LFNAC Minutes April 26, 2008

The Library Facilities Needs Assessment Committee met at the Center School at 58 Main St at 8:00 a.m.

Present: Martin Antonetti, Dodie Gaudet, Susan Gaughan, Harold Green, Lynn Omasta, and Mary Williams
Absent: Milton Howard, Sheila McCormick and Mike Paszek

The Committee toured the Center School to see if it might be a viable option for the new Hatfield Public Library. The Committee continued its meeting at the Town Hall and discussed what it had observed of the Center School. The building is in poor shape including the roof, there is water damage, the basement is damp, there is no wheelchair accessibility and there is minimal parking. The space is too large for what we need and would have to be shared with another organization complicating funding from the Mass. Board of Library Commissioners. The building is poorly configured for a library and would have to be gutted. An elevator plus other means of access would be required, making the project extremely costly. The Committee decided that the school is an unlikely possibility for a library. Also, since the town voted unanimously to sell the building at Town Meeting, that vote should stand.

MOVED, SECONDED and VOTED The Committee will not to consider the Center School for the new Hatfield Public Library.

We discussed the 15 responses to our RFQ. Seven firms were eliminated based on the criteria we set. We discussed the pros and cons of the remaining eight. They are Caolo & Bieniek, DRA, Hale Associates, Durland Van Voorhis, J. Stewart Roberts, Margo Jones, and Tappe. We decided to re-read these eight responses based on our discussion and re-rank them for a future meeting. At that point, we plan to narrow our choices to 3-4 firms.

Mary reported on the recent meeting of the Historical Society. They voted to take over responsibility of the Dickinson Building if the Library moves out. However, they are not going to make firm plans until LFNAC is further along in its process.

At our next meeting, we will prepare for Town Meeting. Members will come to the LFNAC meeting with a written list all of the reasons for not using the Center School as a Library and we will compile them into one handout.

At our next meeting we will also discuss the date of the following meeting. It is tentatively scheduled for May 24, but since that is the Memorial Holiday weekend, our meeting may be rescheduled.

Next meeting: Saturday, May 10 at 9:00 a.m. at Town Hall.

Meeting adjourned at 9:20 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Dodie Gaudet
Secretary