Sweden Fire Station Building Committee Meeting Minutes

February 12, 2008

DRAFT

MINUTES of the Sweden Fire Station Building Committee (SFSBC) regular meeting on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 , at the Sweden Town Office.

Present: Members: Wolfgang Duve, Wayne Miller, Julie McQueen, John P. Smith, Patrick Wood

Public & Guests:  None

Absent: Bill Morrisseau,

These notes are not necessarily in the order in which things were discussed. They are loosely organized by topic.

Assignments from the February 12, 2008 Meeting:

·       Wolfgang will generate copies of all 3 building options (1 at 50 X 70, 1 at 62 X 70, and 1 at 64 X 80 with the meeting room moved toward the front door) on the computer for presentation at the Information Meeting to be held on March 8, 2008 .

·       Wayne will forward the information re: Shawn Bergeron to Julie who will forward the same package to Bergeron Technical Services (BTS) that was sent to Roger Legoff, Jr. in November; to get an estimate on what it would cost to have BTS do the design work.

·       *Julie was finally able to connect with Shawn Bergeron on Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2008 and faxed essentially the same package to Mr. Bergeron that was faxed to Roger Legoff, Jr. on Nov. 13, 2008 .  

Assignments from the January 8, 2008 Meeting:

·       Wolfgang will contact Scott Valley to discuss the possibility of adjusting the location of the property line between the Valley property and the Town property. Per Wolfgang, the current placement of this property line is not exactly as that agreed between committee and owner in 2005.

·       * Wolfgang spoke to Scott Valley who is agreeable to moving the property line 10 ft. forward as long as it doesn’t interfere with his well.able to

·       Wolfgang will contact the surveyor used in 2005 (Points North from Bethel , ME ) and get an estimate of costs necessary to adjust the property line. These costs would include, at a minimum, the survey costs, the cost of an attorney if required, and costs to register the deed.  A change in the placement of this property line would not change the size of the property but would allow the proposed station to be built closer to Bridgton Road .

·       * Wolfgang contacted the surveyor and got a price of $350 to do the survey again but we do not know if this includes the updated drawing. It does not include the new or amended deed (cost unknown) or the cost to register the new deed (about $18).

      It is estimated the whole thing will cost less than $1,000.

·       Wayne will contact L.A. Drew and request that a representative attend the next Committee meeting to discuss an approximate price for the proposed building and site work.

·       * Kevin Drew, VP of L.A. Drew Construction Co. spoke at the January 22, 2008 meeting.

Assignments from the October 23, 2007 Meeting:

·       Julie requested that all members who have recommendations regarding possible contractors, etc. please verify current names, addresses and additional contact information and forward them to her. She will compile a list so the Town is prepared to move forward when it comes time to pursue a cost estimate.

    * This request was made again at the January 8, 2008 meeting.

Assignments from the July 10, 2007 meeting:

·       Ted Harris is to make an inquiry with Maine DOT regarding the acquisition/storage of excess fill required for site work.

*     We have not received an update on this item as of the February 12, 2008 meeting.

Meeting Notes:

·       Chairman Wolfgang Duve called the meeting to order at 9:00 am .

·       The Committee has been asked to participate in an “Information Meeting” on Saturday March 8, 2008 which is the week before the Annual Town Meeting. 

·       John Smith spoke with Lou Bruno in January. His firm would be unable to stamp any drawings for the Fire Station without being involved in the construction of the project.; which is completely understandable. It would be inappropriate for the Committee to commit to anything so this option will be tabled for the time being.

·       Julie contacted Little Pond Construction and let them know that the possible arrangement to have Lou Bruno stamp the drawings is off the table at this time and that the Committee is looking into other options.

·       The Committee appreciates the interest of both Mr. Bruno and Little Pond Construction in the proposed Fire Station project.

·       The Committee discussed the option of expanding the previously proposed station to make it 64 ft. wide and 80 ft. long. (5,120 SF)

·       Wolfgang is concerned that if the Town has more than 2 trucks that are 40 ft. long or more, the 70 ft. length will be inadequate.

·       There were several concerns expressed about doing this:

·       The Committee had discussed equipment that the Town currently owns, as well as what is anticipated and determined early in the process that the 70 ft. length would be adequate for their needs for the foreseeable future. It is unlikely,  but not written in stone that a Town the size of Sweden will have more than 2 trucks of 40 ft. or greater length in the foreseeable future

·       The option approved by the Committee in November was 4,340 SF in size; which is 16% larger than the current Denmark Station but has a meeting room of similar size. This newly proposed expansion would increase the size of the most recent option by an additional 18% and is 37% larger than the Denmark Station.

·       This will not only add to the cost of construction, but will increase maintenance (heat, etc.) by as much as well.

·       The Denmark Station is 50 X 70 (3500 SF) + a 240 SF Meeting Room for a total of 3740 SF. To some, it would be difficult to justify anything much larger than that for a Town the size of Sweden . The committee was able to justify the additional 16% of space to accommodate an additional bathroom (which the Committee believes is required by law) and the addition of a clean room and a storage room.

·       Denmark gets 30-100 calls a year for a population of 1000 -1200 and has 25 members; and they see no need for expansion for the next 50 years.

·       The Committee had decided to maintain a 70 foot length in order to reduce the need to construct a building on fill. The committee has determined that there is approximately 130 feet of useable space from the front of the Town Office (which coincides with the front lot line for the Fire Station) before any significant fill would be required. With the previously proposed station, there would be a 70 foot apron and a 70 foot building which would require building on 10 foot of fill. Moving the lot line 10 foot forward would reduce the possibility of having to build on fill. It may be possible to move the lot line even further forward, but care would have to be taken to be sure that there was no interference with the abutter’s well before that determination could be made. It would be important to find this out prior to the March 8th meeting.

 ·       A little history:

·       A station similar to Denmark ’s (with the option of a meeting room to be used for other activities which could be added at the time of construction or added later) was the target of the Committee until September of 2007.  After meeting with the Selectmen on Sept. 11, 2007 the Committee started looking into ways to incorporate everything (including a meeting room) under one roof; as opposed to having a meeting room with a separate roofline. This discussion continued into the beginning of October when the idea of expanding one side of the building (making it asymmetrical) to accommodate extra space without going to a larger truss size or having any part of the building under a separate roof was discussed. The initial proposal for this arrangement was for a 60 X 70 ft. building (50 ft. wide with a 10 ft. addition to one side).

·       Some members of the Committee visited the Center Conway station on October 15, 2007 after which this proposed layout was expanded to a 62 X 70 ft building. This was reviewed and approved informally at the end of October 25^th meeting.

·       A majority of the Oct. 25, 2007 meeting was devoted to the discussion with Bobbie Arnold regarding USDA Rural Development options but the 62 X 70 option was reviewed and informally approved at the end of this meeting. The considerations” which consist simply of a compilation of the decisions, assumptions and conclusions which had been made by the Committee over the previous 9 months still had to be pulled together. This compilation accompanied the drawings and serve as the Committee’s proposed “specifications” for the design work.

·       The next meeting on November 13, 2007 was where the 62 X 70 plan and the “considerations” were reviewed again and approved by a unanimous vote of the 5 attending members. This package was forwarded that same day to both Roger Legoff, Jr. and to the Selectmen.

·       At the February 12, 2008 meeting the Committee agreed to offer three options at the Information Meeting before any money is spent on design; and let the voting public decide which option to pursue:

·       Option 1 will be the 50 X 70 ft. (3500 SF) option arranged in such a way that a meeting room could be added at a later date.

·       Option 2 will be the previously submitted option of a 64 X 70 building (4340 SF).

·       Option 3 will be the new, larger version which is 64 X 80 (5120 SF)

·       The Committee will show sketches of these 3 options at the information meeting the week prior to the Town Meeting.

·       The committee discussed the alternatives for deciding which option should be further pursued (for which option will the Town pay to have drawings and specifications developed):

A public hearing could be held after the Town Meeting, and the option to be pursued could possibly be decided by a straw vote at that time. This would not be a guarantee that this building would ultimately be accepted by the Town, but would give the Committee the direction they need. Enough money would need to be appropriated at the Town meeting, prior to the public hearing to produce plans and specifications.

An arrangement could be made with the Selectmen to direct the Committee to pursue whatever option they determined had the most support.

·       After Plans and Specifications are produced, the project would go out to bid and the Committee would then have something to present to the Town for a vote on appropriating or borrowing money to build the project. Again, this would not be a guarantee that the option pursued by the committee for design would be approved.

·       The Committee has requested that an article for $10,000 be included in the warrant for the next Town Meeting. The Committee should be prepared to answer questions about this article. The $10,000 request was based on having prices to do the plans and specifications, to have the drawings stamped and to do the survey. At this time, we do not have the commitment to stamp the drawings and should be up front about that fact. The Town may ultimately have to hire an architect; but there should still be an article presented in order to start a reserve fund for the proposed fire station as part of the Capital Investment Plan Implementation.

·       The cost of the building will also be an issue. It is important to acknowledge that at this time the Committee doesn’t know what that cost will be. It will be determined by the type of building that is pursued, as well as the options and the contractor that are chosen. The committee has received a wide range of “ballpark” figures. It would be reasonable to acknowledge that it looks as if a metal building is more cost effective than a stick built building. Additional equipment required once the building is complete (generator, computers, lockers, shelving, furnishings, etc.) should also be addressed as a part of the cost of the new Fire Station; as well as the cost of running the station once it is complete (the cost of utilities, will high speed internet be expected, that sort of thing).

·       It is in the Committee’s best interest to lay it all out on the table at this point to maintain the trust of the Community.

·       At the next meeting the Committee will prepare for the Information Meeting presentation.

·       Wolfgang will produce all three options on the computer, and we will have 8-1/2” X 11” drawings to share at the meeting.

·       The next meeting will be Tuesday February 26, 2008 from 9:00 – 10:30 AM