Public Safety Building Committee
Princeton MA Public Safety Building Committee Meeting Minutes
September 13, 2021, 5:00 PM, Town Hall Annex
Members present: Ian Catlow, Carl Soderberg, Felicitas Fandreyer
Others present: Ricky Thebeau, Phil Ott, Matthew Moncrieff, Chief Michele Powers
Others online: Holly Burgess, Linda Nash, Karen Cruise, Nathaniel Boudreau, Sherry Patch, Chief John Bennett, David Crowley, John Zimmatore, Rick McGowan, Mike Cote
The meeting began at 5:06 pm with an opportunity for public comment which yielded none.
New business regarding changing the scope of the cost estimate was discussed to include one full revision, focusing on one area, providing iterative
There was a motion to have Ms. Patch make the changes with C&B and the Selectboard. (VOTE)
Next up was the report on the visit to the Public Safety Building in Farmington, NH. This was attended by Mr. Catlow, Phil Ott, Chief Powers, Mr. Thebeau, Chief Bennett, and Mr. Moncrieff. It was noted that the building was built using LEEDs construction. The cost differences between that building and the plans for Princeton’s PSB include prevailing wages (~40% increase for Massachusetts), Princeton’s need for well, tank, and the resulting increased cost for a fire suppression system that does not have a public water supply. Cost savings ideas learned from this trip include possibly using multiple exterior finishes (front vs back) to reduce cost, ICF construction outside, and prefabricated construction inside.
Mr. Crowley and Mr. Zimmerman updated the group on the upcoming survey. Having reviewed previous surveys, the draft list of questions is attached. It was suggested to include updates in the survey.
At 6:07, the Advisory Board joined in the meeting with several questions. One discussion was regarding benchmarks of cost of PSBs of other towns. It was noted that cutting square footage increases the cost/square foot because of the infrastructure costs such as the well, plumbing, fire suppression, etc. It was reported that the cannabis tax cannot be used for debt service unless the plan receives a 2/3 vote at town meeting. The update on PFAS and potential for costs which may need to be considered along with PSB debt is that a RPF is out for the cost of a public water supply. For PFAS soil remediation, it will likely be ~2 years before there is a plan and cost report. The advisory board asked about the space in the mezzanine and why it isn’t in the square footage. The discussion came up again about the gym and how to quantify the use of the gym. The advisory committee left the meeting at 6:52.
There was a unanimous vote to accept the minutes from the last meeting.
At the next meeting, it was decided that the committee will organize the information to give to the architect. The possibility of an interactive video of the current facilities was proposed and how to have that created.
The next meeting will be held in two weeks. At 7:04 there was a motion to adjourn which was followed by a unanimous ‘yea’ vote.
Attachments:
Agenda link: https://www.town.princeton.ma.us/public-safety-building-committee/agenda...