38 PM

Respectfully submitted,

___________________________

Sandy Holland

Building Committee Minutes

7:00 PM November 5, 2009

Stoddard Town Hall

PRELIMINARY

Members present: Penny Betz, Dick Briere, Lou Grandpre, Sandy Holland, P.J. Lamothe, Harry Power, 

Absent:  Amy Rokoszak, Alan Rumrill, David Vaillancourt

Quorum:  Yes

Dick Briere opened the meeting at 7:00 PM.

The agenda was to discuss the status of the Town Hall, Gould House and the reaction of many people to the report given by Rod Parsons of Baybutt Construction a week prior.  Lou GrandPré stated that he felt there had been too much time spent discussing the Town Hall when we should have been focusing on town offices.  Mr. Fellow’s report substantiated the Gould House has a lot of problems.  The Town Hall would be unusable for up to a year so offices should be put in place first.  We should request a comparison of cost to be developed for renovating the Gould House vs. comparable square footage for the Cahill property.

Dick Briere stated that, as part of the package, Rod Parsons had said he would put in four hours on developing potential offices sited on the Cahill property.  He noted that although the Cahill property conceptual drawing was on top of the Baybutt package the intention was not to give it extra weight or first consideration.  He said he could see how the package gave the appearance of a marketing tool and felt that a number of people had reacted to that. 

The most cost effective method to accomplish necessary fixes under Town Hall is to fill it in underneath.  Lou GrandPré asked about the suggested solutions for underneath Town Hall, which were repeated and discussed briefly.  Penny Betz stated that no one complains about the floor in Town Hall.  Why would it need to be replaced?

Dick Briere read questions to Baybutt from Amy Rokoszak and noted that the POSH group had, during its meeting on 11/3, voted to contract with Architect Rick Monahon to do a private assessment.  Lou GrandPré stated that he has worked with architects all his life and they are dreamers, not structural or mechanical engineers. Harry Power agreed.  Penny Betz said the architect and/or building designer needs to give us what we want/need.

Penny Betz showed the Committee the plans prepared by the KSC Architectural students last year.  She is concerned that we do not overbuild.  Several options Penny mentioned included, after addressing structural and safety issues, using the Gould House “red room” for selectmen’s, planning board and ZBA meetings and reinforcing the floor of second floor.  Another was to create two offices and meeting room on main floor and also do the second floor for possible office and storage.  Still another was to extend the rear of the building, changing the roof line and creating a 1 ½ story cape.

Dick Briere stated that we will need to listen next week and be prepared to make some decisions where we need to take this.  Mr. Parsons will require the remainder of November and December to pull a complete package together.  Harry Power stated that we need to have information out to the public ASAP.

Dick Briere asked for any comments or questions, and if any should occur over the next week, requested they please be sent along.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM

Respectfully submitted,

___________________________

Sandy Holland