Town of Pittsfield
Town Hall Citizens’ Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes, August 12, 2019
5:00 p.m. Town Office Building Basement
Present:Ann Kuendig (interim chair), Dave Larkin, Carl Oertel, Glen Reinauer, Herb Kuendig, Betty Warner, Sarah Gallagher
1. Call to order.Ann called the meeting to order at 5:12 p.m.
2. Approval of minutes.The minutes of the July 22 meeting were approved by a motion from Ann, seconded by Betty.
3. Chimney Update/Discussion. The claim for repairs to chimney and building damage resulting from its ultimate collapse was denied by PACIF because it was not caused by an ‘occurrence,’ an accident, event, or disaster. The committee agreed that an appeal was not in order. Carl will seal up the chimney opening to protect from the weather.
4. Community Engagement/Survey. There have been limited responses to the survey thus far. Sarah will draft an introductory sentence to post with the survey link on the Town website and the Pittsfield News FB page. Surveys and a drop box have been left in the Town Office, and will be left at the library, the Swiss Farm Market and the Clear River Tavern. Surveys will be provided to various town committees and organizations for distribution/collection at their meetings. The committee will also have a presence at the Bazaar in September.
5. First Floor Preliminary Framing Plans. Herb presented as-builts and preliminary framing plans, which called for 9 lally columns as well as some LVL beams. The drawings will need an engineer’s stamp. An engineer may recommend fewer columns as Herb indicated his design may be ‘overkill’ as he was unsure of the integrity and weight-bearing capacity of the original beams. Carl suggested asking Dan Pratt at RCWA if he would be willing to sign off on the drawings in the interest of keeping things local. Carl and Herb will arrange a meeting.
6. Scope of work/estimates.Tabled until next meeting.
7. Article Timetable. Town Meeting is on March 3, and will be an evening meeting in 2020, which would mean that a proposed article would need to be presented to the Select Board in early January. An alternate site will need to be found for Town Meeting. Sarah suggested Riverside, Ann will follow up. Sarah felt that bringing an article to vote at Town Meeting might be too early, given that we’ve only been working on one option for the building. The committee is charged with researching and presenting options for the building. We don’t have to vote on anything in March, and we want to be sure that folks fully understand all options presented and their various financial and other implications. Presenting and voting at the same meeting seems like a lot to take in at one meeting, there will likely be lots of discussion. A special town meeting to vote on options can be at a later date once folks have the information they need to make a decision.
8. Next meeting: Tuesday, September 11, 2019, at 5:00 p.m. in the basement of the Town Office building.
9. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 6:24 p.m. upon motion from Ann, seconded by Betty.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah Gallagher
Approved by: s/Ann Kuendig Date: September 11, 2019
Town Hall Citizens’ Advisory Committee
Meeting Minutes, August 12, 2019
5:00 p.m. Town Office Building Basement
Present:Ann Kuendig (interim chair), Dave Larkin, Carl Oertel, Glen Reinauer, Herb Kuendig, Betty Warner, Sarah Gallagher
1. Call to order.Ann called the meeting to order at 5:12 p.m.
2. Approval of minutes.The minutes of the July 22 meeting were approved by a motion from Ann, seconded by Betty.
3. Chimney Update/Discussion. The claim for repairs to chimney and building damage resulting from its ultimate collapse was denied by PACIF because it was not caused by an ‘occurrence,’ an accident, event, or disaster. The committee agreed that an appeal was not in order. Carl will seal up the chimney opening to protect from the weather.
4. Community Engagement/Survey. There have been limited responses to the survey thus far. Sarah will draft an introductory sentence to post with the survey link on the Town website and the Pittsfield News FB page. Surveys and a drop box have been left in the Town Office, and will be left at the library, the Swiss Farm Market and the Clear River Tavern. Surveys will be provided to various town committees and organizations for distribution/collection at their meetings. The committee will also have a presence at the Bazaar in September.
5. First Floor Preliminary Framing Plans. Herb presented as-builts and preliminary framing plans, which called for 9 lally columns as well as some LVL beams. The drawings will need an engineer’s stamp. An engineer may recommend fewer columns as Herb indicated his design may be ‘overkill’ as he was unsure of the integrity and weight-bearing capacity of the original beams. Carl suggested asking Dan Pratt at RCWA if he would be willing to sign off on the drawings in the interest of keeping things local. Carl and Herb will arrange a meeting.
6. Scope of work/estimates.Tabled until next meeting.
7. Article Timetable. Town Meeting is on March 3, and will be an evening meeting in 2020, which would mean that a proposed article would need to be presented to the Select Board in early January. An alternate site will need to be found for Town Meeting. Sarah suggested Riverside, Ann will follow up. Sarah felt that bringing an article to vote at Town Meeting might be too early, given that we’ve only been working on one option for the building. The committee is charged with researching and presenting options for the building. We don’t have to vote on anything in March, and we want to be sure that folks fully understand all options presented and their various financial and other implications. Presenting and voting at the same meeting seems like a lot to take in at one meeting, there will likely be lots of discussion. A special town meeting to vote on options can be at a later date once folks have the information they need to make a decision.
8. Next meeting: Tuesday, September 11, 2019, at 5:00 p.m. in the basement of the Town Office building.
9. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 6:24 p.m. upon motion from Ann, seconded by Betty.
Respectfully submitted,
Sarah Gallagher
Approved by: s/Ann Kuendig Date: September 11, 2019
RSS Feed