Back to Permanent Building and Facilities Management Study Committee Meeting Minutes
December 2, 2010 Meeting Minutes
Hingham Town Hall
Present: Committee Members MacKinnon, Manley, Seelen, Fernandes, Wilcox.
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1. Call to order
Jerry Seelen called the Committee meeting to order at approximately 5:38 PM.
2. Approval of Minutes
Minutes from the November 18th meeting of the Permanent Building and Facilities Management Study Committee (PBFMSC) meeting were reviewed and approved.
3. Discussion of Draft By-Law
The Committee discussed a draft by-law for establishing a Permanent Building Committee. Key points in the draft by-law that require further discussion or clarification included:
• Criteria for what would require a project to be brought before the PBC. Is it projects costing 100k, and/or over 10k requiring a building permit? Need to establish a waiver process so routine maintenance projects do not get bogged down in too much bureaucracy; however, if a department head thought a project warranted vetting by the PBC, it could be a condition of approval.
• Number of PBC members. Is it 9, 7, 5?
• Appointing responsibility for PBC members. Is it moderator/selectmen/school committee or just selectmen etc.?
• Exempt entities (HMLP, HHA, HHT)—may not be required to be under the purview of the PBC, but could still bring projects to the PBC?
• Is it the intent to have the schools under the purview of the PBC? Need to get a better sense of school committee support/concerns.
• Are only habitable spaces considered "buildings" that would need to be under the purview of the PBC, or should non-habitable interior spaces be included as well?
4. Discussion of How PBC Would Interact With Other Committees
Discussion then turned to how, if established, a PBC would work with other Town committees.
• School Committee—Depending on the timing of the Hingham Middle School project would it make sense to have members of the existing building committee of that project be members of the PBC? Does it make sense to exempt this project from the PBC given the timing? It was agreed that more discussion would need to take place with the School Committee and among the PBC Study Committee before finalizing any proposals.
• Capital Outlay Committee—The PBC Study Committee will be meeting with COC on December 9th to get their feedback, but the initial thought is the process would work much the same way it does today with any committee that needs to go to COC for funding.
• Community Preservation Committee—It was discussed that many of the CPC projects could benefit from the expertise of a PBC for Town sponsored projects both in the vetting process and possibly the design and construction phases as well. Jerry Seelen will speak with CPC Chairman Bill Reardon to get his thoughts on this idea.
5. Presentation by Pam Harty from the Energy Action Committee
Pam Harty gave an overview of the purpose of the Energy Action Committee and then led a discussion of how the PBC might want to integrate energy audit findings of Town buildings into the facilities study. The Committee agreed that it would make sense to look at energy consumption as part of the study, and may suggest that investment grade energy audits be done on a couple of buildings on a trial basis as part of the initial facilities study.
6. Wrap Up/Next Steps
Chairman Seelen summarized what the Committee would be submitting for Warrant Articles:
1. By-law establishing a PBC
2. Article authorizing funding for a facilities study
3. Modification to Capital Outlay By-Law (Article 14)Committee will be presenting to Capital Outlay on December 9th.
John Manley will get clarification from Town Counsel on status of including SSCC and the Sewer Commission under the purview of the PBC. Will also reach out to Mike Salerno to get his feedback and/or invite him to attend one of the future Committee meetings.
Next meeting of the Permanent Building Study Committee to be on December 16th.
Meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:12 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
John Manley
Secretary