##VIDEO ID:NgvXVzu4fGI## hello welcome this is the Jones Library building committee meeting for Monday January 27th 2025 at 3 pm um this meeting is being recorded pursuit to chapter 20 of the acts of 2021 and extended Again by chapter 2 of Acts 2023 this meeting will be conducted via remote means members of the public who wish to access the meeting May do so via Zoom or by telephone no in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings in real time via technological means a hyperlink to the meeting is posted on the town's online calendar this is a meeting of the Jones Library building committee and uh um is being conducted via remote participation so I'm going to do a roll call right now to check to make sure that um the committee's here so um and that their video is working properly so um first off the chair Austin sad is not here um I am Christine gry Mullen I am the vice chair so I'm starting this meeting and I will check in with the other meetings please acknowledge um far Amin here Paul bachan present George Hicks Richards here Alex lefave here Pamela Rooney here Sharon shie here and Melissa zawadski here great thank you for that all right this a reminder that the meeting is being recorded and will be updated on the town of amoris YouTube channel by members of the IT staff a link to this uploaded recording will be found at the top and the end of the posted approved minutes for this meeting the meeting is now called to order I do have one housekeeping rule to remind everyone if you can please mute yourselves when you're not talking it helps keep down the background noise um okay next thing um looking at the agenda we have uh finished with section one section two is the chair report there's um not really any report but I will detail how this meeting is going to run so um thank you for coming everyone uh I can see as of right now we have 44 attendees and there's 18 panelists um some of those people will be moving around as I um further discuss so the purpose of today's meting meeting is to continue the section 106 historic preservation revie review and consultation process um public comment will be um will happen but it happens at the end of the meeting at least an hour from now um it's the practice that the amount of time that will be allotted to each public um comment will depend on how many people want to speak so when we get to that point um you'll be asked to raise your hand if you would like to um give a public comment and at that time the facilitators will make a judgment call whether it's from 3 minutes to 1 minute so please be patient and um that way everyone will get to speak so uh we also encourage the public to um submit their comments via the town section 106 website and you can put your comments there the link to do so was posted with the announcement of this meeting so at this point um we have Angela Mills the executive um assistant for the town is helping us with this uh Zoom meeting she will be moving Jones Library uh building committee members um back to attendees and she'll be moving the Consulting parties uh for this meeting into the panelist section of the zoom um at this point I want to acknowledge that we have multiple panelists attending today and I will name those that I am aware of here and thank them for coming so first off we have uh Jenny Adams uh a public archaeology Laboratory um palal that's her organization a historic preservation consultant providing subject matter expertise to the town and the library uh next we have Mara Schulman and J of collaborative uh resolutions group uh crg and they're uh going to be facilitating the whole meeting today um with the Consulting parties discussion next I'm acknowledging um Bron Simon executive director and state historic preservation officer and Elizabeth sherva the deputy State historic preservation officer they're both from Mass historic commission or known as MHC we have Morin Amat uh executive director and Andrea Bono bunker program officer of the mass Board of Library Commissioners mblc next we have Max um sickler he's a historic preservation specialist and we have Rachel magum an assistant director and we have Bill marzella program analyst they are of the advisory Council on historic preservation or ACP do we have all three of those are they be in I can't tell if they're um Christine oh this is Bill I I don't know if Rachel has joined us but Max and I are here so thank you great thank you for clarifying that and welcome um next I have Anne peen she's a federal preservation officer with the National Endowment for humanities or NE okay are there any other federal estate officials being moved in that I um don't have on my list okay so um Christine uh I'd like to uh recognize sto Elman uh from representative dome's office in the audience wonderful uh Town Council president link reer is in the audience wonderful um I think that's everybody I'm it's Angela interrupting I'm sorry can I ask that if you're in the attendee room and you should be in the panelist room that you raise your hand please because some people aren't labeled per their name on my list thank you I'm looking here yes thank you hold please I'm checking the list too okay um yeah I do see a couple of um Jones Library building committee members still in there yeah I am trying to move I know you are there's so many people to move thank you no problem um so once Angela has managed to move everybody to their proper place we will be transitioning to um the facilitators Mara and Jake are you both there yes yes we are welcome thank you for doing this just checking I'll also remind people who later uh if they're dialing in on the phone and they want to do public comment um to press um star nine when and um when they're raising their hand to speak and people who are using a computer or a tablet they should click on the raise hand button at the bottom of their screen to let the chair know that they want to speak or the facilitators know okay so I see 35 panelists Angela are you still oh yeah I'm just I'm trying to move the jlbc members over to the attendee room I see that thank you Sharon do you see anyone else there we should acknowledge I'm sorry not that I with your so with your permission it's Angela again in okay she finally moved over I was having problems with Jane Wald moving over so Sharon for clarification you're staying in the panelist room correct correct okay and are we turning everything over to crg and Christine am I am I moving you over yes okay so I will say thank you um and we'll turn it over to our facilitators thank you so much thank you so much Christine uh good afternoon everyone my name is Jake and I'm here with my colleague Mara Schulman and we are facilitators from collaborative resolutions Group which is a community mediation Center that serves Western Massachusetts in Hampshire Franklin and Hampton counties our organization's mission is to increase individuals and organizations capacity to communicate effectively manage differences resolve conflict and work collaboratively and we have been hired by the town of ammer to facilitate this public meeting the two of us are neutral facilitators whose goal it is is to ensure that this meeting is run smoothly inclusively and respectively respectfully thanks Jake um I'm Mara and I'm gonna start by just giving a a little bit of sort of overview we want to make sure that it's clear who everyone is and which organization they're here on behalf of if you are able could you please change your name in the zoom um title to your first name and the uh organization comma organization that you're here representing that way we can be really clear when we call on Consulting parties which organization they're affiliated with so I'll give everyone a second just to make that change if you're able usually in Zoom that means that you hover over your name as you see it and then click on the ellipses and it should give you the rename option and then you type in exactly as requested first name and your organization Angela when I try and do so it's not letting me save the change so what we actually have to do is you have to click on participants in the bottom find your name click more and then click change panelist appearance and that will be where you can change it so it will be visible to everyone is that working for people no yes okay great wonderful uh I do see a hand raised are you facing technical difficulties with this no okay all right so once everyone has changed their name first name comma or Dash organization that will be really helpful for us as we facilitate um I'm going to start by doing a quick roll call for all of the Consulting parties if you hear your name please unmute and say here or present that way we can be confident that everyone's mics are working before we start the conversation um and I want to just make sure I don't miss anybody either so I'm just going to call the Consulting parties in alphabetical order and the names that I see here um on my list on in representing each of those organizations um I have the ammer area Chamber of Commerce and Jacob if you could just um unmute and indicate if you're here here thank you thank you ammer business improvement district I have Tony here wonderful ammer College Community engagement I have Sarah here the ammer historical commission meline and maybe H as well um I'm here but meline was unable to attend today something came up at the office at the last minute okay thank you you're welcome the emist historic preservation Coalition I haveck and also Maria Jeff here and Maria here wonderful the amorist historical society and Museum I have Liz and Gigi yes here thank you I have ancestral Bridges anuka and Michael yes Michael is here and an I'm sorry yes I'm mispronounced your name ana um Bernett Art Gallery I have Eliza it's actually Alisa and I tried to change my name to put in Bernett but it didn't save for whatever reason sorry okay well thank you Alisa the downtown ammer historic district committee um Nancy and Elizabeth uh yes I'm here and Elizabeth is here we have I tried to change my name but it's not showing it unless I take my picture away I can take that I can do that and I'm Elizabeth and I'm here thank you um we'll give folks another chance when I'm done with roll call to see if we can fix the the problem with the names um Emily Dickinson Museum Jane here thank you the friends of Jones Library System Jenny here Fross Library amoris College Martin here oh I'm sorry was Kent also present for FR Jones Library I apologize Kent Jones Library Sherry and Katherine here Sharon Sharon and Katherine yes I'm here Katherine's here I think I need reading glasses I'm Happ be a little trouble with this small font here okay literacy project Colleen no okay and the last one here is UMass ammer University relations Tony present thank you okay so just to give us one more chance to correct the problem with the names if you hover over your name in The participants list you should be able to rename it there well while we're making these Chang Sharon Sherry it's Angela I'm noticing that Bob paron has his hand up was he not supposed to be moved out of this um panelist room he I think that's entirely up to him and Max has his name uh his hand raised as well is there a no I I just um was also having issues with with uh changing my name but I had success with going down to the last option uh change name tag and virtual background and I was successfully able to add my organization title to my name tag that way wow thanks for the tip is is that when you're looking at your name or when you're looking at the participants uh it's just if you go to those three dots in the upper right hand corner of your of my picture yes should be the last I mean name tag and virtual background it did change it when I take my picture away and I don't think I'm the only one that's happened to so thanks did I miss anyone anyone here who is a Consulting party whose name I did not call hi this is Colleen from the literacy project I am here I just forgot to come in as a panelist in the beginning welcome thanks okay there are um I'm going to move along if you're really struggling with making that change um I think we'll be able to identify you anyway since we have all uh names um at least the first names there are different parts this meeting I'm going to sort of provide a road map um so that we're all on the same page about what to expect as the meeting progresses the section 106 review process addresses changes to Historic properties in light of overall programmatic and public use and I do believe that we might be sharing a slide um to illustrate this point but the town of amist has determined that the Jones Library renovation and Expansion Project will have adverse effects on historic properties in the town of ammer so the purpose of today's meeting and conversation is to build on the previous one we had in October as well as the written input that has been received from Consulting parties especially from the Massachusetts historic commission MHC and from the public the task today is to discuss measures to resolve the adverse effects and to discuss any mitigation proposals the first portion of this meeting which we're going to launch into shortly will be dedicated to hearing from the Consulting parties whose uh roll call we just completed the second portion of the meeting that will occur later in the afternoon will be dedicated to hearing from members of the public all of the feedback received both in the first part the meeting and the second will be used in crafting a memorandum of of agreement following this meeting we'll also be hearing from Jenny Adams the subject matter expert that we um heard uh heard recognized earlier to share specifically about the unresolved areas of adverse effects in more detail I'm going to turn over to Jake to talk about Norms before we begin thanks Mara so before we begin to open the floor for a comment from the Consulting parties we would like to establish some Norms or ground rules for this meeting we understand there will be differences of opinion that might be expressed at this meeting that is to be expected at collaborative resolutions group we understand that conflict is inevitable however how we manage conflict and how we communicate when there are differences does make a world of difference and will determine whether conflict will be constructive or lead to harm accordingly we are establishing the following three norms for communication during this meeting the first is to show respect for other people this means that we are agreeing not to use any disparaging language and we'll make sure that we are not using body language or facial expressions that undermine a culture of respect that's number one number two show respect for the space we know that it's challenging to gather a large group of people to discuss an issue where there may be differences of opinion and sometimes that it can be even more challenging to meet virtually so we are asking everyone to agree to show respect for the space which means that we are all agreeing that we act within the parameters for participation that the facilitators have established specifically people are agreeing to speak when it's their designated time to speak and not at other times it also means that people are agreeing that when it's their designated time to speak that their comments will be directly responsive to the scope of the meeting which Mara just went over that's number two and number three is to speak for yourself or the organization you are here representing this means that you are that we are agreeing that when it's your turn to speak you will speak for yourself or the organization you're here representing and not for other people everyone who wants to speak will have the chance to speak and will be invited to share their perspective those are our ground rules and norms for communication now we're going to hear from Jenny Adams from the public archaeology lab in more detail about the unresolved areas of adverse effects these are the areas where our discussion will focus today Jenny over to you thank you Jake and good afternoon everyone I think I'll have the first slide please while we're waiting for that I'll just um say again that as Jake and Mora have said that we're focusing today on the unresolved areas of adverse effect in a consultation meeting dial dialogue and section 106 has four stages of consultation among the Consulting parties the first is initiate the process the second is to identify historic properties the third is to assess adverse effects and the fourth is to resolve adverse effects we are at the fourth point right now in resolving adverse effects having identified historic properties and assessed the town has assessed the adverse effects and analyzed alternatives to avoid and minimize them in consultation and coordination with the Massachusetts historical Commission State historic preservation office and the Consulting parties with input from the public during this time an archaeological survey of the work areas on the Li on the library and stron housee properties was conducted which found that much of the area was previously Disturbed and there are no significant archaeological resources present so our discussion focuses on the library itself and the adjacent historic properties in the um course of okay now we thank you here's the first slide so just to go back for a moment um this slide expresses the fundamental goal of the section 106 consultation to ensure that the agency's decision in this case the town on carrying out an undertaking is well informed regarding effects to Historic properties and the views of others regarding those effects and here is the four-step process that I just uh that I just mentioned and we are in the resolve adverse effects point of that process so there are uh eight topics of adverse effects that were identified and presented in the Alternatives analysis report four of which MHC had specifically requested additional information on and those are listed in this Slide the first two items have been resolved by action of the trustees the Slate Roofing which will be replaced with natural slate and the stone cut for the book drop has been eliminated from the plans and the existing conditions will remain the other items we've acknowledged that they there's some overlap in these but we've grouped the remaining adverse effects by exterior and interior topics to allow for the discussion and the first grouping is the new addition size scale and massing exterior which involves ALS o visual changes to the setting of the ammer downtown historic district and the stron housee the location of two unique historic windows and the removal of the remaining West rear elements and on the interior the loss of two interior secondary staircases and changes to circulation and the loss of 20% of the original interior woodwork our discussion will also touch on and develop potential mitigation measures to be included the next slide oh there we are thank you uh to be included in a memorandum of agreement and the examples shown here in this slide of potential mitigation measures narrative and photographic archival documentation interpretive pres presentations and displays Rehabilitation of remaining historic Fabric in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior standards and design review these measures were included in the Alternatives analysis report and they align with exam examples from the National Endowment for the Humanities memorandum of agreement examples that uh have been posted on the town website for some time so hopefully U everyone has had a chance to look at those and the Alternatives analysis report and with that um I will turn back to Mara and Jake thank you thanks so much um we're going to start by hearing from representatives of the Massachusetts historical commission uh acknowledging their unique role as the state historic preservation officer and then after that we'll I will invite the representatives from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners to speak following that we will hear from other Consulting parties so so if I could turn it over to uh Bron and Elizabeth from the mass historical commission and maybe we could take the slides down as well so we thank you so we can see everybody this is BR Simon I am the state historic preservation officer and I don't have any prepared remarks I wasn't told I was expected to speak I thought this was a consultation meeting where we would hear the views of Consulting and interested parties with their suggestions for additional changes or mitigation measures uh we are still reviewing all of the comments that we receive every single day and our um have not yet drafted our response to the project proponent who is also the section 106 uh coord agent um Bob pent so uh sorry can't be of any more assistance here uh we are a Consulting party everyone puts us on a pedestal but if you look at the section 106 regulations yes the shipo is is a obligatory consultant party but it doesn't mean that the shipo has any approval or veto power all we can do is consult so we are looking forward to further consultation to resolve these adverse effects we know and we recognize the town's people's love for the historic Library uh we really compliment all of them for having such activism which is uh uh shows us that his historic preservation really does mean something to the communities and that's that's reassuring to us thank you thank you br and certainly we will be engaging in a conversation and at that point if you hear something you'd like to respond to you'll have other opportunities to share uh we just wanted to give you the opportunity first to speak um we'll turn it over to Meen and Andrea should they have something to share that they have that they like to share from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners but again we'll be engaging in a conversation after that hi I'm Andrea Bono bunker I am the library building consultant for the mblc we also do not have prepared remarks um I will just mention that our role in design and the development of the drawings focuses on functionality efficiency of workflow oversight of spaces Safety and Security um for for the operation of the library and we understand there is a delicate balance many of our libraries are um addition renovation projects or restoration projects so we understand that delicate balance um and we're happy to answer questions as this dialogue continues thank you Andrea so let's launch into the dialogue portion of the Consulting parties um I'm going to ask the representatives of the various organizations that are here today to raise your hands if you wish to speak given how many participants we have and the limited amount of time if you could please keep your comment to a minute that would be much appreciated and if your organization has already spoken we'd ask you to let others speak first before raising your hand for a second time we'll spend about 10 or 15 minutes discussing the resolution of adverse effects for changes to the exterior of the building that includes size scale and massing and then we'll spend another 10 to 15 minutes discussing the resolution of adverse effect effect to the building's interior we'll devote the majority of the time to discuss and develop potential mitigation measures to be included in a memorandum of agreement and I understand that Jane Wald of the Emily Dickinson Museum may have to leave early so if you have uh um something You' like to share we want to invite you to speak first and then we'll turn to those people who have raised their hands yes thank you very much thank you thank you very much I um uh uh I do need to leave in just a moment but I hope to come back in toward the end uh of the session uh so I apologize for that conflict um so uh the information shared at the beginning uh of this uh Zoom session is uh stating exactly what this um uh what this session is for um is is a little bit new to me it wasn't wasn't entirely clear from the invitation uh what that would be about um however I I think my uh I just want to state that um you know I've been a a member of the historic preservation community in and around amorist for a very long time and uh also appreciate uh how dedicated uh the citizens of this town are to its uh precious historic resources uh I also recognize that the uh the Jones library is one of those unique features of our town it's one of the character defining uh buildings here in ammer yet um you know ultimately the library's purpose uh is to serve its Community uh and the necessity of making choices to mitigate adverse effects on historic fabric to the greatest extent possible as part of this same Public Service responsibility and each of these goals really uh can support the other um the library is faced with kind of a Welter of um regulations that may not always be in sync and I believe is trying to do the best it can to um fulfill its public Mission while also preserving to the greatest extent possible uh the the historic appearance its exterior appearance um uh while needing to undertake changes uh to advance its public program in a changing landscape uh of technology and use and uh certainly identity for libraries in the 21st century uh so that I that's what I wanted to say at this moment um and I hope to join you again later in the session thank you Jane I understand that Tony from UMass ammer University relations may also have to leave early and if that's the case and you'd like to share something now I'll invite you to do that um well U thank you Mar I have two um statements one from the the bid and also um from UMass they're they're probably very similar so um uh but I I I did want to um on behalf of the bid uh want to underscore the importance of moving this project forward on behalf of the downtown business Community represented by the Amis business improvement district the Jones library is which as we all know is prominently situated in our Central business district is an Arts literature and cultural anchor institution and economic driver for our downtown proposed renovation and Expansion Project will only increase the veracity of this statement a vibrant reconstructed Library will amplify the its impact driving foot traffic boosting small businesses and increasing the quality of life in ammer additionally I want to emphasize that the Jones library has gone through a more than rigorous public process of community stakeholder engagement and has developed a plan that mitigates changes to the historic fabric of the building to the extent possible in summary we believe the benefits of this project far outweigh the impacts and my only outstanding concern is the swiftness with which we can bring years of thoughtful work and investment in this project for thank you thank you Tony okay I see that um we do have a uh hand raised and I'd like to invite Consulting parties to speak to the exterior detail um so I'll start with h please unmute yourself and and go ahead thank you Mara and thank you everybody for joining um in this process today and I'm particularly glad that our state Partners at the MHC are joining us today and for reviewing the project so far as meline isn't able to join me as the other half of our Consulting party um I'd like to address the issue that she would have talked about if she had been at this meeting um she would have talked about the size and scale of the um new addition and we believe that um an addition is the issue of an addition needs to be mitigated we'd like to scale back the addition so that it reads better as a secondary structure to the historic 1928 Jones Library building on Amity Street we also think that mitigation needs to be accommodated commensurate with the potential impact of this project I think everyone here is familiar with that with the potential impact of this project I really love my library and so what I'm saying on behalf of the M of the ahc is to consider a mitigation for the size and scale of the project the dimensions of the new edition far outweigh the dimensions on the west side of the existing building the 1928 building and I think that could be changed or mitigated in some way to resolve the adverse effects so I have comments about the interior but I won't make those now because I don't think this is the right moment for those if I'm understanding the process correctly like Jane there's a lot of new little bits to the to the way this meeting has been set up that I wasn't aware of at the time so I think I'll leave it there thanks thank you Hy and I apologize for the confusion we'll try to be as clear and transparent as we can be so for the next 10 minutes or so we'll be talking about the exterior and then we'll transition into a conversation about interior so um I'll hand it over to Liz now um please if you don't mind unmuting yourself and turning your camera on there we go sorry technical difficulties here hi I am Liz Larsson I'm the executive director at the ammer historical society which is often in these meetings referred to as Theon house we are the immediate abutter to the library and thus the exterior addition is going to I believe have the most impact on our view from here at the historic Society um however I believe that the opportunity and need to address this will actually enhance the view from my office window this past fall we were delighted to have the chance to be a part of the landscape architecture Studio seminar at UMass as part of it we worked with the students to Envision possibilities for the gardens and outdoor areas of the Historical Society in relation to our neighbor the Jones Library The Design Concepts that the students presented at the end of the semester really demonstrated to us how thoughtful and intentional Landscaping can affect the way a space is perceived and how people move around and through a space both physically and Visually I would suggest that any perceived negative impact of the rear addition can be addressed through thoughtful landscape planning and architecture that in the end would add to the downtown outdoor spaces for the public and enhance outdoor programming for both the historical society and the Jones Library so that is a suggestion that the Historical Society has for addressing the perceived massing issues with the rear addition thank you thanks so much Liz I'll hand it over to Elizabeth now hello um I'm Elizabeth sharp on the I'm on the local historic district commission I have three comments about the exterior the first is I do believe that the um addition the massing of it is simply too large it doesn't read like an addition it reads like a massive building sort of overwhelming it I'm fully in favor of an addition it's just that that one needs to be scaled back I can think of one now my first point is one small thing you could do on the west side is that there is that break between the old the original building and the addition and it's like a 5-ft breake if you could do something better or more enhanced with the design to understand so that people can really understand the difference between the old and the new that would um be a help on the West Side the second thing on the exterior is I'd like to see the louvered shutters put back on they are part of the 1928 design they're mentioned um in the historic structures report as being integral to the design and um the appearance of the Jones Library as a domestic building or in in a domestic appearance and um I know you have one of the shutters and I understand the hardware is still there I think you should go and put them back on exactly where they were in 1928 which is the facade and then some on the right side and on the east side and some on the west side as well third and finally the pineapple above the um uh scroll pediment doorway um it had um uh leaves that were crafted handcrafted out of sheet metal or something else put those back on so it looks like a a proper pineapple I mean historic preservation is in the beautiful details and I think you don't want to drop those two so definitely put the shutters back on pay attention to the juncture between the addition and the building the original building and make it a proper pineapple so those are my three comments thank you thank you I'll hand it over to Jeff now thanks Mara um yeah the ammer historic preservation Coalition also uh loves the Jones Library we also feel it's the addition is much too large um I'm looking at standards 9 and 10 the Secretary of the Interior standards for rehabilitation um nine says new additions exterior alterations or related new construction shall not destroy historic materials that characterize the property um the new work shall be differentiated from the old and shall be compatible with the massing size scale architecture features to protect historic Integrity of the property and its environment and as Elizabeth noted it the mass the massing is clearly out of scale with the historic building it also looks much different uh its materials are much more modern um is glass um I also look at secretary standards number 10 new additions and adjacent or related new construction shall be undertaken in such a manner that if removed in the future the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired um that is clearly not happening with the current design um some sort of separation and much smaller addition might might resolve um to those standards but um as it stands now they they do not and I'm also concerned that this large addition is visible from three different historic districts uh the ammer central business district the Gaylord Prospect district and the Lincoln Sunset district and that should be considered so we'd like to see a much smaller addition and it's SE seated from the historic building thank you thank you uh turning over to Michael Michael you may be muted oh there you go yeah thank you very much um as a history major who's always loved history um who lives in a house that dates from the 1840s you know his hisorical preservation would mean that my house would have no insulation what in Old New England was called the necessary would still be in a clapboard shed out in the backyard and of course there would be not only no indoor plumbing but no electricity we can of course strive to be faithful to the historical details and in the process kill this entire project and prevent the Jones library from being a 21st century re living resource for the community and that I respectfully submit is what needs to be the focus and as I W pointed out last time when through an unfortunate error I didn't get to talk till almost everyone had left um in 19 the 1920s um neither uh an Lopes nor I uh as a Jew and her as a person of color could have lived in many residential neighborhoods in ammer ammer was a very different place um the only job she could have gotten was as a menial worker which happened to some of her ancestors in that era um I absolutely could not have gotten in the front door at what was then Mass Agy or ammer college I think life is change and we need to reflect the realities of the first century and yes that may mean that what is built may not exactly replicate exterior wise what was there it may be larger than what was there but the most important thing is that the library continue its basic Mission which is to be a living resource for the entire Community thank you very much thank you Michael I see that Martin has raised his hand thank you uh Martin Garner director of the library at amoris College um it's it's been noted that the Library community library populations that's being served by the Jones does include the students at amers College as well as other universities and there's reference made to our state-of-the-art facilities and I'm coming to you from my 1966 uh mid-century building that is not state-of-the-art and want to speak in support of having a properly uh adequately sized uh addition which I believe the current plans have to provide the necessary programming uh that the Jones can provide uh our students uh cannot get everything that they need from us uh because we we we have a we have our focus and they do depend on the Jones uh for access to materials like children's materials and our education studies Department um and also the ability to interact with the community in a way that uh is more easily accessible to the public because there are some cultural barriers to getting people to come to our campus and so I I I wholeheartedly support um having a structure that uh from the street does uh uh preserve as much as possible of the historic look but internally provides the setup that's needed for the public library to be able to serve the community uh in the 21st century thank you thank you Martin thanks to everybody for sharing your thoughts about the exterior I see Kent has raised his hand yes I represent the friends of the Jones libraries which is a supportive organization uh that is interested as much in the historic preservation of the assets of this building as anyone else but they're also highly conscious that the needs for a library in 21st century amers are completely different from those in the early 20th century 1928 to be exact uh we need a much larger Library approximately 225,000 people go through the doors of this building every year in a normal year it cannot possibly be accommodated within the size of the building that is currently there and in fact um the library went through a massive plan I have it right now Andy I don't have time hello if you could please mute yourself if you're not speaking that way we don't have any background noise please continue Kent the library went through a massive planning exercise that determined the size of this library and it simply cannot be reduced the mblc the T the state's expert on sizing libraries agreed two-thirds of the voters in a referendum in in 2021 agreed 500 donors to our Capital campaign so far agreed uh it it would be lovely if we had all kinds of space it's a tight lot there isn't much room and we need the space so shrinking the size of this addition is just not possible to my untrained eye I do not see the massing problem I do see exactly the distinction between the old building and the new addition there shouldn't be a problem there thank you very much for considering this thank you and I see Maria has raised their hand thank you um I uh am going to make some references is back to the PNF that was submitted in February of 2024 which stated quote the work will comply with the Secretary of the Interior standards for rehabilitation and I think that that is what we should be doing and to do that we have to deal with the fact that the size scale and massing is not appropriate um I would also like to talk about the preservation brief from the National Park Service which states a new exterior addition to a historic building should be considered in a rehabilitation project only after determining that requirements for the new or adaptive use cannot be successfully met by altering non-significant interior spaces so um we've been given some some numbers here about to justify this but I will submit that Bel the size of this addition has not s uh adequately addressed the possibilities for having some of this programming that is currently planned for this to be in other spaces around town there is a new school building that's going to exist it's going to have lots of space we have two Branch libraries and um you know we do have UMass and and ammer college and if they would like to offer some space for some of these programs that would be I'm sure much appreciated as well so I think the notion that the size of the addition cannot possibly be any smaller is um is a false narrative and I would like to make a request of the um the uh the folks that are running the meeting you know uh can we you know it would be great if we could stay focused on the the issues at hands which are the adverse effects and what to do about them um I you know we can talk about how people feel about uh the library and I can talk about the 1100 people who signed a petition that said stop this project but I think we want to focus on the adverse effects thank you Maria and we've come to um uh the time that we need to transition to the next topic so thank you everyone for sharing your comments and observations and thoughts about how to mitigate adverse effects with respect to the exterior features let's turn to the interior details and I want to acknowledge that there is some overlap on issues with respect to size scale and the discussion of interior spaces so I'll ask first for ideas that have not been shared yet today during the first first portion of our conversation and then um if there are ideas that overlap with the conversation we just had regarding exterior details please feel free at that point to share them we'll use the same kind of format raise your hand if you'd like to speak I'll call on you based on your name and I'm keeping track of the organizations that have spoken so that we're hoping to get everyone an opportunity to speak who wants to so H thank you for raising your hand you may um please go ahead thank you Mara um I'm going to talk about the interior paneling another adverse effect and exactly how much gets removed if the Demolition and addition goes ahead um interior changes to the walls with paneling were proposed when these impacted the changes to accommodate the book sorter in the historic Library director's office as this is no longer a part of the scheme I.E the book Sorter and the hole in the front facade has been removed that was also proposed to accommodate this machine then it seems to me that there's a way to mitigate the issue of the paneling there's no reason to remove paneled walls on the interior that connect the 1928 building to the 1993 building um between the directors the library director's office and the addition the addition obviously is outsized and should be scaled back thank you thank you Hy does anyone else want to speak okay Jeff please with respect to Interior details yeah again I'd like to quote the Secretary of the Interior standards number one is a property should be used for its historic purpose or be placed in a new use that requires minimal change to the defining characteristics of the building and its site and environment standard number two the historic character of a property shall be retained and preserved the removal of historic materials or alterations of featur and spaces that characterize a property shall be avoided I would argue that the Philippine mahogany Mill workk um which which has been exquisitely crafted um carved is maybe the foremost at least in the interior the foremost um defining characteristic of the historic character of the building and the idea that we will be removing 20% of it is just um is I think very destructive to the historic fabric um I would also argue with the need for tearing down walls to expand uh the circulation pattern of or expand the rooms in the U library it was design designed to be resemble a Connecticut Valley house not a 20th 21st century library and we should honor that um the number of attendant of uh visitors each year most recently was 142,000 not the 225,000 that the capital campaign has been um presenting um it's just also the uh the mblc grant stated the library population is 51,000 that is is pretty ludicrous the population of ammer is 39,000 and there are three college and university libraries in town um so I just would argue against the need to tear down this very uh irreplacable um mill work in the Jones Library thank you thank you Jeff Michael thank you um a different aspect of the theme I sounded before is that in 1928 the notion that the story of people of color in amers Ana's family six Generations being only one example I mean that would have been given very short shrift there certainly was no place for anything having to do with the story of people in color either historically or presently um I think one of the key reasons ancestral Bridges is here is there needs to be space in that library number one for people of color who were simply in a back corner in the 1920s um to be encouraged to take advantage of the new library and two for them to find at least something about their history once again the historic physical preservation um Can effectively be used to kill that and I very much hope that will not happen um we are talking about people who are the descendants of those who were bought and sold as property including here in the Pioneer Valley and we can't change that history but part of what this Library renovation is all about in the 21st century is including that as part of the history and yes as a of History who Treasures New England if some of the physical details have to be changed then so be it thank you thank you Hy before I call on you I'm going to give people who haven't had a chance to talk to the interior question a chance um Kent please go ahead oh ken I believe you're muted yes thank you um with respect to moving spaces move removing walls the needs of the friends of the Jones Library wants the town library to be directly in the center of ammer it wants the town library to be in this building in order to do that however dramatic changes need to be made a new addition needs to be put on I think fine goal Alexander known for its historic preservation uh creativity has come up with a with a particularly good solution to the many many conflicts that occurred in providing a 21st century library in this early 20th century building it is not the case that the that the library has abandoned the books order we definitely need a books order but down the road we can't afford it now 2 four other libraries around the Commonwealth have books orders and U some of them with circulation smaller than ours now not to say what they will be what it will be when this addition is uh is completed and mblc may want to weigh in on some of the issues with respect to security which is very different from the earli 20th century with respect to building codes which are very different with respect to uh workflow which is very different and F go Alexander has done a fantastic job accommodating many many many different conflicts coming up with a solution that will preserve this the assets of this building in a way that would not be preserved if the library moved somewhere else we could have built a building a lot less expensively in another part of the town and abandon this building but we want the library to be in this historic building in order to do that we need to make some modest changes and keep the library there thank you thank you Kent let's turn it over to Andrea thank you Mara I just wanted to address from the MC's regulations in our perspective um even though there is not an automated Materials Handling unit anymore you need that space for the carts and the amount of work that needs to be done in order to sort the books um put them in proper put them on proper carts bring them to proper locations the way that that particular area of the existing building is is structured um makes it very difficult in its existing state to be able to perform that work um without creating pinch points so it's important for the operation of the library and for workflow efficiency to have that area open as the circulation desk does not have enough room behind it for that type of operation um and in terms of the this is going back to the previous discussion s the previous 10 minutes but um we have worked with the Architects to help find efficiencies and we've allowed a reduction in size in this building but no further reductions are allowable as your programmatic elements will no longer be able to be incorporated if you cut down the size and I think we have stated in a letter before that if these particular um if this if the way in which the um our TS have um designed the circulation area and even the Upper Floor if that does not um remain and the square footage is not met the programmatic elements are not met the building actually has to become bigger in order to accommodate those so um in terms of workflow efficiency and functionality that is our perspective from the mblc to make sure that it is a 21st century functioning library in order to meet the needs of the community thank you so much thanks Andrea um Catherine please I just wanted to speak briefly to the woodwork I know I I understand and agree that it is absolutely beautiful and that is one of the reasons that it has been such a um strong motivation to keep as much as we possibly can throughout this building project um I know the um director's office and the administrative offices have been mentioned several times and I know Mr Lee's latest letter highlights the um fireplace surrounded by the Philippine mahogany in the um the receptionist's office and it is beautiful and it is not going anywhere um that particular wall is not going anywhere and none of the fireplaces and the surrounds are are in this new building um I also wanted to mention that from a historic standpoint the administrative offices the uh business manager's office the um receptionist's office the outer office they have already been changed completely from when they were built um you can see in the um one of the photographs from uh Jenny's slideshow was the of the original boatwood room which is now the um um receptionist's office and if you look now the doorway that is on the left side of the fireplace which is now a closet was actually originally a door into the um director's office because that was a separate room um so we have made changes over the years and we are a library that's what we need to do and we need to do them and I believe we are going to be doing them with the greatest respect to the builders and the original trustees and Samuel Min Jones and all of those who originally dreamed up this building and planned it and I believe we're going to be doing the best we can to honor those and yet continue to serve the population of ammer thank you thanks Katherine we'll hear from Jacob and then H before ending this portion of the conversation good afternoon thank you uh for inviting the chamber to participate in this important discussion um my comments are not pared out between exterior and interior um effects but i' still like to share them um so the ammer area Chamber of Commerce has consistently supported this project uh ver expressing our endorsement uh in 2022 and our support remains firm we still recognize the importance of addressing potential adverse effects uh on the library's historic character um we feel that the library is is not only a vital historic and Civic asset but also critical to uh as an economic driver for downtown amorist with over 225,000 annual visitors it generates Ates significant foot traffic um to the area and uh extending to local businesses research uh shows that similar types of Library Renovations result in like a 40% increase in patronage if this project uh achieves comparable results that would bring an additional 100,000 visits annually to downtown armmer providing a much needed boost to our local businesses um we understand that the concerns have been raised about adverse effects particularly related to the slate roof and the the book drop I think that the library has demonstrated good faith in addressing these concerns by making concessions on both elements uh additionally The Architects have Incorporated thoughtfully designed uh solutions to preserve key features of the 1928 building while also modernizing it to meet the needs of of a very heavily used public space the um project has been subjected to rigorous review over 10 years with ample opportunity for public input and Analysis and further delays risk not only escalating costs but also jeopardizing the ability to implement these carefully crafted mitigation measures the chamber believes it's crucial to balance the preservation of ammer historic assets with a practical need to create a library that can meet demands of a growing and diverse Community um the expanded and and modernized Library will also address critical gaps in our Civic infrastructure providing community meeting and event spaces uh that will further strengthen downtown Amis as a hub for cultural uh and economic activity and um I'll just close by saying that chamber urges all parties to finalize agreements on this proposed mitigation so that uh this incredibly vitable uh vital project can move forward work confident that the libraryies approach strikes an appropriate balance between preserving its its historic character and enhancing its functionality for our future Generations um so thank you for Consulting with the chamber for opportunity to share our perspective on how this project can mitigate the adverse effects while also driving um Community benefits for ammer thank you um we haven't heard from Sarah from Amis college so I'll turn to her hi everyone um as Mara said my name is Sarah I am a staff member here at amers College um and work in the college's Center for Community engagement I've been following this project for six years and I think I have lost a year of my life to meetings um but I have learned so much and I and I think that what I want to share since we're talking about the interior which is also related to the massing and the exterior is that you know over the the six years that I've been going to meetings and learning about this project there has been so much thought thoughtful work put in to mitigation strategies to balance exactly what Catherine and others have talked about you know the need for a library that serves the the public that we have and the future generations to come um while also preserving the history um of of the building in the space And for those of you who have been in the building um you know you know that it has been chopped up and changed over time and that the Architects um and the library staff and all of the folks that have been involved in the project have worked incredibly hard to balance um sort of the growing needs and the changing needs of the of the patrons of the library while also preserving the past um you know the uh two things that I want to share um since we're talking about uh the interior is that if any of you have been up to the archives in the library it really is not adequate um and one of the things that I worry about is that you know the the discussion about size um of the building is going to actually prevent us from uh preserving the historical materials that tell the town story and so I think there's a funny tension at play around saving the place but not the things that make up and tell the story of our local community so I think the um everyone has worked very hard to do that and the other thing that I would mention is that the town actually has a number of these buildings that have worked um hard to preserve a past story while also having a modern function so here at College we have 79 South Pleasant Street which is right down the road from the Jones Library which is a church in the front um and then a building in the back um and it certainly serves a broad range of people and what's amazing about it now is it's fully accessible and it's environmentally sustainable um but yet preserves the building that's there um there's also another building um like two blocks away uh the Lum that again is uh walking this fine line between you know preserving the past serving a modern function and really supporting the educational mission of the college so the work that the folks at the Jones Library doing I think is really aligned with what's happening in the community and I appreciate the efforts that so many people have made to to actually make mitigation strategy decisions all throughout this process so um just again great appreciation and I look forward to everyone coming to a shared agreement uh signing anou so we can move forward with this project thanks I see One Last Hand raised Maria would you like to speak yes thank you um getting back to the point at hand here the handcrafted Philippine manogany mill work as well as the floor plan are character defining features features of of an historic building and according to standard number five distinctive materials features finishes and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that characterize a property will be preserved will be preserved um I want to question um I don't think that uh even if it is true that 20 to 25% uh is what is going to be discarded I would argue that's too high a number and I have yet to see an explanation for that percentage by my reading of it I think the percentage is far higher but I think zero should be the goal um and permission to negatively impact mill work and floor plan according again to the the rules here in Rehabilitation historic building materials and character defining features are protected and maintained as they are in the treatment and preservation latitude can be given if these materials are deteriorated damaged ex having ISS but that's not the case pains have been taken over the last 100 years to maintain this mill work in excellent condition and that should remain um Maria I'm just goingon to ask you to wrap up your comments um yeah yep yep yep um I want to go back to the purpose of the the Secretary of interior standards which is to provide guidance uh to building owners building managers preservation Consultants Architects contractors and project reviewers prior to beginning work now this entire Pro process should have happened years ago it did not happen years ago and so the concerns that people have about like oh my gosh we have to hurry up and get this done that's neither here nor there this is an historic building it should have been done it wasn't done when it was supposed to be done and that timing is not an issue I also just have to say there may have been a thousand meetings about this but when voices of dissent and disagreement have not been allowed inside those meetings and have an impact that's a thousand meetings of people agreeing with each other and so um I don't think that this process over these last many years has adequately taken in these concerns about an historic building and how we should not be harming it and we could have found a way to do this that everybody could have been happy with but that didn't happen thank you Maria Sarah did you have one last comment before we continue yeah I just wanted to clarify that you know I I did not mean to be disrespectful in saying you know that there were a thousand meetings I was specifically referring to the webinars that were hosted during the pandemic where people came and talked about the uh Department of the interior's treatment it was really a very educational opportunity um and then we've had folks uh who lead archives uh make public presentations and then take questions from the audience so I think that there's been a lot of really good educational opportunities to help the broader Community understand these Concepts um which if you've never done historic preservation are kind of confusing um when you apply them and what they mean especially in the context of of public buildings so I just wanted to express um some clarity about you know my comment which might have been seen as uh not helpful oh thank you Sarah um I see we have one last hand I'm Gonna Give You bill just a moment to speak because I know you haven't had a chance to talk yet but I do want to continue to the next portion of our meeting so if you could um maybe keep it to a minute that would be great yes I'll be brief thank you so much um so I just had one clarifying comment um about the section 106 review process there's been a lot of discussion about compliance with Secretary of the Interior standards I just wanted to note that that is not a requirement of the section 106 review um that that this project or or any project meet the SOI Rehabilitation standards generally that that is the goal to avoid adverse effects but um it's it's not a requirement there may be a separate requirement under neh or HUD Grant um guidelines or requirements but I just wanted to be clear that um um for the purview of of sexual no6 that's um not um not a requirement thank you thank you and that's a perfect segue into what I was uh gonna um share now which is that if you recall the slide where we we saw what the adverse effects that have been identified were there was a few there was a new addition size scale and mass scene um there was loss of two interior staircases and changes to circulation and the loss of 20% original interior so those being the adverse effects that have been identified and we've heard a lot about them over the last um hour uh does anyone want to offer any specific or possible mitigation measures that you would like to have considered with respect to addressing those adverse effects um this will be the chance to hear from Consulting parties about mitigation measures that haven't been proposed yet or those that have been proposed for for example we heard about one with respect to exterior Landscaping as a mitigation measure for this the mass of the addition so that's the sort of thing I'd like to turn us to now um and please raise your hand if you have uh something you'd like to share with respect to possible mitigation measures um to address these adverse effects that have been identified yes Jeff yeah I just point out that section 106's goal is not just mitigation but also avoidance and minimization of the adverse effects and it's the view of the ammer historic preservation Coalition that the the destruction of any Philippine mahogany mill work should be avoided and the um New addition should be significantly downsized and separated from the current historic building so those are the two resolutions i' propose thank you Jeff are there any um participating um sorry any Consulting parties who would like to share possible mitigating measures with respect to the adverse effects that have been identified yes Jenny Jenny Hamilton from the friends of the library and for those who don't know I'm um actively involved in the capital campaign and that is my my paid position as as a um employee of the friends um and in my um research as part of that Outreach and planning um I've looked at lots of Library Capital campaign websites particularly other historic buildings around the country um one of my favorite examples as a small Library believe it's in Free Port M um that was you know much much smaller than the Jones but more about the size of the north Hammer Library um and they have used a online virtual tour um of their old building um so that you can walk through the old building as the old building um existed um on their website um and I believe from the uh 360 degree photography that the Architects did early on in the process we have the um the footage to be able to do that um so I think as part of the um examples of of documenting what exists now um I think that could be a a nice possibility to to show um the differences um I know lots of other folks have shared other ideas in our previous meeting and in um written comments um but that's one I think is worth mentioning thank you Jenny I'll just pause a moment to give anyone who has um a thought sort of percolating regarding measures that could be used to mitigate the adverse effects before we move on yes Elizabeth oh you are muted Elizabeth if by mitigation you mean to substitute for it um I don't really see that but I I still think that the architectural details on the front of the building um are very important and that you should put the shutters back on and really do a nice job of restoring that um Central doorway which is really the focus of the AMD Street side and it's it's I think it's the thing that everybody in town notices most thank you well thanks to everybody um amongst the organizations that are here today as Consulting parties for sharing your thoughts we're going to turn back to Jenny Adams Who Um can talk to us about what the next steps are going to be with respect to this entire project thank you Mara I believe there's a slide for this section but um I would just say that following today's meeting the next steps are that the town will file the e106 documentation with the advisory Council for historic preservation this officially invites The Advisory Council to participate in the consultation process going forward and they will make that decision and let the town know the town will also draft a memorandum of agreement for the project as the consultation moves towards resolving the adverse effects and the mo MOA will include common stipulations and treatment such as as those in the U Alternatives analysis that I mentioned earlier and it will also include input from the consultation process such as what was just mentioned those kinds of stipulations and treatments the town will circulate the draft memorandum of agreement to the Consulting parties for comment and and then uh we'll finalize the mo MOA and the execution of the memorandum of agreement and its subsequent implementation concludes the section 106 consultation process with that I'll turn it back tomorrow thank you you um we're going to be moving into the next portion of the meeting now where we hear from the public and so Jake will be facilitating um that portion but before we do that I just want to see if um our representatives from the mass historical commission or the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners wanted to share any final thoughts it looks like not so I'll turn it over to Jake to facilitate the next portion of our meeting which um we'll be soliciting comment from members of the public who are here today right thank you so much Mara so we will now be moving to the public comments section where members from the public can have an opportunity to share their thoughts on topics presented as being part of the scope of the meeting today if you haven't already please use the raise hand function if you'd like to share a public comment if you are participating by phone rather than Zoom you can press star n on your keypad on your phone and that will serve as raising your hand we will ask members of the public to speak in the order of raised hands attendees are welcome to express their views for up to three minutes if we have 10 or so participants if we have more than that 10 to 30 would be about two two minutes and more than that would be one minute when called on please identify Yourself by stating your full name address and pronouns and before we start receiving public comment I just want to review quickly the Norms that we established earlier which allows us to create a process that is inclusive of different opinions and respectful to all our Norms are one to show respect for other people two to show respect for the space and three to speak for yourself and not for others right and now we will call on members of the public um who are signed for public comment in the order of their raised hands so first I'll call on Lydia Vernon Jones you can unmute Lydia are you there you are still muted you will need to unmute your voice in order for us to be able to hear you all right I'm not hearing from Lydia so why don't we come back to Lydia um and move on to the next while Lydia figures out how to unmute uh next up we have Carol gray thank you Carol gray 815 Southeast Street she her I was a Jones Library trustee uh I served on the I chaired the budget committee I was on the buildings committee I was on the long-range planning committee which wrote a long range plan um a decade ago which contemplated no need for an addition at the Jones uh but one was needed for the north Amis Library I founded the green committee which doesn't still exist um I wrote the first proposals for Community preservation act funding and I should also say um I'm also a lawyer so I care a lot about law and uh I recognize that uh the 10 106 review does not say that the secretary standards are legally binding however the preservation restriction agreement says they are legally binding and I find it alarming but sadly not surprising in this era we live in where the rule of law is so little respected that this project has sunk Millions into this uh this whole plan which completely violates the secretary standards and uh that these continue to to to roll forward it it it takes a very Brazen government to ignore the law and think that if it's just ignored they can just keep going but we see from the federal Viewpoint that that that is an idea that's not new anyway I I rais this because uh I really appreciated um Miss Simon's report that item that listed the standard standard two the historic character of the property will be retained and preserved clearly that's completely violated you're you're taking away the woodwork you're destroying the the the director's office which was where Robert Frost would store his manuscripts in the safe there key elements of the of the historic character are being wiped away that violates standard two distinctive standard five distinctive materials features will be preserved uh Maria kop piki and others have elaborate eloquently on how uh that will distinctive features are being destroyed standard there's no way to get around this new additions uh cannot um will not destroy the historic materials features spatial relationships that characterize the property the massing of this addition absolutely DFS the historic building there is no way that that could ever comply with the secretary standards the last standard standard 10 new additions and adjacent or related new constructions will be undertaken in such a manner that if removed in the future the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would be unimpaired how can we possibly think that any amount of tweaking adverse effects will will make that okay you can't remove this new addition without destroying the whole building and it's it's it somehow it's just become uh sorry there's if someone could M themselves Carol that was the that was the end of the three minutes so please take a moment to wrap up your your comments I'll wrap up to say it would take a lot of Courage for people to call this like it is um Miss Simon was absolutely right in saying the standards are violated people should stick to that and they should start caring that if sued the town will will lose a lawsuit on the preservation restriction agreement which says it must be strictly adhered to the secretary standards must be strictly adhered to you can't ignore the law forever and if you're sued you're have just waste Millions more I it will take courage to say no to Carol thank you Carol for your comments uh next up we have Mickey and Mickey please unmute when you have a chance and then you can share your comment try this again there we go Mickey audio can you hear me yes Mickey we can hear you all right um yeah I just want to say just to start um the section 106 review process is meant to encourage robust active full public participation and I think setting a fixed ending time for this meeting and limiting comments to one minute is really um thwarting public participation um so I will keep my comment short my name is Mickey Rathbun I live at 666 Southeast Street in amorist uh my comment is addressed to the massing size and scale of the proposed Edition the town has conceded that the addition will have an adverse effect on the Jones library but the town CLA claims that the need for more space outweighs the interest in historic preservation that claim needs to be seriously scrutinized the Secretary of the Interior standards for rehabilitation of historic buildings includes specific guidelines regarding additions quote new additions should be considered only after is it is determined that meeting specific new needs cannot be achieved by altering non-ar finding interior Spaces end quote the town never undertook this inquiry when the MHC asked for the town's Alternatives analysis regarding the massing size and scale of the addition the town's response was that additional space was needed for programming that is not a sufficient response a 2012 space planning report conducted by the mass Library System concluded that with some specific space reassignments the existing Library would have ample room to fulfill its functions well into the future this plan was never seriously considered the town's claimed need for more space was based on a grossly inflated estimate of the library user population the 51,000 user figure included not just the town's 20,000 full-time residents but also more than 20,000 UMass students and other college students who have several excellent libraries on their campuses and are unlikely to use the Jones library and the number of actual users of the Jones has decreased dramatically uh mblc statistics show that the number of annual visitors to the Jones library has fallen from 319,000 in 2014 to 143,000 in 2023 that's a cut of more than half in 9 years compared with the 47 similarly sized Town libraries in the state the Jones has more than adequate space to serve its user population very few of these towns have a branch library much less two Branch libraries or the numerous University and college libraries that the town of ammer has the timer went off so I'm GNA ask you to wrap up your comments shortly please all right the town will probably argue that it's too late to examine the actual need for the addition as the town was well aware the section 106 review process should have been conducted early in the planning spaces stages so that a detailed analysis of space and need could have been done but because the section 106 review is only now underway now is the time in fact it's the only time to take a closer look at the town's Alternatives analysis regarding the massing scale and size of the addition the MHC should is insist that the town demonstrate the need for the expansion before this plan goes any further thank you thank you Mickey uh our next attendee to speak will be luk Conover here we go can you hear me yes we can move can you hear me okay very good thank you um in the 1960s a it a German architectural firm uh started the notion of an open office a large open space and that was pretty soon extended to primary schools and libraries um so that uh they they got rid of interior walls and uh groups of people would share a large open space this in in offices went out of style that we now have H cubicles so that people actually do have separate spaces at at a minimum uh many offices have gone back to having separate rooms in primary schools the uh a lot of open classroom primary schools have built walls including the two primary schools in Amherst Wildwood and Fort River they decided that the uh the teachers decided that and and the school administration decided it just wasn't going to work the fashion of building libraries as large Open Spaces is exactly that a fashion and what I'm concerned about is that at some time in the future it may be discovered that smaller spaces individual spaces are really preferable and at that point if we have uh basically torn the inside out of the Jones Library it won't be possible to restore the functionality that it has now so this project is going to uh take a historically useful building um uh destroy that utility with the way it was perceived at one time for something that may turn out to be a mistake thank you thank you Lou for your comment next we'll hear from letia lalet can you hear me yes okay thank you Latisha lefal at 18 Dana Street in am first it is a pleasure and a privilege to speak on behalf of the Jones renovation project thank you for giving me the opportunity I believe strongly in this project and the good it will bring the town of ammer I am not concerned about the adjustments to the historic fabric of the Jones that are needed for the project to be clear the historic preservation losses are well worth it for the overall project and the town's gain what really matters to me is that the Jones Library continue to serve as the heart and community center of the town of amorist well until the 21st century it is having great difficulty doing that right now and this project ensures that it will be able to do so in the future thank you very much thank you latia next up Nancy Campell um yes this is can you hear me yes uh Nancy Campbell uh 369 Middle Street in ammer a 100 years ago amers residents collected stones from their fields and surrounding lands to build the mighty walls of the Jones Library the original stones are still in place and will likely remain so for hundreds of years to come today more than 500 residents have instead come forward with pledges of over $10 million and counting to ensure the longevity of the Jones it's a beautiful historic building but it has to become an efficient multi-purpose 21st century Public Library I think the delicate balance between old and new both for the interior and the exterior has been respected in the current plans thank you thank you Nancy I want us Circ go back to Lydia to see if Lydia has figured out how to unmute and share her perspective Lydia can you hear me yes yes I'm sorry I didn't really me to raise my hand before and I'm sorry it it paused the meeting but since uh you asked me again I will say that as a climate change activist I don't think we can move ahead without considering the adverse effects of building this addition and tearing down the other addition to climate change and the responsibility that the town of ammer has to the entire world in terms of the adverse effects there they seem to have been lost in the conversation over the last couple of years um and so I would like people to open their eyes and think about the future and consider what our responsibility is in terms of the of the climate and the his you know and the preservation of our society and our plants and animals thank you thank you Lydia next we have someone whose name just says iPad oh that's me because I got the can you hear me yes we can hear you that was me I guess my name is Hilda greenbound 298 montue Road and um I'm speaking in behalf of my late husband who was a a historian a European historian and a trustee of the Jones Library who when he first heard of this project already was telling the Architects you're making a mistake and nobody would from then on nobody has bothered to try to make any kind of an accommodation with any of us who would like to try to make the right addition to this Library what is disturbing me the most today is that I'm only hearing from the I hate to call it the other side but it's the people who in favor of making this addition I don't see any any sense in them that they want to make any kind of an accommodation at all in fixing an ugly building I'm sorry to say that but in fact it is that has no relation to the old building it impacts negatively on three historic districts and I don't hear anything coming from the other side that they're willing to try to negotiate what that building should look like and we've been trying to do this now for a very long time and nobody's been listening I want to say that an advocation of my husband and I over the last 60 65 years has been historic preservation and we've saved over two dozen old houses and put them back on the tax rolls at considerable higher value than they had as old houses that were falling apart and not well maintained so I do have a little bit of sensitivity of what the addition should look like and what it looks like now to me is not adequate and in terms of mitigation um what I'm thinking of the first thing on the list was they want to document and put in archives well that's to me is the same issue of going as going to the are equivalent to going to the cemetery and looking at a stone of somebody who's dead and long gone and never coming back the craftsmanship and quality of the materials used in this house were the best that were available in 1928 and they are irreplaceable um I think from the beginning and if you look at the website from this architect you'll see that their additions do not be a must respect in terms of the old buildings that they're attached to us your timer has your timer hasap I just want to say that I think you picked the wrong architect and if you want to go see something that looks really good go look at the new addition to the north armmer library that was the right architect and the right Builder and that addition fits in with that 1893 building almost perfectly and this one is 180 degrees opposite and I think there needs to be something need I'm gonna need to cut you off so that we have time for everyone to speak and everyone has equal amount of time to speak thank you so much for your comment next up we'll hear from Warren can you hear me yes hi my name is Warren Graham 16 Applewood Lane in amest I appreciate it that the people who are planning this expansion and renovation are working hard at preserving the character of this building this historic building that we have and love and are working at improving the library at the same time to meet the needs of the 21st century for people like all of us I believe the planned mitigations will be successful and worthwhile thank you very much thank you Warren next we'll hear from Bonnie can you hear me yes yes okay um I am a retired academic librarian I am um a past president of the friends of the Joan library and I and my family have been regular users of the Jones library for over 50 years um through Generations now um I just as an aside I can say that college students do use the Jones library and that an academic library is not the same thing as a public library at all um they are very different things and we are talking about a build uh library now for a community um the role of the library in any Community has changed dramatically over the last 100 years um and this community in ammer has changed dramatically um from the time of the original building in the 1920s um and also over the last 25 years um from the time that we did that the library attempted another uh change in the year 2000 um this is a very complex and dynamic Town um and a library needs to be designed to meet that um the present library is wonderful for um maybe for people my age um but um it does not meet the needs of everyone in this community it it uh really does not um some original features may have to be lost but we really really really need this CH need this renovation um I think the balance between old and new that is presented in the library plans it may not be perfect and it certainly is not to everyone's taste I certainly understand that um but we really really need it thank you thank you Bonnie arle will hear from you next hello can you hear me yes um okay so I heard um that if the addition were to be made smaller that would put the MBL see uh contributions at risk I was just wondering if it was possible to move some programming to a different location if the mblc would still be uh willing to support a smaller addition um as was mentioned we are about to have a lot of other space open up in the town that is community space so I was just wondering about that um in terms of the environmental impact that is something I've thought about I've heard a statistic that the demolition of the 93 Edition in order to put this new one up uh something like 1660 tons of landfill is going to be created by that so that um the idea of the greenest building is really the building that's already standing um all the benefits that may come from this addition will take a long time to really be realized just by that initial demolition so um you understand what I'm saying that it's not going to make up that won't be made up for for quite a while um in terms of the environmental and the last thing I'll say is um the town was very adamant about you know the Slate the synthetic slate in the book drop and it uh moved to not doing those things so hopefully there's a little bit of wiggle room around this size and massing and possibly interior if the uh paneling maybe that has to be taken away could be preserved in some way or at least some part of it preserved not just photographically but actually and stored in some way I hear that um that would be nice and my last thing is I heard heard that the books order would be coming at some point so if in the Moa we could have a um a promise to uh never put a hole in the facade of the building but the books order somewhere else but a hole somewhere else maybe but not in the facade thank you thank you Arley next we'll hear from Bruce penan uh hello my name is Bruce Penman uh I live at 50 South monoo Drive and uh my pronouns are he and him um my wife Valerie and I are uh strong supporters of the library Edition project um we we have been using the library and our children have used it and we're both retired teachers from amoris our students have used it for over 50 years um we have seen uh the need for this project um to meet the 21st century requirements of a public library and uh we have uh talked with people who are involved in the project and seen the hard work that's gone into uh mitigating the historical um uh uh damage or or uh effects that might happen to it uh and balancing that with the needs of the library liary um uh we have we have contributed to the capital campaign and really want to see this project move forward um in listening to the discussion today I I I think it seems to me that there is a tension between whether we are talking about the Jones library or the Jones Museum and uh I think I think we can all agree that we need a library not just a a historic house in the center of town and uh uh a a library has to change with the times and has to have uh the upgrades that are needed to meet a new generation of users so um I hope that this Pro this uh project can move forward um as soon as possible I'm sure that people of Goodwill can talk about the finer points of whether whether uh the shutters are installed and the the pineapple is restored on the front of the building but I think the the major aspects of this project um and should go forward as they have been planned thank you all right thank you Bruce next we'll hear from Rebecca Nordstrom hi um I'm Rebecca Nordstrom I live on 39 Dana Street um and I use she her pronounce um and I just wanted to say I'm I continue to be in complete support of the renovation and Expansion Project as it has evolved and I'm persuaded that the current plans including the mitigation that's already been mentioned do indeed strike the right balance between the functionality needed to serve our community and the historic preservation that I think we all desire to maintain so just wanted to say that and to thank everybody who's worked so hard on this for so long thank you Rebecca next I'll hear from Shalini hi Shon Bell 78th lyen Rich Road ammer pronounced she her thank you for the opportunity to speak I'm speaking as a resident today but as a former Town counselor having been involved with this project for five years I want to acknowledge the fundamental tension we face um balancing the historic preservation with the functional requirements of the 21st century library and these competing needs require thoughtful compromise and I feel we're lucky to have a team of thoughtful and creative project team trustees building committees so many residents volunteers who H who have been listening and participating and have already made significant accommod ations to address the historic preservation concern such as committing to a natural slate Roofing how however we must acknowledge that each delay increases costs which ultimately reduces what we can provide to our community the state funding and financial support we've secured um represents a rare opportunity that we can't afford to lose the current design wasn't arrived at lightly it represents a decade of careful planning and Community input culminating in strong voter support 2third of the people supported it and as Frost libraries representative today from ammer college noted modern libraries need space for contemporary services and programming we can't squeeze a 21st century Library into its 20th century footprint without severely compromising its functionality and it was clarifying to hear from Andrea from mblc today that the proposed space requirements aren't arbitrary they're essential for the library to function and The Architects have already been working with the MC and minimized the footprints so the solution is supported by a remarkable number of organizations that we heard from today and um while I understand concerns about additions visibility from historic districts and loss of the 25% of the wooden paneling or maybe slightly more I think we've reached a thoughtful compromise that respects our history while serves our future needs the time has come Tada to focus on solution I like the background to my final statement the time has come to focus on Solutions and not further delays let's move forward with this carefully considered plan and that will serve all of residents for generations to come thank you thank you Shin next we'll hear from Rebecca Nordstrom oh I already spoke okay your hand was risen again oh oh I see I let me lower it thank you next I'll hear from Anita Saro and it looks like we Anita is not speaking right now so next I'll hear from Kelly can you can you hear me oh now I can hear you Anita and then sorry about that very sorry I pressed the wrong button um I just want to say up front that I am a longterm resident of uh ammer and a longtime user of the Jones library of both uh myself and my children as they grew up I want fully support the longevity of the Jones library and I want to see it a functional and safe place but this proposal is flawed for all the reasons that we have talked about and others have talked about it is not only inadequate to preserve the historic elements of of the building but it it it is based on questionable numbers of usage and far bigger um than what is needed um it is simply not um adequately Justified for uh both the size or sacrificing the historic elements that are being proposed um this process is not just about you um mitigation but it we haven't been talking about avoidance and I would hope that there would be a a real consideration of robust renovation of um parts of the library that have been neglected for many years stabilization of the building and the utilization of existing space that has not been used for many years so um uh it is POS possible to avoid the worst of the um of the violation of historic elements and um I I do ask that it is not too late to consider alternatives um to the plan um that is inadequately mitigated by all of the suggestions thank you so much and next we'll hear from Kelly no you didn't you didn't give it back to me oh oh good okay so I guess I was already unmuted thank you this is Kelly Irwin from uh South ammer and I I would like to say can people please try to imagine uh a situation where the new library has opened it doors and you walk in and you admire all of the historic aspects that have been preserved and in many cases enhanced the beautiful upstairs reading rooms that will be restored the gorgeous paneling and door frames and fireplaces that are still there the complete sense of history as you then stroll into a new section of the library offering you the computers the handy AP accessible um Stacks the cafe the children's activity room all of the things that we so need and do not have now and be able to say we all compromised we all gave up some things there are some things we're not thrilled with but overall this is a beautiful new library and we're so happy to be melding the old mitigating all the damage we can and yet building something new and beautiful as well please let's all imagine that beautiful day when the door opens and we all go wow what were we arguing about thank goodness we have our new library thank you thank you Kelly next we'll hear from Dale can you hear me now yes my name is Dale Peterson after Decades of deferred maintenance the town of amers desperately needs an accessible accommodating and inclusive building the present structure is not accessible because it is a rabbit Warren of corridors and half staircases it is not accommodating because as the Hub of the center of the Town it serves so many different constituencies it serves ESL students those who are studying to pass the citizenship exam it serves teenagers it serves homeless people uh and the building is cramped and claustrophobic it is simply cannot spatially accommodate the present needs let alone the needs in the next 25 years and it is not even able to preserve the fundamental archives of the town because the special exhibit room is subject to leakage from the air conditioning service so the present situation is intolerable I don't know how the staff manages to be as ex as accessible and as efficient as they are I want to commend the trustees of ammer college for their attentiveness at so many public meetings and their responsiveness to constructive criticisms uh we desperately need this viable new building thank you thank you Dale now we'll hear from Josie patteron can you hear me now yes I'm Josie Patterson I live at 148 Lincoln Avenue and I'm go by the pronoun she and her I've only lived here for three years but I used to live in Cambridge where I lived most of my life and that Library it was new and um and it was in a renovated historic building and I'm just saying that I'm so impressed there by how many new people people came into the building and that's all I have to say thank you Josie and now we'll hear from David lithco and David you're still muted so we're not able to hear you right now Jake I'm G to try and pull him in it's Angela I'm gonna try and pull him into the panelist room and see if that might fix the problem thank you so it's Angel again I've I've given him three requests to join us in the panelist room and I've asked him to unmute three times okay thank you Angela um is there anyone else from the community who would like to offer a public comment who has not had the opportunity to do so already and if so you could please raise your hand all right thank you everyone so much for offering your so it's Angela again I'm sorry to inter I think I think our last I think Mr David can you hear me now there you go hear you David glad you could join my iPad Touch uh has not been working properly um I just want to comment quickly that um how impressed I've been over the years by the way the Democratic process has worked we've got elected representatives who spent years soliciting expertise uh to establish facts and sort out opinion from fact and they came up with a remarkable plan over years for this Library including a financial plan to finance four Capital product Pro um projects with a finance committee that started building up reserves years ago so that the Library could be funded uh with no impact on local tax rates I was extraordinarily impressed by this process of representative democracy I was a little bit disturbed when the Town Council uh after an overwhelming vote to go forward um was um uh challenged by a petition 5% of the population of the voters vote voted uh for to uh reconsider by referendum uh the uh it was then put to the full town uh by referendum and and the town voted 65% to go forward with the process a wonderful display of the democratic process uh we have now listened to years of uh input and um I've spent five years now trying to sort fact from opinion and I uh strongly support going ahead and I hope the Democratic process shortly concludes before we pet this dog to death thank you all right thank you David and I'll turn it to you Mara to close this out thanks Jak oh um I appreciate that everyone from our Consulting parties to members of the public participated and shared their feedback um thank you so much if it didn't feel comfortable sharing your feedback for whatever reason there is an opportunity to submit written comment through the town's section 106 web page the link to do so was posted with the announcement for this meeting and in the slide deck as well while comments are always welcome people wishing to share ideas for the mo MOA are asked to submit them no later than then this Thursday January 30th at noon and that concludes um the facilitated portion of the public meeting oh I see that someone has their hand raised yeah um excuse me there's a another attendee that has their hand raised oh thank you so much Maria so Ken Rosenthal member of the public has raised his hand Ken can you unmute and speak please yes thank you very much Ken Rosenthal I live on Sunset Avenue I'm a strong supporter of the library and I've been a user of the library as a resident of am for over 50 years um and I want to point out a problem that is caused not by anything having to do architecturally or historically but but planning for the use of the library uh for one thing we've heard that uh the number of people who need to use it has been in person has been reducing and the library itself has reduced the number of volumes of paper materials and that's because the use of libraries have changed but there's also been something that's proposed for the library that's never been done before this town is fortunate to have received in 1893 eight Granite tablets to memorialize the names of the 300 residents of town black and white who fought for the North during the Civil War these were tablets that were given to commemorate those people now there is a proposal to put those tablets in a basement room in the library where they will be forever lost on the days when they are most important to be seen this library is closed for at least 31 days of the year including summer Sundays including holidays like the just concluded Martin Luther King Day President's Day Veterans Day Memorial Day and The Sundays before those holidays those are just the very days when people would come to want to see and acknowledge and commemorate their relatives and and and people they may have known or would like to know about black and white who served the the North during the Civil War there are other places in this town where these tablets could be seen 24 hours a day 365 and a quarter days a year I can name those I'll do that at a time when I have more more minutes but I want to point out that the fact that that that a volume of the library has been used to to to misplace these eight wonderful Granite tablets from 1893 means that that's why the library is over time purpose thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak to this I will put this in writing and submit it and we do have one Consulting um party Ana whose hand is raised and who did not speak earlier so if um time allows I'd like to give them a chance to speak hi yes um I'll be brief I just I really have a comment um more than anything else about historical preservation um my memories do not exist really before uh the Jones Library um and as Michael pill had had pointed out my family which do represent every last name of the black and Indigenous soldiers who are on the Civil War tablets um both predate this town um and also you know um were the folks who did definitely serve on in the 54th Regiment the the fifth Calvary uh folks who have been lined around the historic district um folks who were not um part of the audience that the Jones library was initially opened for and here we do have an opportunity to not only include and center the Native American history but also the the a the black and afist history which has not been included which for many years throughout many much of the back and forth with the library has not brought been brought back in Cent um front and center rather throughout these conversations and does seem to kind of be thrown in as an after thought I think we have a wonderful opportunity to not only look into and appreciate our historic preservation but also look forward to needs of community and for future Generations what are we actually um bringing forward and who are we opening these doors for and I certainly hope that this conversation can move back from sides and and Center into what opportunities we have from special collections which have historically and to this date into today do not Center all of the voices and the accurate history the people who did build this town and all of them together and we do have an opportunity to do that and to do that right and together as an Arts and Cultural Hub there's so much of of our arts and culture and music and everything else we do not have available for the center of town and I do not believe that it is the University or the college's responsibility to do that for our community our community Longs for it I was I was just with students today that are not aware of so much of of ammer History that's here and you certainly do not hear it throughout these conversations um so I I do hope that we can move forward from side a and side B our community and most importantly our future Generations deserve more and better than thank you thank you Ana and I do believe Christine was going to conclude the meeting is Christine still here and if not was someone going to speak in herstead um Mara I need to bring her back over from the attendee room it's Angela okay thank you Angela Christine what we're turning the floor over to you to conclude the meeting thank you Angela are the other members going to be moved over they're moving over kind of slowly all right I'll I'll give it a moment and then um first of all thank you everyone it's hard when there's long meetings but good work and appreciate everyone's time um we're going to be moving to the fourth item on the last page of the agenda that section is topics not anticipated by the chair 40 hour 48 hours in advance which I have none so there'll be nothing under that part Anda participants [Music] also Angela you tell me when you've ported everybody over I'm just giving a final look at the attendee list I'm sorry I am too thank you I see so I do know that um Pam had to leave early and I know that Alex also had an appointment Alex lefave okay so I don't see any members in the attendees right now so you done good thank you Angela so I will move to to item five which is the adjournment of this meeting so I say meeting ended at 5:21 thank you very much thank you Angela lot of work thank you