SEL20121218

APPROVED

TOWN OF PELHAM

BOARD OF SELECTMEN SPECIAL MEETING

MINUTES

December 18, 2012

APPROVED – January 8, 2013

CALL TO ORDER – approximately 4:15pm

PRESENT:

ABSENT:

Mr. William McDevitt, Mr. Edmund Gleason, Mr. Doug Viger, Mr. Robert Haverty,= Mr. Hal Lynde, Town Administrator Tom Gaydos.

None

Also Present: SAU Assistant Superintendent Amada Lecaroz, SAU Business Administr= ator Adam Steel, School Board members Rob Hardy and Andy Ducharme, Gino Baroni of Trident Project Management

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE=

DISCUSSION

SAU 28 Administration Office Sp= ace

Mr. McDevitt said the sole purpose of the special meeting was to discuss the proposal to locate the Pelham SAU offices within the six empty classrooms l= ocated on the north end of Town Hall. Some time ago the Selectmen met with members of the School Board and the Assista= nt Superintendent Amada Lecaroz to discuss a number of considerations regarding the rehab of the space within Town Hall.&n= bsp; During the process the Selectmen worked with the School Board to bri= ng Trident into the discussions to review the proposal and bring forward items that may have been overlooked. It was noted that Trident was currently working with the Town on the fire stat= ion project.

Mr. Gaydos explained Trident’s initial task was to look at several other options for SAU space besides the six classrooms. The second task was to review the = costs given to the Selectmen regarding the renovation of the six classrooms. He suggested reviewing Mr. Baroni&= #8217;s findings, which may then lead to other discussions.

Mr. Gino Baroni, Owner and Managing Principal of Trident joined the discussion. He stated they we= re charged to evaluate the original study options that the School Board undert= ook on several sites on Marsh Road and to review repurposing the facilities wit= hin Town Hall. He said they draft= ed a matrix analysis looking at the non-Town Hall options and then they reviewed= the Town Hall. Mr. Baroni said th= ey recommended going with the Town Hall option for several reasons, such as th= ere is a basic structure and facility that is underused and the economics of repurposing the space make sense. He briefly commented about the reasons why Trident didn’t recommend the other options. = Mr. Baroni said in the recommendation to repurpose the Town Hall space, there were four proposals of varying complexity. In looking at the total cost and benefit they recommended (Option F1) the enti= re upgrade of the interior of the facility and doing the roof and window replacement. The cost for this option was reviewed and discussed with the architect (who did the concep= tual) and the construction manager (builder); the schedule, general conditions and costs were reduced. He said a reasonable project cost was determined to get the SAU into the Town Hall.

Mr. Gleason said there was a public perception that modifying the classrooms wa= s a relatively easy task with minimal expense.= He said $849,000 represented a large amount of money and asked for an elaboration of the nature of the modifications that would drive the cost to that level. Mr. Baroni said there were upgrades required for the mechanical, electrical and plumbing system and noted the fact there were new code stand= ards they had to comply with. The = space was originally designed for classrooms; the facility had to be revived to ensure it was up to code, habitable and safe etc. He further commented that the roof= and windows were in poor shape. <= o:p>

Mr. Gaydos asked if he was correct in reading the report that there were two reasons Mr. Baroni felt the location within the Town Hall was better; 1) highest and best use of the school property – if the SAU were located= in the school they couldn’t use the space for other purposes, and 2) cost per square foot to build new would be more than the renovation cost. Mr. Baroni replied (within Town Hal= l) the skeleton of the facility were already in place and would save money by not having to build new. He said = by renovating they were not taking a chance on unforeseen conditions. The cost per square foot was much = less to renovate. Mr. Baroni said = the third element was the collaborative effort of having the SAU office next to= the municipal offices.

Mr. McDevitt believed fixing the roof needed to be done. Mr. Gaydos answered yes. He said once there was occupancy i= n the area the roof would need to be done. Mr. Gleason confirmed that the cost of Option F1 - $849,600 was inclusive of the roof and window work.&nbs= p; Mr. Baroni answered yes. He said they were recommending a hazmat study be done right away to further so= lidify the number. They had looked a= bove the ceiling, but wanted an official study to be done. Mr. Gleason asked if the roof work= was unique for that section of the building.&n= bsp; Mr. Gaydos answered yes. Mr. Gleason questioned if the roof in its entirety should be reviewed; there wa= s a Capital Reserve Fund that had money in it for repairs. Mr. Gaydos said the entire roof is= a huge area. He said because of= the cost they had looked at breaking it into two parts. He said they were trying to focus = on the SAU project because of the price. Mr. Gleason believed there was a Capital Reserve containing approxim= ately $80,000 specifically for the roof. He felt it may be expedient and fiscally responsible to use those fu= nds to repair the roof at the same time. Mr. Gaydos said he didn’t know how much it would cost to fix t= he roof. Mr. Lynde asked if Town= Meeting was needed to use the money, or if it was at the Selectmen’s discretion. Mr. Gaydos believ= ed the money was set aside for emergency repairs; the roof was the most likely emergency expected. He believ= ed the Selectmen were the agents to expend. Mr. Lynde said fixing the roof may be something to consider, but not= add to the project.

Mr. Lynde said based upon the figures put together by Trident, the other options appear to be twice the cost of Option F1, even with the roof and windows. Mr. Baroni said the other options approached 1.5 to 2 times the cost. He provided an overview of the options/sites they had reviewed. Mr. McDevitt asked the square foot= cost for repurposing the classrooms. Mr. Baroni said the approximately square foot cost was $170SF-$175SF (total = 211; hard and soft cost). Mr. Viger commented that there were other sites reviewed. Mr. Baroni said there was a lot of= work done prior to Trident being engaged, such as estimating and site analysis.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Viger wanted the public to kno= w that there were different sites and alternatives reviewed.

Mr. McDevitt asked if the $170SF-$175SF cost met the ‘reasonable’ test. Mr. Baroni answered yes= . He said the cost was determined by reviewing the task, scope of work, other projects being done, and soft costs. He believed it to be a reasonable number for the outcome intended; it was a good deal for the reus= e of the facility.

Mr. McDevitt stated it would be extremely difficult to get people to agree (now that they’ve gotten their tax bills) that the proposed cost of $849,6= 00 was a worthy expenditure. He = noted that the School Board/SAU/tax payers would have to pay rent someplace. He said it may be helpful to find = an alternate way to finance it. =

Mr. Steel and Ms. Lecaroz came forward. Mr. Steel said he and Mr. Gaydos had several discussions about the project and it’s financing. He said RSA 33 (Municipal Finance = Act) covers the sale of bonds or notes. He believed a bond was an option the Town could consider but was not always the best option. Mr. S= teel said they had a conversation with Municipal Leasing Consultants (‘MLC’), a company they used quite often for municipal leases.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> MLC went out and spoke to several b= anks and came up with an actual quote; a copy of which was provided to the Selec= tmen for review. Mr. Steel pointed= out there was a Non-Appropriation clause that stated the lease payment shall no= t be subject to an annual appropriation for each fiscal year; this would make it fall under the purview of RSA 33 and become technically a note requiring 60% voter approval. He spoke to t= he bank about a ground lease that would avoid this clause, but the difficulty = for the bank was how to collateralize improvements to a building.

Mr. Steel reviewed the payment structure included in the proposal by MLC. It was their understanding from le= gal counsel that the Selectmen would need a warrant article that authorizes the lease in excess of a year as well as an appropriation; revenue would be received at the same time so the taxpayer effect on the Town side would be null. The School side would n= eed a warrant article / appropriation to pay the lease payments to the Town.

Mr. Gleason wanted to know if the bank had the ability to put a lien against the Town because of the amount of money. Mr. Gaydos said it would depend on the structure of the document; fo= r a loan they could provide the full faith and credit of the Town and given they have the ability to raise money through taxation. Mr. Gleason asked if DRA had been contacted to see if they would be receptive or had legal review in terms of whether or not it was something the Town could do. Mr. Gaydos said it was first he ha= d seen of the proposal. He had asked= the Treasurer to obtain quotes for a 5 or 10 year note. There was further discussion regar= ding the information provided by MLC.

Mr. Lynde discussed the current situation with the SAU and asked if they could continue to use the building they were currently in. Ms. Lecaroz said they couldn’= ;t stay in the current building because the number of staff that would have to= be housed in the building would increase to two separate institutions. Mr. Lynde asked if the School had a fallback position and budget for next year in the event the proposal didn’t go through. Mr. = Steel replied they had reviewed a number of alternative options. Based on how the Selectmen and Sch= ool Board respond in terms of the particular proposal brought forward, they will know how aggressive they need to be in developing and drawing up alternative plans. The proposal was the School’s primary option.

Mr. McDevitt asked what a reasonable rent figure was for a comparable 5000SF space. Mr. Lynde said in prep= aring the budget, the School must have included funds to pay rent for a facility = and questioned what the range was. Mr. Steel said they had only had initial discussions about potential rent. Mr. Viger asked what budget number= was carried forward. Mr. Steel sa= id they had $180,000 in the budget that was reduced to zero by the Budget Committee, pending a plan at reconsideration. Currently there were zero dollars anticipated for lease or rent in the School’s budget. Mr. Steel said through conversatio= ns he had a rough number of approximately $15,000 per month to rent space. He commented that the School knew = they would need to pay someone to fix space for the SAU, and they felt since that was the case, they would like it to also benefit the Town. Mr. Gleason said the School had to= have some fallback position to have money put back into the budget. Ms. Lecaroz said the plan was to g= o back at reconsideration with the ‘plan’. She said whatever they put b= ack into the budget at reconsideration would have to cover any back up plan.

There was a brief discussion regarding how a warrant could be crafted if going forward with a lease option. = Mr. McDevitt reviewed the dates for publishing a notice for a public hearing. He said a consensus would be neede= d by the Selectmen to publish the notice; they could still change their mind. Mr. Lynde felt the Selectmen had t= o move forward and offered to make a motion to do so. Mr. Gleason agreed that the full expenditure should be authorized. He suggested if they proceed they should seek legal and DRA’s opinion. Mr. McDevitt didn= 217;t feel a motion was needed. He = said if there was no objection the Selectmen would publish a notice for a hearing January 8, 2013. There was no objection. There will be furt= her discussion during the hearing. Mr. Steel said the Selectmen may have the ability to make a decision during the meeting on January 8^th. Mr. Gaydos will work with Mr. Steel and MLC to see what vehicles they have available. It was noted = that the Budget Committee was expecting something to come forward on this subject.

MISCELLANEOUS=

Mr. McDevitt said Conservation Chairman Paul Gagnon requested a 6-month extensi= on on the date the Selectmen gave him for the purchase of land discussed during non-public session.

MO= TION:

(Lynde/Gleason) To give Conservation Chairman = Paul Gagnon a 6-month extension on the date the Selectmen gave him for the purchase of land discussed during non-public session.

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carried.<= /p>

ADJOURNMENT

MO= TION:

(Gleason/Haverty) To adjourn the meeting.=

VOTE:

(5-0-0) The motion carried.<= /p>

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 5:25 pm.

= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Respectfully submitted,

= ; &n= bsp; = ; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Charity A. Landry

= ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Recording Secretary