LFNAC Minutes January 5, 2008

he Library Facilities Needs Assessment Committee met at the Hatfield Public Library at 9:00 a.m. Present were Martin Antonetti, Dodie Gaudet, Sue Gaughan, Harold Green, Milton Howard, Sheila McCormick, Lynn Omasta, and Mary Williams
Absent: Mike Paszek

Minutes from the meeting of December 8 were accepted as read with one correction: The minutes say November 17 at the top due to the File/Save As function of MS Word, but the content is from the December 8 meeting.

We agreed that the work of this committee will likely be finished by the end of 2008 and that we will have a recommendation to present at the Town Meeting in May of 2009

There was discussion about the need for an Owner’s Project Manager (OPM). The grant proposal written by Sheila and the Board of Trustees to the Mass Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) allowed $5000 for an OPM. MBLC strongly recommends an OPM, but it is not required. The person must be an architect or engineer. S/he works for the committee, attends committee meetings and is usually self-employed. We began drawing up a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) but decided to put that task on hold until we do more research on the value of an OPM to this process. Lynn Omasta works with several people who work as OPMs. She will talk with them and report back to this committee.

We discussed the various steps we need to take and the order in which to tackle them. We need to have a plan before hiring an architect (also called designer). We also need to keep in mind how much it will cost to build a library that will last the town of Hatfield until at least 2030.

Possible sites available in town: around Smith Academy, around Town Hall, between current Library and the Elementary School.

We spent the rest of the time brainstorming ideas for what we feel should be in the ideal Hatfield Public Library. [Later, Harold transcribed the list and emailed it to committee members.]

The committee scheduled another meeting for Saturday, January 19 at 9:00 a.m. at the Library. The meeting adjourned at 11:00.

Respectfully submitted

Dodie Gaudet
Secretary