| Joanne Cole |
The Town Hall Complex figured in several discussions at the Select Board’s July 15 meeting. Among the topics, members considered next steps for the ad hoc committee that’s studying future needs and present conditions at the municipal complex, including Town Hall.
The board also heard an update on maintenance, repair and remediation projects at the Library, Town Hall, and the single-bay garage at the edge of the municipal campus. The news includes more mold having been found in the Town Hall crawl space, Manager Bill Kerbin said, necessitating removal of duct work and extending that project timeline.
Repairs to the previously leaking Library roof have progressed, Kerbin said, with the bell tower and bell spruced up and reinstalled over the new roofing membrane. Next to come was replacement of the bell tower’s distinctive fence. It’s now back up.
In a less welcome development, looking into the Library’s leaking roof revealed a lack of insulation in the building’s upper reaches. Board members at the July 15 meeting agreed to prioritize that work, but it needs a budget. Kerbin will return with a ballpark estimate.
The conversations about needs and conditions prompted board members to raise the possibility of having a full-time director for the Town’s buildings and grounds – and perhaps also longer-term maintenance plans for town facilities. Currently, a single full-time position directs Public Works, Buildings and Grounds and the Transfer Station.
Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office base in Public Works. The board discussed the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office’s local base in the Public Works building, a topic indirectly related to the municipal complex. Previously, the Sheriff’s Office used part of the Community Building behind Town Hall as its substation, a location that was helpful for local patrols but legally inadequate.
The Town’s agreement for the Sheriff’s Office to instead use space at no charge at Public Works runs until December 31. The topic was on the agenda in case board members wanted to consider alternative locations or other steps that might require planning and a budget.
Ultimately, the board decided to stick with the current arrangement. Public Works Director Ted Shane had sent in a letter saying the arrangement has worked well for Public Works and that the Sheriff’s Office presence is an asset to the town as a whole and specifically to the security of the Public Works building after hours and on weekends.
The board plans a walk-through of the Public Works building and asked Manager Bill Kerbin to look into other towns’ substation agreements with the Sheriff’s Office to see if those towns enjoy more favorable terms than New Gloucester does.
Next steps for Town Hall and Municipal Complex. The new Ad hoc Municipal Complex Advisory Committee has begun looking into near- and long-terms needs and uses at the municipal campus, including the buildings. Preliminary designs from 2006 for a re-imagined campus were subsequently shelved and have only recently been dusted off by the committee.
Crucially, in the years since those plans were developed, Town operations and staff have run out of space at Town Hall, while the second floor remains unusable.
As a result, the most pressing questions now involve the condition and potential capacity of Town Hall, among them whether the building can support new uses upstairs and the elevator that would be needed for access. It may turn out that a new building – perhaps on Town-owned land in the Upper Village – makes more sense for municipal offices.
But the first step is a structural analysis of Town Hall. Voters have set aside funds for a Town Hall Complex expansion project, but the advisory committee has neither the authority to tap those reserves nor a budget of its own. The committee thus looked to the Select Board for guidance and next steps.
The upshot from the board’s July 15 meeting is that Manager Bill Kerbin will get cost estimates for bringing in a building inspector or structural engineer to assess Town Hall.
Meanwhile, as time allows, staff will compile information that the advisory committee requested about the age, condition and systems of all the campus’s buildings, including the Library and Meetinghouse. The advisory committee will do a walk-through of the campus buildings on July 23 at 7 p.m., the board heard.
Town policy reviews, cont’d. At their last meeting the board asked Manager Bill Kerbin to take a red pen to the Purchasing Policy. It specifies what purchases/services must be publicly bid and how, and which need not. This week the board considered the policy governing the terms and fees for renting Town buildings and Recreation facilities. The Parks & Rec Committee will take up the revision and send their work to Kerbin for review before it goes to the board.
The board also heard that a new-ish policy requiring boards and committees to obtain pre-approval to spend their own budgets was proving impractical. The 250th Celebration committee raised the objection, citing their need to make unanticipated or last-minute purchases for events. The 250th committee will be permitted to spend without board authorization going forward, the board decided.
NGTV’s Community Access policy and procedures manual will also get a review, following July 15 board discussion. The manual outlines Town, community, and public interest and educational programming guidelines, use of equipment and more. Manager Bill Kerbin told the board it appeared that the Select Board has not approved the NGTV documents, and he thought they should.
The topic arose after member Tammy Donovan objected to NGTV’s having taped a public presentation at the Library about a proposed regional trail system that would pass through New Gloucester. At this meeting Donovan explained that she was subsequently told that community interest programs are in-bounds for NGTV. She suggested that the policy, last updated in 2015, merited a review.
Over the years, NGTV has taped and/or broadcast and/or livestreamed Historical Society presentations, candidate forums, and other talks, as well as Town Meetings and meetings of New Gloucester boards and committees, the Water District, and the MSAD 15 School Board when it convenes here. Kerbin and the Cable TV Committee will take a look at the policy and manual.
Cable TV station manager position. Manager Bill Kerbin will advertise for a cable TV station manager. The new position was budgeted and approved by voters two years ago to ease the burden on the volunteer team that shoulders broadcasting, streaming and archiving meetings of all kinds. Kerbin said he’d attempted to collaborate with neighboring towns without success and will now move filling the position to the front burner.
Candidate/Referendum Committee disbanded. NG Cable TV won’t be taping and broadcasting candidate forums anytime soon, as the board disbanded the Candidate/Referendum Committee at the July 15 meeting. The committee organized public Q&A sessions with candidates for Select Board, School Board and the Legislature. As of July 1, the five-seat committee had only two members, one of whom was recently appointed, the board heard.
It also emerged that the Candidate/Referendum Committee members were not notified that their committee was on the chopping block or given an invitation to respond. Nevertheless, the board proceeded to disband the committee, on a 4-0 vote (Colleen Strickler absent).
Trail to connect Municipal Complex and Church Road. In Parks & Rec Committee news, a preliminary agreement is in the works for a proposed trail crossing First Congregational Church property to connect Church Road with the Town Hall area.
The Parks & Rec Committee has helped plan the five-foot wide ‘primitive’ trail, which would allow walkers to bypass the pedestrian-unfriendly Lower Village intersection. The trail would be maintained and paid for by volunteers. Select Board liaison to Parks & Rec Peter Bragdon wanted the board to weigh in before the project goes farther. They agreed to put the topic on a future agenda.
Watch video of the July 15, 2024, Select Board meeting at this link. Find contact information for Select Board members and links to meeting agendas, minutes and related documents at this link.
