the meeting. Well, thank you all for coming. I'm going to call the meeting of the library committee to order and we're going to begin with a roll call since this is a hybrid meeting.
Um, so I'm just going to ask you all to introduce yourselves and your role on the committee. Tom, Tom Pendleton, vice chair. Vicky Jan Edos from capital budget committees Susan Bryan representative for the
planning committee John Greco construction construction representative corner starver I'm the chair I'm not on the committee but I'm Phoebe Ashson I'm the acting library director slipre staff Yarmat libraries
oh I forgot to say that I was like a west yarmath uh user representative you are Okay, so Dorcas is not here maybe yet. And uh Mindy is doing a snow cone event at Learn Library and she thought
she might fly in at the end, but we'll see. We'll give her if she does not. Uh so our we have a lot of business to take care of, so let's try and get our housekeeping done quickly.
Now, we had some issues with minutes. Sandy and I went to a training on the open meetings law updates and one of the things with minutes is they need to if they need to be
corrected after we've accepted them then we need to do that with a correction but then they have to go back through the town clerk's office. So it's a little bit of a process and you know it just keeps everybody's records clear so we understand the importance of that. The
other thing is that when presentations are given, they are also part of the record. Uh so we we've trying to get past presentations that Matt has done so that
they are linked to our online minutes and then we're going to have to make sure the PDFs from those presentations are attached to the minutes. So there's just some housekeeping things, but uh there will also be a training for
updates with open meetings law for every committee member and I think did they say October? Yeah, probably sometime in the fall. Okay. So the um the town clerk's office will be putting that together. So anyway, um we have August 7 minutes here
and can I have a motion to accept honorable. Oh, that's from last time. Yeah. Susan, that's because Mary Alice is out and she knows. Okay. Thank you.
Let's try to put on Jen to mute herself. Jen mute herself. Len has muted herself. Hey everybody, can you guys hear me? Yes. Yes. Yes. Wonderful. I'm here, but I muted myself, too.
Thank you all. Do you need a motion to accept? Yes, I do. I move that the minutes of the library committee meeting of August 7th be accepted. Thank you. Do I have a second? Second. Okay. Any conversation about these minutes?
hearing none. Take a vote. Um, all those in favor of accepting I opposed abstain. Okay. Did you get did you get a good count on that, Sandy? Yeah.
Okay. Thank you. All right. Now, we also have the July one minutes here because they had a conflict in them. At one point, um Vicki was making a
statement and then in another place she was absent. Yes, I I'll tell you. I'll tell you. Um well, let's just stick with July 1. Okay. She wasn't there for that one. You weren't there. Okay. But on August 13th, I was. And it said that I wasn't. Okay. Let's do July one first.
Yeah, we're doing July one and we don't have August 13 minutes yet. Yeah, but can we change the August 13 one? Not until we have them. Yeah. Yeah. Not until we have them. So, they may get um corrected before they're even presented
at the meeting. Okay. And I was present on June 17th and May 1st. Yeah. Okay. The other ones were correct. The July ones were correct. The other ones There was one error on the July one. I said
you read the Zoom and actually we went back and looked the tape. I read the I will fix that. No, no, no. That was on August 13th. Wasn't July 1. I wasn't here. Yeah, I understand that. So, what is the correction for July 1st? She says she wasn't here. Isn't that
correct? I wasn't on July 1st. Yeah, I already that's been corrected. It's being corrected. We had already approved minutes for the state. So this that's the correction so everyone knows this is in the correction. I'm sorry. This correction up here. Is that the correct?
This is the correct version. Yeah, the one that we're seeing now. So can I have a motion to approve these minutes? So moved. Thank you, Susan. A second. Second. Thanks, Tom. Um, any discussion? All in favor? Opposed?
Abstain. Motion carries. Thank you. Okay. Now, uh we're going to move right into public comment for folks who would like to share their two cents with us. Is anybody here would like to speak to us?
Okay. Oh, you would? Okay. Like to introduce myself. First of all, I'd like to thank everybody. Yeah. You know what? You need to come closer just so you're close enough to the mic. Oh, it's on the table.
Yeah, just have a seat. Could you pull down that um thing? Yeah. All right. Now that you're situated, welcome. Thank you for all your hard work and, you know, dedication for this um for this committee. Um I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Kelly Sears
Jacobson. Um my dad was John Sears third and my grandfather was John Sears Jr. Um they both served as Yarma Selectman at one point or another. I'm sure you're familiar with with both of them. Um I'm 12 generations Cape Carter, fifth
generations just just here on Old Main Street. Um and basically my dad's whole life was pretty much here on Old Main Street. He went to church next door, school at Johns Simpkins, went to the library here. Um he did his banking
across the street. Um he resided at 251 Old Main Street and he was on the Yarmouth Fire Department for 30 years. um as well as he played ball on the Joshua Sears memorial um playground um which is commonly known as the Sears
Field. So I would like to respectfully um correct it as not the Simpkins Field, it's the Joshua Sears Field, commonly known as the Sears field. Okay. Um so who was Joshua Sears? I just want
to kind of paint a different picture of who Joshua Sears was. Um, there are two Joshua Sears. There's a memorial Joshua Sears for the playground and then there's my brother Joshua Sears that passed away who was the little league field is named after him which is
happens to be on the Sears field the Sears memorial field. So my relationship to Joshua Sears was well first of all he was born in on August 20th of 1791 and he died February 7th of 1857. So 8 days
ago, he would have been 234 years old. Incredible. So although I was not I'm not a direct descendant to him, his grandmother was my fifth greatgrand.
Um his grandmother was Susanna House and her sister was Mercy House. So that's how I go back. So Joshua would be my cousin. And I'm not quite sure fifth cousin once removed or I haven't quite figured that part of it out yet. That's
confusing. Um but one thing that my dad um one thing that my dad and my grandfather cared about was the pres pres the preservation of land. Um my grandfather dedicated or donated land um over by
Crab Creek and there's a rock there that there's a memorial rock there that states town of Yarmouth first conservation land donated by John G. Sears Jr. so that his love for nature may be enjoyed by all. Um my dad was also you know responsible in uh for the
anniversary park right down the street here as well as the Sea Holly Park on you know um in West Jarmath as the memorial park at DY. So he was on many committee and he was like all for the beautifification and preservation for
the land in the town of Yarmouth. Um his dedication goes way back. Um, so trying to get with all that said, um, try I've been trying to get inside my dad's head, his way of thinking, because he had a specific way of thinking and
speaking, um, and what he what he would think. So, first of all, he loves books. And I h I now have all of his all of his um his personal, you know, collection of books,
history books, genealogy, those are now mine to try to figure out what to do in, you know, possibly donate to library, right? So, I don't I would imagine that he would not be opposed to a new library,
maybe just not necessarily build build a new one, but to perhaps use and repurpose um vacant buildings or ones that we already have. I can't speak for him, so I don't know that he would say that. Um
I I want to go back a little bit to Joshua Se's estate. Um, this is from the Boston Daily Advisor. In September of 1865, Joshua Sears left a will which was deposited in the probate office in Barnstable. The estimated value of his
property was 1.6 million. Of this amount, the sum of 15,000 was bequeathed to the town of Parma for the establishment of a nautical school. So, I have pulled out and my dad has every year annual year the um annual
reports going back to I don't know how long. Um but this is from the town of Yarmouth annual school report from 1931. Um and in it it states the Joshua Sears playground um fund is well known to most
of the older towns people but for the for the for the benefit of those who have more uh lately come to live here may be said that this fund was given by Joshua Sears a native of Yarmath a few years before the Civil War to establish a school of navigation and kindred
sciences. After the war, the rapid decline of maritime life on Cape Cod evidently checked the uh evidently checked the carrying out of the donor's plan. So the years have gone by with this fund not having been applied
to any permanent purpose. In cooperation with the nearest living heirs of Joshua Sears town officials arranged to have this fund devoted to the development of a school playground and athletic field such field to bear the name of the donor of the fund in harmony with the wishes
of heirs. A member of the building committee Mr. Samuel D. Elmore as an attorney rendered valuable help in carrying through the proper legal procedure in the probate court to make this application of the fund correct and
sound for all time. Very generously, Mr. Elmore rendered the service to the town uh of Gratus. Um and then by means of this fund, the comprehensive plan was conceived by the landscape architects
Warren H. Manning offices incorporated and adopted by the building committee. Much of the work necessary for a well-developed school playground and athletic field has been done. The grounds have been cleared and graded, the football and baseball fields
leveled, top soiled and seated. And I believe my grandfather was instrumental in all that too. Um, and one tennis court constructed a handsome brick memorial wall with gateway opening out to a flagpole on the
mound. Landscape appropriately has been completed. The landscape architect's plans provide further development when the time is ripe. Um, and then also I I pulled out um the town of Yarmouth financial report December 31st of 1932.
Um and it and it states at the school at the annual at the annual meeting February 10th, 1931, the town authorized the selectment to petition the probate court for authority to use the Sears fund in the requirement laying out construction upkeep and maintenance of
the playground for athletic purposes contingent um to to and in conjunction with its school building to be known as Joshua Sears playground. It also authorized the setting apart from the Sears fund the sum of $5,000 as a
reserve fund the income of which to be used for the annual maintenance of the playground providing the court authorized such use. Um the story of this Sears fund and the progress made with the athletic field
was told in the last annual report of the school committee. Um the building committee having in mind the memorial character of the project felt that it would be only just only just to the memory of the donor and courtesy to his heirs to
properly and permanently mark the fields. Um so I just wanted to um getting back into my dad's mind. Um, I just I just thought it was important that we know who Joshua Sears was and
what it what how it came to be. Um, and I'm not opposed to a new library. Um, I love libraries. I grew up coming to this library. Um, but getting to the way he thought, um, I go back to an example of
the Bass River Bridge. Mhm. They wanted to rename the Bass River Bridge. And his response to that is was um it's the Bassor Bridge. It always has been the Bass River Bridge and it should continue being the Bass River Bridge.
Well, relay applying that type of thinking to this particular circumstance. Um relaying it to the new library, you know, being proposed to being built on this said property. Um, I would imagine that he would say it is
the Joshua Sears playground and has always been the Joshua Sears playground. Let's find a better, more suitable spot that will satisfy all the features to come. Um, and just a thought, our family home is up for sale, 251 Main Street. So
maybe the town might be interested in buying our home to be used as a library. He would love that. So thank you for your time, Kelly. Thank you so much. Um, and it's not typical for us to respond directly to people who in public comment.
However, we will be getting I worked all day on this and a lot of what you're saying was very you saved me a lot of breath so by laying out that history um because that's what I've been doing all day. So um thank you
um and we will get to it. You want to sit there for a minute? Yeah. Um I also want to note that you are not alone in thinking that. Many many people feel that way. Yeah. And I and again what Jud said thank you for bringing it to our attention and the and
the sincerity with which you brought it to our attention and you are not alone. Many people feel that way. Uh so we do thank you for bringing it to our attention and obviously we we're going to try to do something about it. Absolutely. It has a long history that's
consistent with the capeness of of you know Cape Cod and the things that we cherish and the things that we hold dear, the things that make things Cape Cod. It's wonderful to say we have a playground that's 200 years old. That's just not many people can say not many towns in the country are 200 years
old, let alone have a playground that's 200 years old. So, it's very commendable and thank you for bringing all of that information. I wasn't sure if I was going to speak or not, but I got a push to come and if I speak, I speak. If I don't, I don't. But I just I'm not a
speaker like he is. But I feel like he was giving me like a little nudge. You have to go stand up. Is there could I ask you if we could photocopy your um notes so that I have the whole from 1930 to 1932. And
thanks to my cousin Melissa um her mother is my Priscilla Sears's wife. They co she co-wrote the book of Yarmouth with my dad. Yeah. Yeah. Um but she she's very into the digging and the you know the trying to figure out puzzles and so she did a lot of
digging behind the the scenes. So I want to acknowledge her also. Oh that's wonderful. So but I have that whole packet. Oh that's wonderful. Um if Yeah. That's great to know. But if you could um maybe put your phone number or contact info on
there also. Sy's taking our minutes and we need to have them as complete as possible so that just scratched notes. Well, that helps with the original documents that you read. Okay. Do that. I can make copies right now.
Great. Thanks, Kelly. Y I see. I see. All right. And Linda, could you come to the table so you're closer to the mic, too? Switch. Okay. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah.
Just a Linda Callahan, um, member of the public. Um, just a quick question just so that I get it clear in my mind. When we talk about the playground, is that the whole open area? Does it go from the Simkin School to Route 28? Okay. So, this is um I was going to save
this for our site discussion, but basically it has to do with vocabulary. And um now when we think of a playground in 2025, we tend to think of equipment. And when you think of a playground in 1920, it was open space to play on. The
emphasis on ground um playground. Um so that plays into the conversation we'll have later. And it was in 1931 at town meeting um
9.03 03 acres of the site is the Joshua Sears playground and it was it had very sweet um comment that they wanted a place on the south side comparable to the one on the north side
for children to have healthy bodies and minds. And I just thought that didn't go out of style. That was wonderful. So, um, yeah. So, we have our work ahead of us. Thanks, Linda.
All right. So, outreach updates. Our, um, outreach subcommittee met yesterday. Yeah. Yesterday, and we covered a lot of territory. Um, so actually, Linda, why
don't you rejoin us at the table? Oh, and here's Dorcas. Wonderful. Sorry, I just came from another meeting. Okay, could you scooch over a little that way so Linda can come up to the table for this part? Um, so I invited Linda to be
on our subcommittee because she has all this past information from her other committees. And so that subcommittee now is John, me, Linda, and Sandy. Although Sandy, I
haven't even talked to Sandy about this yet, but Sandy's um just started on Capitol this week, right? And she's a chair. So, I think it would be gracious of us to let her off the hook for that subcommittee. So, and Mindy
Mindy and Mindy. Um so, we covered a lot of stuff yesterday. Um primarily we were concentrating on you know how do we get information out who do we get it to and what is the
medium for that. Um also how do we rectify the fact that our website information is not up to date. People are are going into the town website and finding just a list of links and it's not organized.
um how can we blend with the library blasts and the library website itself so that things are in one place. So we did make some gains in that area in terms of um where the site should be. We we were
voting for the library site because that seems to be logical and then if people went to the town site there would be a link back there. So then and then we would have the library building committee would have its own activity reported there.
Now we have stuff it's very halfhazard but under our committee um part all our agendas and minutes are there. So that part's recorded for people who like that kind of um
information. But, you know, there's a lot more going on and there, you know, the the materials Matt brought with the maps and stuff and people really get interested in that. So, those are at each library now and town hall.
Are they even posted on the building committee? That's that's what we need to get. Yeah. Um I've been saying we're like orphans now because we don't have a town um employee as a direct link into town
hall. Um so the fallback has been Bob Britnau where he's our contact. Um the new town the assistant town administrator will not be starting until November and the new library director
will be starting at the end of September. So, those are going to be our two links and um that's how that's going to happen. Um but you know, they're going to be new people and it's going to be there's
going to be a learning curve for everybody. So, yeah. So, um add anything in there. Do you want to talk about the trifold? We we went over the trifold. Um,
and the purpose of the trifold again to to make sure our message is a consistent message. It would be on the website, could be handed out at the library so that people get it at the town hall. People can get it updated. Doesn't
necessarily remain static. Um so we did um I think Mindy was using what um collaborative constructive constru CD CD had come up with and tweaked. Uh so we had some some thoughts on that but
the the purpose of trying to get something that can be on the web page as well as handed out at various things to to make sure people are getting updated correct information. So but but but the priority is to have the web page the most upto-date. Correct.
That's the place that and then this would be supplemental to the so the web page is the primary focus. We want to make sure anything on there is current and up to date. Exactly. So that this would go right back to there. So this would have just like outline kind of right summary information
major issue type things. But for your details go here, right? Okay. Now, will we be passing that out at county a town meeting? We were we were talking about trying to have it ready for our October October. Is there any plan to do anything this
Saturday at the arts perhaps? Too soon. Too soon. Okay. Yeah. But but yes to Seaside. Yes Seaside in October. Yeah. And then we would we had ballparked another uh public info session for
October as well. Right. So on the website is it isn't that town responsibility to update the website? There's two websites that we're talking about. There's the town website and the library website. And that's separate. That's separate.
Yeah. So the library has been driving people to the town website. That's been what we've been doing. The goal is the town website, not the not necessarily the library website. Well, it's confusing. It is confusing. But I think that what
Judy was saying with Bill gone, we've lost that we've lost that. We've lost that continuity. He was fast in doing it now to the town website. To the town website. So Plumed B is the library website. Okay. Because they control it. Okay. I can put things on the library website
in 10 minutes. Yeah. There way fewer steps like the main line right right to there. Okay. Then um so we know what a lot of the issues are. We didn't solve a lot of them, but we moved forward with edits on
the trifold, which Mindy's working on. And then uh the other thing I want to tell you about is that Linda has done a webinar on fundraising because in our outreach capacities, none of you
who are town employees and none of you who are member of the committee can participate in fundraising. So um we need to move forward with a separate foundation or some other U 5013C entity that will
do that. And so on her own she has done this webinar training and has other background and connections to that. Um so why don't you talk about that and the limitations of this? Sure. I'll just give you a brief idea.
um back um between the library study committee and the planning committee, another member of one of the committees and I went and talked with people at Cape Cod Foundation to get an idea of how do we start something like this? What should we do? That was the beginning of the conversation. I have a
copy of what Kristen Ali, executive director, sent me with some leads, but that was back in 2019. So, they may be may not be um current. Um I took the webinar which was um sponsored by American Library Association and they
had um two days worth of um webinars for all the different levels um friends uh board of trustees um and then they went into fundraising and foundations as a separate one and basically it's done differently everywhere and there's no
one single way to do it. It's whatever works best for your town and your situation. So, um that I have lots of notes on that. Um today I actually spoke with a u neighbor who is an attorney um from another state but just to get an
idea of what are the steps and a very good suggestion that she made was um to uh look into proono work with an attorney and that because we don't have a um any money to pay for things at this point in time. So that's one area that I
just found talked with her today. I'm going to pursue that through various people. Um I also um went and contacted the AG's office in the state of Massachusetts and talked to them to find out what do they say is the
the um what do you do first? And um they're not able to recommend but they can tell you the process. So all of that is copied down. Um the other part was to uh the secretary of state's um office
and um basically all they said is they need the um articles of incorporation. They don't need anything else. So those were two things specific. I sort of played dumb and said what do you need? What's the beginning? We're just starting. So, I've got a lots of notes
to I I as um president of the South Yamoth Library Association, the Friends group, didn't want to be caught short in trying to gather things at the last minute. We're not going to be taking money right away, but we need to know how we create the structure and who's
going to do it. And right now, the only entity that can do it right now is the library association, South and West. um South is very structured in their board, but even at that don't have one person
that would be able to take on the job to do it right away. So, we have to look, you know, what's plan B. So, that's what I've been gathering all that type of information and happy to share it when you know when we're ready. Judy, um, one
of the briefings, um, I think was mentioned, there's a requirement in the state program for some fundraising. Isn't that correct? This is all tied to that. All tied to that. Is there an estimated amount that they give you that they expect you to raise? Is it budget and the construction costs
or what are we expected to raise? Well, what I have is a copy of the um, fiduciary scenario that was attached to the application. Um, it's public information. I contacted Andrea who is um part of the um MBLC Mass Board of
Library Commissioners and I also had a copy of the application itself which Jane um uh you know uh sent in. The attachments were not attached to that but Andrea was able to find the
attachments which is this scenario and send me a copy of it and I had to find out like how do you come up with this? So based it's based on overall costs I believe. I don't know the equation that's used but and I understand that Bill Scott
um created it and the number that came out of what would should be the uh libraries contribution was 2.5 million. Okay. But that was then. So I'm guessing that say then 2019. No no this recently when we applied to
the state for the grant. Okay. But my guess is that it's also based on once the design goes in then you get construction costs then it could go to it's an algorithm based on total project cost. Correct. That includes FF. Okay. Everything.
That's what that's what I understand it. That's what I thought too. Correct. Okay. So it's at a minimum 2.5 and maybe plus. It's probably exactly. Is there a um is there a time frame? Does it have to be raised before the project is finished? It doesn't have to be raised. It has to
be raised before the project is finished but not before it's started before. So it has to be done. Yes. So if the project is due to be you know open the doors in whatever November of 2027 or 28 it's got to be done before that. Okay. And when you talk about this you
mentioned that there's an association for South Yamoth and West Yamoth. Is that the vehicle that we rather than create something are we going to continue to use them? That's what I was saying that right now we could do it because we have a fundraising capacity but we don't really have anybody skilled to do it and I don't know what
west has to offer. I've talked with Pam who's in charge of the West Yamoth Library Association and talked to just so that we're on the same page so that we're exchanging information and said I would be happy to sit down with your um group if you would like it and just talk
about things and see what we're thinking what would be not required of us but um what we could do and what they would be able to do and I haven't yet gotten any answer as to um they you know getting a a meeting going but I'm happy to do that so that
we're all, you know, now rather than But at least we've got something in place right now. If we had to do it right now, we've got a structure in place to We have an entity. We have an entity. We have an entity. You have a 501c3. Yes, we're 501c3 publicity. Yes, we've got everything we need for it. Right.
Um the South I don't know what West has and I assume they are the same, but I don't know. Yeah. And do you have do you have two different tax identification numbers? They are completely separate organizations. Both organizations predate ran the libraries before the
libraries were run by the town. They've been 501c3s for a long time. Yeah. Right. Right. So, you know, I hope that helps just knowing how it can all fit together with the project. Okay. So, I I'm really liking having the
subcommittees because they can focus on tasks. It's fewer voices. is fewer people can kind of really get into it. Um what we identified were things like we need a website, we need to maybe have a
video, we need to have um podcast taped, you know, whatever. Um and that may be an opportunity for another subcommittee. and Mindy has some links to Sturgis to get um volunteers
for the kids to participate in. And that's not just, you know, for the library building committee, it's other things that go on in the library. But if we might want to look at recruiting um some kids who have some tech background
or tech interests to to do that. Judy, you mentioned that the committee could not fund raise. Is that what we could not? So we no participation. So we can't say to someone give us $5. No. Okay. But we can obviously talk as a committee. We can tell them to go see somebody.
Yeah. Okay. But we we can talk as a committee. Correct. And can we come up with ideas for the fundraising committee? Is that am I get cloudy? Couldn't they give them to you and then you give them to a subcommittee or maybe whatever.
I think we just cannot be You're on shaky ground. Yeah. Yeah. You're on shaky ground. Yeah. You better even generating ideas and stuff. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I know. But I do think going back right 2.5
before doors open that's a task that it needs big. It's going to be a big task and that's why we talked about it I think a couple meetings ago. But one one thing you should go look at East Ham because I believe they raised in their library pretty good size not quite as
big as what we're looking at. They raised close to five and I don't know if that was above what they were you know their formula or but or how long I I don't know that's the thing I don't know.
Do you know how much the town um kicked in? You um you need to have the the state fundraising and the Yeah. I don't know. I I that's all I know. That's Yeah, I just know that was close to the probably on the funding center. It's probably on the Yeah.
Anybody else have anything for the subcommittee? Can I just Sure. It's a lot of work. The outreach to the West Yamouth library to to see where they're to make sure that their association is up to I've already spoken with Pam. Okay. She's the president of it. Yeah. and and
I I spoke to her because we met in person and then I didn't hear anything. She and K Delaney came to the last public meeting. So, I know that they're keeping up on things. Okay. And um I reached out to her again to say
any any news on what you'd like to do. Okay. Okay. Um, thank you, Linda. I was trying to figure out where some other comments fit in. The only other one is the u the 24 by 36 sign.
Oh, that's what it was. Yes. Yes. So, um, and that's what I was trying to link it in with. Sandy, Tom, and I met with Bob Rittenau and went over several issues um because things were not
finalized with our OPM and the the contracts with the architects. It my understanding and somebody there raise your hand if you know differently um have have finally been done and everything's inked in. Is that correct,
Jen? Yes, as far as I know. I know. I don't know. My picture's not showing up, but yes, ours ours was finally done in I want to say the very beginning. It was like the day that Bill was leaving. And then I believe um Odin Zello's was done
just last week when when the questions kind of came up with Jen Mullen about what was going on with them. So I think and I know Matt's on here. I don't know if he has capability to to talk and chime in, but um yeah. So we're finally good with that. Both of those contracts,
ours and theirs, go to December 31st. And I really, really want to make sure that we get them started sooner um or at least get the execution of them going before like so that we don't have the same delays this time. Okay. Thank you. Matt, did you want to
chime in? Yeah, just to confirm, can you hear me? Yes. Yes. Okay. Um, we did get a signed contract from the town last week, so we are all set and actually our first invoice has already been processed. Okay, great. Thank you. All right, so we
went over that aspect. We also went over um if we could have some money for the information signs and um Bob said yes, we could have some. And these would be like the political signs on the wires
and they would poke into the ground and would be at the libraries, the schools, the dumps, the senior center, wherever we decide to put them. Um they're $22 a sign and Bob asked us how much money and
I was kind of on low ball and saying he said 250. So um that would be like 10 signs going to say. Well, we're working on that. The committee is also working on that and they're very simil process having QR codes on stuff so that
they can be linked back to the right place and he did sayformational. It's like this kind Yeah, it can only beformational. So this kind of a format and um we talked about this picture. We
didn't like having this like picture of we're not committing to this. So what what would that be? And and then stretching this out a little. So it's still in the works, but that just kind of a really simple one with the QR code big enough that you could shoot it from
your car, you know, from if you were driving by. Um so that's that was that. Uh I'm good with that. We're good. Okay. Um All right.
Or if you were like parked somewhere. Could you speak out of fun? Or if you were parked somewhere not supposed to be using phones when we're driving. Oh, yeah. Well, no. I was thinking pickup line at school. It's a pickup line at school. That's what I was thinking. Yeah. Yeah. Well,
you're driving, you know, out of the library parking lot. Put it in park, then you can do it. And your passenger can get Yes. Oh, love it. That would be even better. Okay. Um I would like to skip over the rough
outline for October right now. Um because the outreach committee is working on that and then I would like to reorder um programming ideas down a little bit. Uh the open meeting law training
actually I kind of gave that to you out of sequence. So that's really our only feedback from that. Now, a site and programming updates is pretty meaty tonight. Uh, so the site update really happened on
Tuesday at the select board meeting and a woman uh named Nancy Trafton who has a significant history with the town of Yarmouth. She lives in West Barnstable now, but she had been she served on many
committees here and um I ended up talking to her for about a half an hour today. Uh but she was here she served on the Yarmouth planning board for about a decade both as clerk and chair sign code
review committee, open space and recreation plan committee and the land acquisition and town property committee. And so she has a lot of experience and while she was in these positions
um her committee was responsible for identifying and recommending the taking or friendly purchase of hundreds of acres of land for open space, recreation, wellfield protection, and affordable housing purposes.
In January 1987, um they put a proposal forward to town meeting for uh acquiring 600 acres of land. So she was very involved in open space
um protections for the town and really quite passionate about it and we had a wonderful conversation today. So, she has done what I I would call almost like a title search, but it's more involved with
that. And I I just want to take a sidebar that this group has been asking the town since our first meeting on May 1st for what the legal restrictions might be on any of the properties we
were looking at. And um most recently, well, consistently and most recently on August 8th, um the meeting that Sandy and Tom and I had with um Mr. Written, we were assured that the town had owned that property for a hundred years and
that um there probably were no restrictions, but that but that the process that legal had to go through could take as much as four months. And if you just count out on your calendar, that puts us to December
when we're about to submit to um the state. So she brought about um the history that that Kelly also talked about tonight.
And so in this land, this endowment kind of sat there and then was determined not to be the purpose that was delineated and then it had to go to the state and it was a very specific legal process
where it had article 77. No, it's like this is like way back. This is like in the 1850s, 1860s and they had to repurpose it. So, it was because it was in probate as this
particular purpose, the town had to go back and say, "Well, what do you think about this purpose? Would that be good enough? Does that seem like it is um similar enough?" And so, the approval
then came from the um attorney general. Sorry, I keep losing my You want a copy of this letter? Yeah. Um anyway, so that was like ages and ages ago. And then in in 1927, the planning
board reported that what I was saying earlier about the healthy bodies and healthy minds and in 31 they voted a series of articles at town meeting to secure the playground. So, it
wasn't acquired by the town until 1935 just because of this whole trust business and how it came through and the person you mentioned that basically brokered the deal. I forget the name, Kelly, that uh you know, anyway, this
other person was involved because um apparently they were in charge of the trust. So she so we really also need to think about the playground and the protections and
she's you know I sent this out to you folks earlier today. Um Dorcas shared it this morning. So she's very sure that this is protected under article 97 now. And
I don't think I got the message that's coming off Liz's email. You didn't get an email from me today? Late? Yeah, this afternoon. Wait. Yeah, late. I got it yesterday. No, no, this is today.
It was late this afternoon, right? Yeah, because I didn't get a chance to But that what you're talking about is in that email. Yes. Yeah, it's there. You have here's the document that that she's been referring to. Do you have any more or is this Can we make a copy of this? Make copies.
Thank you so much. There's another copy. You can take my copy and make I read it. Yeah, we'll need it for the minutes. Sure. But then the most came out at 11:30 this morning. The email was a Yeah, I thought I thought I did it this morning, please.
But 11:34. Thank you. So Judy that that was her opinion from her search was that's protected under article roller 7 it's land use it's very similar you probably as you remember the conversation about the drive-in site
it's almost identical absolutely identical here's the question and Kelly brought this up that she cited that the the Sears portion was 9.3 acres on the right 9.03 9.03 3 and the whole the whole lot the
whole lot is 16 acres. So that brings so that brings me to what is actually nobody can answer that one. What is protected and what isn't because it would be the 9.03 um acres. And so um I did share this
with Matt and Jen also today and um the surveyors you know are coming out under the oposes of Odinello and they are coming back. So, you know, we just need to get all of
this out in the open. And this Nancy um Trafton said, you know, work having the surveyors and the attorneys working closely is going to help this. So, there may be some of some of what we look at
there with that huge piece of property is subdivided. We already know that it's different parcels, but which parcels go with what? And then the other thing is the what I was saying before about vocabulary and that is playground doesn't necessarily
mean something with a swing set on it. And and so there I think there was like a lot of um conflation of that term playground with the playground that had been associated with Lawrence MacArthur. And you know, we've heard people say,
"Oh, my kids played on that playground, but it's, you know, it's not there anymore." And but that's not really what the playground is. And that that was the school playground. And so, um, doesn't this all just
go back to one place for one set of information that is accurate? Yes. Tell us about Can I ask a question? The the 9.03 03 Kelly, is that is that an actual defined? Do we have a delineation for that? We do. No. Well, we should, but that's what was
accepted by the town the actual measurements on the site. Do we know where that 9.03 acres is? No, I don't personally. Okay. So, that's one problem. That's part of the questions we have. We know we've got a we know we have a block of property. We just don't know
where it is. It could be several. It could be spec dab in the middle. It could be over the corner. It could be thing that she although it's probably off to the side because like what Kelly said was the Joshua Sears baseball the the little
league field. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So now um Matt, do you want to chime in here? Yeah. I just was going to say we we have gotten a partial survey now. So as you know this property is two different
parcels both owned by the town. Parcel 50 and parcel 60. Parcel 50 is where the fields are. Parcel 60 is where the Bridgewater State Building is. Um they have surveyed at this point the parcel 50, the open space currently. Um and I
just did a quick area take off and that parcel is about 9 two almost 9.3 acres if you if you take a you know square footage of that boundary. So, as a frame of reference, that entire parcel is a is about 9.3
acres. That's right. That's handy. Yeah, that's a lot. That's a lot. But that's all contiguous right now, that's all one piece of That's one piece of land. And you know, interestingly, if you look at Google
Maps, the baseball field that is to the west of of that parcel, you know, those two baseball diamonds that are accessed from the parking lot behind the Simkins residences, those are actually labeled as the Sears Memorial Field, which is
outside of the area that you know where the seaside festival is typically. So, right, it's unclear what, you know, what the actual limitation of of the original Sears Memorial Playground was.
Okay. So, then the the other parcel would be about how much where Bridgewater is Bridgewater. Uh, it's a little it looks like it's a little bit bigger. So, you know, I would say it's 10 10 plus acres probably.
Okay. And the estimate for our needs was five to six something to acres or Yeah. Yeah. And actually if so while you guys were talking I did a kind of very rough
calculation of you know if you took the diagram that we presented at the community presentation. Well, TV's bringing it over as you speak and and you I mean I it's this is very um very rough, so don't quote me on any
of these numbers, but if you look at the area that we were sort of reserving as open space for town common, that's somewhere in the five to six acre range. And then the the kind of remaining triangular site where we were sort of
reserving for library and parking, you know, alongside the eastern edge of that open space would be the balance of that. So, you know, somewhere in the kind of 3.3 to to four acres roughly.
Um, so just again just as a frame of reference. Okay. So, so this whole parcel is this a parcel line that I'm pointing to? Can you see the white dotted line? White dotted line is the partial line. I can't see you. I can't see you. Can you go over here where uh Joe is?
Sorry. Didn't know we were going to have this demonstration. But so the lines of the par there's a white dotted line here. Yes, that's the dividing line. The line of the parcel. So this is parcel 50 and this is parcel
60 over here. That's right. Right. And that that parcel includes uh the taking of the wood the wood road uh little triangle. Correct. So so the parcel the parcel as surveyed does not include that triangle.
That's not inclusive. Okay. Yeah. when when I did the quick area takeoff of that just to see you know in our diagram what is the area of that open space I included that triangle and and that's where I was getting the kind
of 5.5 to six acres depending on how you draw that okay and there's no there's no problem with ownership on that triangle that's strictly owned by the town I'm not sure we can say anything I would that question has to be answered too Okay.
All right. Now, John, so the other question is since we don't know where that nine whatever acres is and the property line goes to the bottom where the parking lots are, could the parking lots actually be inside of the playground? And how did
that ever happen? Well, it's just the edge of the parking lot, though. It It doesn't really matter. Yeah. Right. If you impinge, you impinge. Oh, yes. Yes. Okay. Yeah. How was that allowed to be impinch impinging? Well, you got an easement, but who gave
an easement if No, no, the ease the easement is just for the passment for the Well, let's speculate. We did see that in writing though. We saw the ethn agreement in writing. Okay.
All right. So, what is the timing on this? How is this all is going? What is the The lawyer said four months. Is there any way it could be done faster? Well, no, the lawyer didn't say that. Who said that? Bob said four months. Wow. So, um,
it's a title search. The deeds have been done, but the title search hasn't been done, but she basically did this. And the title search is where all this is going to I I can tell you that the select board is asking the exact same questions that you're asking right now. fancy track
and it impacts not only it impacts not only your project but it also impacts the town common. So while I was talking we've been asking since last March for this. So while I was when I called her she was actually in the middle of an email
exchange with Mark about the town comments. So you know here we are going to this former volunteer committee member for information. blob's out until Tuesday. Um,
it all comes back to legal. It comes back to legal. And the select board, I can tell you, is it's on this as well. I mean, we want to know definitely because there is a great possibility that you may be submitting to the state prior to
are having an answer as to legally, do we even have this land? I would not want my name on that. I think that's part of Don't we have to prove that you have ownership that have the ability? We have to show that you own what you're
going to build on. So the bottom line is we have to put a fire on your act together and get it out to us in ample time for the answers to all of these. But we still have that's still the legal services that's still under contract. We
used to have our own post person. Do we contract for legal services in addition to having We don't have anybody. I I can't I can't really speak to who it is other than the fact that we the select board have been asking for this for quite some time. I'm not surprised
that Mark has called and trying to find the answer out for his be because it it it's it's impacting both of these studies. And one of the first questions we keep asking is where specifically is this
playground? And no one yet has been able to tell us and it's somewhere on the on the property. So we have to identify where that is. We have to get the search done.
Um it it was telling to me personally as a select board member to see Smith versus Westfield. I mean that made you know I mean hugely and that was a school going on
and they and they tried to they tried to go back she told me today on the phone it's more than what's in there that the town of Westfield tried to go back and say uh do the property swap where you know well if we're going to use this
protected land we'll buy this land and they wouldn't even let them do that no and that came from the court even given the history that Kelly gave. This could go back way more than 100 years because you're talking about late Kelly and missed all that. But uh it can
Are you Kelly Sears? Yes. Are you Joyce's daughter? I thought you look just like your mom. Seems to work for me at Heatherwood. Right. So, okay. So, what do we do now? How far do we let
our contractors go before we say time out, don't spend any more money because we're not even sure we can. What if worst case scenario it is right in the middle of the you know the site or too close to one of the lot lines? Well, this this all came up at our
Tuesday meeting. Bob was already scheduled to be out of the office. So, we really have to wait for Bob to come back next week. We don't have an assistant town administrator they can walk speak to. I can tell you that this
is a priority for the board regardless of of the library project because it it is with monies that have been um already appropriated from town meeting for the common and so we have to have an answer
and bottom line is waiting to December when maybe sort of could isn't going to work out. So all the way around we're all saying that you we're going to have to put this on a fast track to get an answer. And um
also to take it a step further into absurdity depending on the answer this could also affect the thinking about what's going to happen at Madakis right if if in fact in fact this turns out not to be the state of play right do we roll it back and think about
having a civic common at mate and try to figure this out and have this is a commercial common right so there's lots of lots of development that's a common issue I think we need to focus more on the library side this comment. We can deal with that later, but I don't think we slow this down
until we get I think you keep doing there's nothing else you can do. That's and I think I said that in an email. I think we stay the course. That's right. And we we do what we're doing and we if
somebody says no, the ship has to go over there, then we'll go over there. Um and we'll make whatever adjustments we need to. You know, I never use quite so many nautical analysis. I can assure you that the select board is on this and we we understand the
urgency here, you know, for all of us to get an answer to this one. So, it's not something we're going to let go and say, "Oh, let's just wait until they maybe kind of sort of come back to us." So, there's a possibility that we're going to have to build the building somewhere else. Well, I
Well, if we if if we find out we don't have the site. Yeah, we have to. But then you're gonna have to move this about it right now. They're here for them. They're here. I mean, like it's going to be hard for them to like change here. No, I know. But they as soon as I had
the information, I sent it to Matt. Um Yeah. And he's here, so he's like if they design this week, if they design it for that field, it's going to be hard to move it. I mean, you know, the the design that's their job, so we'll let them do that.
Have to keep doing what we're doing. And it could be that there's enough uh space on that adjoining property and so we don't have to go back through site selection and eliminate. We just need to scooch over and maybe part with a couple
of trees, but you know, do what we need to do to get it on a site that we actually have clearance for. Now, I did see Did you want to chime in, Kelly, on the location, you know, trying to determine where
Memorial Field is or the playground and if my dad were here to speak, he could walk us around. That's the whole lake across from where Bridgewater is or as wherever. That whole area is the Sears Memorial. That's what he
would say. Yeah. So Sandy and I went prove that because I don't have the you know, right? Oh, I thought maybe you were going to say we have it in our archives, but I'll find it. Put your cousin. Put your cousin on it. So, so we went over and there is there's
a, you know, a piece of granite there and it does say Joshua Seas memorial playground and when you're reading that you're facing the fields, you're not facing Bridgewater, right? Yeah. You know, it's sideways. Yeah. So,
I think that's also rock that's under the the memorial that's under the um flag pole or the one that's on the on the school because they were it's by the school. two plaques, one on the stone and one on the There are two there are two places for
plaques, but when we were there, the plaque on the back was not not there. So, I don't I don't know who knows about that, but Judy, can you ask a question? Matt, how far can you go until uh until you
absolute you need absolute certainty on this site issue? How far can you go in your your your your planning and your drawings and I'm sure you found a way you know is stopped dead I can't go any further till this is answered. Uh I mean that's it's a great question
which does not have an easy answer. Um I I will say that buildings are sight specific. Um and and we are a firm that focuses pretty heavily on site responsive design, right? So where the
building goes has a huge influence in general and in particular for us on on the shape and organization of that building. It takes its cues from that site. you know that you do have the the kind of relief valve I guess if you can
call it that of parcel 60 which is certainly big enough right the challenge with with parcel 60 in my mind is the Bridgewater State Building which I don't know when it was built but there is no question that as soon as we touch that building it's got to be brought up
to code uh my understanding is that it is not structurally suitable for a library in terms terms of the the required live loading for shelves and you're inheriting all of the in addition to the code compliance issues, you're
inheriting the kind of physical limitations of that building, right? Its dimensions, its length, its height that may or may not align with your program. I mean, it's possible that that we could look at it and and sort of take out some of the smaller rooms or reprogram it. I have no idea
how big it is. My guess is it's not it's not uh big enough to accommodate your full program. So, it would either have to be a renovation addition to that building or a tear down of that building, frankly, which may be the the cleanest and simplest. Renovations are
not necessarily a cheaper solution, uh especially for an older building. Yeah. Can we interrupt though because short of uh even touching Bridgewater, wouldn't there be in six acres, wouldn't there be enough cohabitation for the
library and the existing building? Um, I'm just pulling up Google Earth now to look at it. Uh, I mean, so there's the area that is northeast of
the Bridgewater State Building, which is wooded. Yeah. Um, I think that's I think Phoebe I think it's off the map in in the Yeah, we we didn't in our diagrams, we did not include that full parcel. No.
Um, if if you are am I able to share? I could put the image up on screen. to share. I think from our end you are okay let me let me see uh I'm not a I'm not a panelist so I can't share I don't have that option
wait wait wait a second maybe let's upgrade you then how do invite go down to invite go up to panelist yep up go down to invite see
uh Oh, shoot. Yeah. Uh, should we send it to his email? There's got to be an easier way that we can Yeah, I don't know who's logged into the Matt, can I quickly ask you a question?
How do how on on the state grant attendees? Would it be covered that we could still be um going for the state cra if you did a rehab of the building and not a tear down? This project went in as new
construction, do you think? Yeah, that's my question. Is this in as new construction or could it be a rehab of the building? We can share. Oh, that's a great question. I think Jane we I think Jane mentioned that once it went in his new construction.
Yeah, I don't know the answer to that question. I think that's the question for Andrea Dorcus. Um I can answer it. Okay, what's the answer? The answer is that the grant will cover
renovation or it will cover new construction. But you have to have determined that before the grant was um awarded. And so what we had applied for was a renovation of two existing projects. We
then narrowed that down and and ruled those two locations out and then offered up this uh lot of land as a potential new site. There isn't any there wasn't any specific
um description of what would happen on that site. So the answer is maybe maybe okay because that has to be I don't know that that should be ruled out. I mean I'm just telling you that uh
in the scheme of things what you have there is a building that we know is compliant with the chap with chapter 97. I mean, it's not going to come into an issue for this site because it's already there. So,
we I I for one think that that would be a good thing for us to be looking at as a renovation of that building um as a possibility because again
looking at the fact that when we're looking at spending money in this town, you've got a $27 million phase one of the wastewater and we now have an elementary school that we know
we have to replace and then the library. I mean, in our thinking process, that's how it's going to go and then the library. So if there's a less expensive way of doing it where we could use the existing
building of Lawrence MacArthur or the Bridgewater State, however you want to call it, uh instead of going out and building an entirely new building, I think we have a better cell to the town.
Yeah, Doris, what what I was trying to say before is I I'm not convinced we would need to prove it, you know, by way of doing an estimate and everything, but I'm not convinced that renovating the Bridgewater State building and and expanding it. It that building is not
going to accommodate your full program. Um, I I mean just it looks when when I'm looking at a street view of it, it looks like it's a one-story building maybe with a partial second floor. Maybe it has two stories. Is it two stories? Okay.
Is it two stories with a main floor and a and a lower level basement or does it have an upper floor? It's an upstairs. So, it's a twotory building and a basement. Yeah. You know, until we start looking at it though, f first of
all, there's there's the challenge of timing, right? We there's there's no existing assessment of that building, right? No, there's been no structural analysis. There's been no code review, hazardous materials, uh, review of the
exterior envelope. All of those things contribute to the cost of renovating that and upgrading that building, making it code compliant. And so, so I can't tell you, Doris, that it's going to be cheaper to renovate that building and build an
addition than it would be to start with a clean slate and build a new building, right? Um, what would the cost factor be if we even just kind of conditionally looked into doing that? At least offering that as an option.
Uh I you're saying how much would it cost to to do that from from our standpoint, from a design standpoint? I mean that would end up altering your contract. Obviously, it would it would um I mean I I can't tell you off the top of my head, but we
could we could give it some thought and put a number to um Matt. Go ahead, Susan. Yeah, I was just going to say, Tom, when you're put on your federal contracting, I think any talk about moving away from what we did
and we contracted for and we competed for into a reconstruction of an existing building is a cardinal change in the project. So, it's I see lawsuit immediately. It's Don't you see that as a cardinal change? Yeah, it's a cardinal. Um, furthermore,
I thought at one point Jane said or someone I heard someone say that when you apply for these grants, it's either new construction or it's rehab and once you put your flag down, that's what it is. So, we got money for new that's that
was my just an understanding. My understanding on top of that too is if if you had a structural assessment done and proved that the building was able to be rehabbed then you could do it. Right. But that's not what we asked for.
Right. We asked for a library is what we asked for. We didn't ask any there's no specification to say use an existing building or build new. So I don't think actually think it's not a cardinal change. It's just asking them to take a
look at a different direction. Matt, my question to you is, is there room on that that parcel? Yeah. Yeah. Without using the the existing building. I know we'd have to clear trees and you've got a prop you got property line
along the backside of that. Is there room? Is there five plus acres in there to do it? Um from a purely num numerical standpoint, yes. But uh you know, you remember the exercise we went through on
the field site, I would not propose putting a library here, right? That's it's hidden. It's hard to access. Uh if you try to put it in this corner and clear trees, we actually
looked at this a while ago and there's this is a dead flat site except for this corner and there there's a pretty there's a pretty deep ravine sort of in this area that that makes and and possibly even I mean we don't know
because we don't have any information about it but it's possible that there's because of that depression there's wetland there. We don't know. But but that would be a very difficult place. You'd have to you'd have to fill it and and if it's wetland, then it's off
limits anyway. Um so so I don't know. But that becomes a more difficult corner. And and frankly, that's of any place on this parcel that we would consider putting a library, that would be it. Um because it's it's close to the street. It has the potential to have
some uh some natural buffer around it. So, you know, it's it's I would say it's either that or it's, you know, the site of this plus something else, you know, some other wing that's going to give you the additional space that you need, you
know, plus parking. Um, it's it's going to it it's going to be difficult to do it working around the Bridgewater State Building, in other words. Yeah. Okay.
Okay. All right. Well, let's get some information before we try. So, yes. All right. So, thank you, Matt. It's it's been a busy day and uh trying to track all this down, but I think we have some clear
directions, you know, for Tuesday. Um, I'll be in touch with Bob um to request uh maybe a little pressure on legal or that we get put bumped to the
top of the list there um or however it has to happen so that we get a response question. John, if it's high on the select boards privy, shouldn't they be pressuring Bob? I'm going to be I can tell you the
phones light up and just that's what we want. Yes. Yeah. Um I also reached out to more people saying light up the phones. That's it. Judy, when we had the meeting with Bob, he he distinctly told us this was his main priority. He did.
And so he's got to stick to that comment. You know that this was going to be his main focus going forward. Blah blah blah. I know. And then Tuesday night though, the select boards worked on their goals
and priorities based but that was based on your retreat from July and we met with him after your retreat. But that is what he said to us. He said this is I want to get this done. The library is well the common remember that the common also is on our select go on select board
goals and this same impact is there whether it's the common or the library. Yes. Right. Um, it's just so critical to me and to have somebody who was so passionate about
what she did for our town come back, you know. Well, first before she came, she was in um you know, county office building checking out these things and and what she she educated me a lot on
this with the the title includes probates and so that it's not necessarily like a deed restriction that might appear in like the last 20 years. The deed, it's in the title. Yeah. Yes. So
they've done the deeds. The deeds are done and there was no problem with the deeds. So a lot of times it doesn't it's not the answers. It's the questions if you ask the right question. So if you say is the deed clear? Yes, the deed's clear. But that was not the right question.
Better to find out now. Oh yeah, absolutely. like seven months from now when we're, you know, deep into it and trying to get a grant and have some, you know, junior lawyer as a project decides to research all this and raises their hand and says, "By
the way, you guys are working on property owned." This is this is one of those law school case study things. No, we don't want to be them. No, we do not. Okay. So um in looking back at our agenda,
you know, in terms of programming updates, I don't think we need to visit those kinds of topics tonight because um that may not go anywhere. So or it may go totally different. So we're in a big pause
um except for the outreach committee and um the fundraising aspect. So those things can keep going forward because those are a matter of getting things organized, pointing people to accurate information
and making sure we have accurate information in those places. Um and and that's what we need to do. Uh if this is determined to be the a totally inappropriate site, then we would have
to revisit the site selection process, go through that um with the public um go, you know, go back through the remaining sites that we ruled out for reasonable um considerations. But that
would be where we're going. I don't want to invest a lot of time in that now when we have other things that could be moving us forward. But that that would be the what we'd have to do. So, um Judy, I have a question. In in the meantime, would it be helpful
for us to reach out to our various consultants and and we do this a lot, these kinds of building assessments. Would it be helpful to at least have a team assembled with um a structural engineer, an exterior envelope engineer,
hazmat consultant, um engineer to look at mechanical systems and have them, you know, get tell them what the scope is, how quickly could you do this, and how much would it cost? So, you have an idea of what what it would do to to do a full assessment of that building and a time
frame. All right, then. Why don't we start that? That might be um I do have another uh point though. Uh a couple of years ago in capital we approved uh facility studies and I don't know if that
building was in the facility. It wasn't. Okay. So that was my Matt please. And wait a minute. Joe had another comment. Wasn't there a lease conflict? There is. There is. But that's we we understand that. That's that's that's a that's solvable. Yes. I mean, that really is
solvable. Leases are easy to solve. It would be helpful to know Matt because if you're going to come back and say it's a no deal that it's very easy for us to walk away from that and look at it, the alternative. Yeah. I mean, I guess the biggest question obviously there's the financial
cost of it and is that something that the town is willing to take on. The biggest question from my perspective is how long will it take and and at at what point can we confirm the suitability of that building or not you know to be to
be considered as library and then there's the if they say okay it's you know it's serviceable but it needs x y and z it's going to then take us some time to sort of think about how the building would would fit in that building or that building plus an
addition or whatever. we'd have to go through that process. You know, I it's it's conceivable that we could do that and still meet our obligations by the end of December. Um but but that, you know, and that's that's really the end goal that
that December deadline is is fixed, but but I think it's possible. Matt, I I just want to ask Jen. Jen, do you have any um opinion on this? I'm a bit concerned just I I get it. I
understand why we're here, but I'm concerned about switching gears and the ramifications of now going from new to renovation. And I mean, I think Matt explained everything very well about, you know, what the what the risks are
with that. And as you brought up, it is a change in project. What does it now do to the grant? I think there's a lot of complications with it. Uh, and it and it does concern me about the timeline as well as I mean obviously the legal
pieces of it and the grant. Okay. But isn't there, Jen, some way that we could at least know initially if it's even a possibility without upsetting the apple cart,
right? Like if that's saying that right off the bat these experts are saying you're you're crazy, it's not going to work. It's a tear down. Then everybody's going to know tear down. It's a tear down. Yeah. You mean you mean moving forward and having onello just kind of look at
this as a potential? Yes. Just that little question. Just that little question because if that question right from the beginning is no, then there is no course of even thinking about co- doing that. We will energy on it.
It's a matter of how deep you want them to go. If it's kind of like he has his consultants go out there and just kind of take a peek around and walk through and that's what we're saying is we just want to kind you know if they if they're coming back and saying forget about it then forget about it
especially if the building has asbestos in it. Yeah. I mean there could be all manner of things in there that we have no way of sure there's then then that alone cleaning up the asbestos is then it becomes a tear
down all those things PCDs all that good stuff I'm sure agreed okay just a just a little dip in the water a little little baby toe in the water that's it okay now um thanks Thanks, Jen.
Yeah. Uh, okay. So, Matt, you can move along with that. Thank you, Matt. I appreciate it. And, um, we will do what we need to do here as far as our local things. And I
also, um, have been very neglectful. David, um, I didn't even introduce myself. I see why you were skipping now. Judy, David Aronson is our new library
director and he's here on his own time, way ahead of schedule. So, we thank you for um coming to visit and and see us in Thank you for having me. Looking forward to working with you. Likewise.
So, that's who that guy is. We did do some introduction. before I before I flew in at the end. Okay. Okay. Um, next meeting, Judy. Next meeting, I believe, is 911 Thursday.
Certainly have all answers. Certainly in legal. Let's hope and pray that we've got Yeah. And I don't see that we can time for we can squeeze another one in before that. Okay. Is it six o'clock here? Six o'clock here. Yeah. I'll be on Zoom. You'll be on Zoom. Okay. Thank you.
Sandy and you'll be away. I'll be away. Okay. All right. But if you're on Zoom, so we'll still You're out of the country, aren't you? Good. 911 is the day. Thursday. Yeah, I'll be on here at the South Yemen. Here you'll get, you know, you'll get
the agenda again, but it's it's always good to just have it on your own, you know. You've already given us uh the last meeting of September, the the date. Yeah. Yeah, I I have it already on my screen and then I have another one in for the
25th also. Yes. Um Okay. And the outreach committee does not have another meeting, but we'll probably meet again before then just to hammer out some more things. Anything else for the good of
the cause? I'll have a motion to adjurnn. Motion to adjurnn. Second. All in favor? I opposed. Abstain. Thank you everyone. Motion carries.
Thank you, Matt. Everybody. Thanks everybody. Bye. I was on the I was on the bus