TOWN OF RYE - BOARD OF SELECTMEN THURSDAY, January 5, :30 p.m. Rye Town Hall

TOWN OF RYE - BOARD OF SELECTMEN THURSDAY, January 5, 2017 4:30 p.m. Rye Town Hall Members Present: Acting Chair Craig Musselman, Selectman Priscilla Jenness Others Present: Town Administrator Michael Magnant and Asst. Town Administrator/Finance Director Cynthia Gillespie. I. CALL TO ORDER Acting Chair Musselman called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance. II. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Town Hall Options Acting Chair Musselman stated that they have been through quite a lot of discussion in regards to the Town Hall. They have given everyone the opportunity to ask questions of Hutter in order to understand the proposals on the table. There was also a meeting where everyone had the opportunity to voice their opinions, which there were many diverse opinions. To date, the Selectmen have not voiced their thoughts. The purpose of those meetings was to understand the proposals and to get input from the residents as to where this should go. The direction at this point, lies with the Board of Selectmen. There is a deadline of January 6 th to post a bond, if the town is going to go with a bond this year. January 17 th is the last day that the bond hearing can be held. Selectman Jenness stated that she is thinking about the previous meeting on the 3 rd. She continues to feel there is a general agreement in regards to the site. The Town Hall should be on the existing site. She feels very strongly about that. She thinks there is also a general agreement on the square footage that is required at this point. The agreement is around 8,000sf; given the reduction in space taken away for the Recreation and Sewer Departments. She thinks that most people that were at the meeting, and looked at the two proposals from Hutter, in general liked the concept of the exterior. She didn t hear anyone come out and say that they hated what they saw or even criticize it in any big respect. Generally, there were a few things that came up that she agreed with, in terms of changes to the exterior. She agrees that there should be a door more towards the middle of the main building. Also, no matter what happens to the inside, the monumental windows make it what it is. She noted that there was a question of why there would be an 8ft ceiling on the first floor with an 18ft ceiling on the second. She commented that this is what is historical about coming into a building that was built primarily as a meeting space over a basement. That is a sense that she feels should be retained. The proportions are there for a reason. She continued that the Selectmen have received an email from resident John Loftus with his comments. They have also received a number of other emails. She noted that no one should come to this process without the ability to compromise and help move the project forward. If there are 30 people in the room, there are 1

30 different ideas. That has been the problem all along. The town has to reach consensus somehow or this issue will be right back to the beginning a year from now. Selectman Jenness stated that the question has been made several times about a basement. She is sort of half way in the middle. She certainly would approve a partial basement. However, there is also the problem of needing extra strength for the second floor because of the weight of the files, if the Building Inspector s Office is moved upstairs. She does not understand why they could not have a partial basement for the mechanical parts but also have a slab that would hold the vault and the files at ground level. There may be a good reason why that is not possible. She commented that the other night, she heard more people talking about a replica as opposed to a renovation. In fact, she was surprised to hear Phil Winslow (Historic District Commission Chair) say he could go either way. As far as the interior is concerned, she thinks they need an architect that is given free reign and creativity, with as few restraints as possible, to see what can actually be done within the building itself. She also thinks that everyone needs to take a close look at the bottom line. She thinks this ties to her fear going down the line that to move too hastily is going to actually destroy anything that is trying to be done because it will be said that it is being done with too much haste. These are her thoughts following the meeting of the 3 rd. Acting Chair Musselman stated that with respect to the historic renovation, he has been in favor of this idea for the past four years. Everyone he has dealt with on committees knows that. He was in favor of the previous design for 4.1 million. He thought it was a fine design and it was indeed a historic renovation. The Town Hall would have had the spiral stairs and they would have been used. They probably would ve been the primary access to the Great Hall. The Great Hall would have been preserved with the tin ceilings. The stage would ve been closed off by a wall; however, the arch was still there and it was an open, historic space. He continued that there was some effort put towards looking at the restoration of windows. They were going to replace almost all of the wood on the exterior and leave the trim, some of which may have needed to be addressed. He commented that he did not think the use of the Great Hall was worth the money. He continued that he had thought when starting this process that a historic renovation with a bump-out would have worked as reasonably as the previous historic renovation. He has found himself reviewing proposals, listening to presentations and listening to comments from the residents. Considering all of this, moving office space back upstairs in the Great Hall, with a long-term renovation of a building that is not likely to be redone in many decades, he now views the project not as a historic renovation. There are many reasons why it becomes not a historic renovation. In the previous design the spiral staircases would ve been visible and useable. In this case, no one is going to use the stairs because they access office space on the second floor. No one is going to see the staircases. They are going to be hidden relics, not used. In regards to the tin ceiling on the second floor, using that space as office space and having the partitions go up to the ceiling, completely destroys the sense of what that might have been at one time. That is why a price was requested for shoring up the second floor so the building inspector could be moved upstairs and lower partitions could be used. He continued that the stage with a glass front changes the view of that, even from what it was previously of a stage with a large hall but with a wall. The proposal included replacing only 20% of the clapboards and leaving the rest of them on. He is concerned about scraping and painting the wood because some of it is wet and much of it is dry. He is not sure it is going to take paint. A price was requested in case it was decided to replace all the siding. That price is $68,000., which narrows the cost between the two alternatives. An email back from the contractor said that taking off all the clapboards could lead to more restoration work on the underlayment; perhaps, there is more money spent in doing that. He commented that this is a good argument for taking all the clapboards off and seeing what is under it if this is going to be a permanent renovation. 2

Acting Chair Musselman stated that the windows are proposed to be Marvin Windows. He has 36 Marvin windows in his house. They are top notch windows. From a distance, they would be fine and could be configured in the way of the monumental windows. The comment was that there was not enough time to get good proposals from people to restore the windows. He questions whether restoring the windows is a 50 year solution. However, with the renovation as it is proposed, it is Marvin Windows as it stands. It is a fine idea but it is not a historic renovation. In sum total, what is left inside the building for historic features, he does not think is of significant value; a hidden stairwell, stage and questionable partitions that go up to the tin ceilings. He thinks it is compromised from a historic preservation perspective. He does not know how to not compromise it without leaving the area on the second floor as a Great Hall. He thinks it is also compromised from a quality standpoint because it is a very old building that is being renovated. He reiterated that he was in favor of a historic renovation for three or four years; however, he does not think it is a viable way to proceed in the interest of the Rye Taxpayers. He stated that there are five positive aspects of new construction with a similar exterior. With respect to space planning, the 8,000sf works. It is efficient space. Tweaks are needed in design but that process has not yet started between the owner and architect. He agrees with Selectman Jenness that there should be a center door. He thinks there should be bathrooms close to the meeting room upstairs. The Selectmen s Secretary s space needs to be bigger. However, there is room within the 8,000sf envelope to do all of those things and meet the town s needs. It is a proper amount of space and should work in the future. He continued that the façade of the architectural design fits in the context of the town center. He is surprised that it fits as well as it does. He thinks they did a fine job. Someone said that they fixed the footprint. They didn t fix the footprint. They put a jog in that worked better for interior space planning and sets the back off a little, which is still subservient. He thinks it works. There was a vote of the Heritage Commission that said, option 1 and option 2 building looks appropriate. The HDC Chair was present at the last meeting. In his opinion, he thought option 1 or option 2 would be fine. It is a building that fits within the town center that the residents could be proud of. Acting Chair Musselman pointed out that with new construction there would be fewer or no construction surprises, better building materials, a longer life, less maintenance, no long-term surprises or lingering environmental issues. New construction is better from a lot of perspectives. With respect to cost, it s affordable. The delta to the renovation cost will go away by the time it is done. In the grand scheme of things, the delta that is left is immaterial. Interest rates are low. There has been talk about financing at less than 2%. The Fed raised the interest rates in December for the first time in 8 years. Unless there is another recession, the interest rates are going to go up in all likelihood. This may be the most affordable option the town has. It is probably the least cost option. The time is now. The building is a lawsuit waiting to happen. He noted that there was another incident in regards to handicap access recently. Someone came into the office in a wheelchair to do business at the Town Clerk s Office. This person s head was at the counter level and he had to sign paperwork. He continued that 15 years ago, the courtroom and the benches were quaint. It is not quaint anymore. The town is long by the time that this problem should ve been solved. The town is currently discriminating against disabled people who go to the Town Hall. These are people who are residents of Rye. If there was discrimination against anyone for any other reason, he thinks everyone in Rye would find that reprehensible. It is at this point in time, this day and age, absolutely ridiculous that the town has a public building accessed by everyone in Rye and it is not American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant. It s embarrassing. The existing building is embarrassing from the outside, as it is from the inside. It is time to solve the problem. It is time to proceed. He stated that everyone continues to talk about other alternatives. All of them have drawbacks. Selectman Jenness mentioned compromise. Compromise is a part of life. The alternatives have to be considered and a decision has to be made on how to proceed. He continued that the Public Safety Building keeps coming up in discussions. The Public Safety Building does not work. It does not work 3

for security issues. It does not work for internal use conflicts. It doesn t work for external access. The town offices would have to hide behind the fire station and people would have to walk into the back of the building, with the police and fire sections cornered off. The safety building has been looked at by many different people. The Fire Chief and Police Chief have both said, unequivalently when the option first came up, that it can t work. It won t work. It is not feasible; however, it keeps coming up. The Trolley Building keeps coming up. It is too small. The site does not support anything except a satellite of a building of a couple of thousand square feet. He noted that he raised the idea of the Rye Junior High. The town has declining student enrollment. Resident Ray Jarvis stated the other night to watch trends because they can change. They certainly can change. In ten years, what is assumed now may be very different. There is possibly 7,000 to 10,000sf of office space that could be established in the junior high. It is potentially feasible to have an access road from Lang Road. Parking and access could be such that children and people accessing town hall don t mix; however, it is a fundamental conflict of uses. It is going to be validly controversial for people who have children at the junior high, as to whether they want them on the site with adults accessing the building. In the long run, that may well be an option for some kind of senior center or recreation center. That would be ten years out at the minimum. He does not think it is feasible in the foreseeable future. Acting Chair Musselman stated that on the evening of the 3 rd there was a lot of talk from people who thought the town should wait, fund another design and build a new building. Almost everyone in the room was moving past renovating the existing structure. He has listed six reasons why this is not a good course for the town to take. First, there was thought that the town could seek a better architectural design. The town could certainly seek a different one. The town would go through a process; look at different alternatives, get input from different people and maybe settle on an alternative for a new building that would fit in this context. He thinks the best case at the end of that process, is that the town would come up with something that fits as well as the current proposal from Hutter. The worst case is that the town would come up with something that people cannot agree on or does not fit as well as the current proposal. He does not have any confidence in the town s ability to start the design process over again. The town has been through the process. There have been Town Hall Committees that repeatedly could not agree. There have been Town Hall Committees that have taken split votes. There have been votes of 11 to 1, with the 1 member who voted against it writing letters to the editor of the local paper, hoping to destroy the project. If the town starts over again, will it do better? He does not have any confidence that it will be done any easier. It would take two to four years to reach a community consensus again and then the bidding would have to begin. The question is whether it would be better space. The best case is that it would be 8,000+/- sf, similar to what is proposed. He is not sure that it will be better. The idea was said that more space is needed. More space is going to cost more money. Multiple people have been asking why the Town Hall does not have a basement. Some people want a basement for the addition. The architect pushed back on that and said it would cost way too much money on the side of the hill. The same question was asked of Hutter. They have said that putting the mechanicals downstairs is going to cost more money than putting it in a small room on the main floor. The architects and contractors have all been saying that for the planning space needs, a basement would likely cost more money and would not be necessary. There has been the suggestion, at least ten times in the last two years, that a three-story building be built instead of a two-story building. Eric Hastings from Hutter saw the minutes of the previous meetings and wrote back and said by the way, you had discussion from someone in the audience about a three story building. A three story building will cost more on a lesser footprint because the elevator has to reach all three stories. There is an idea that a three story building will be cheaper because it is a smaller footprint. The people who do construction work are saying that it is going to cost more, not less. He noted that circulating through email is the idea that one of the residents in town, whose heart is in the right place, would take over the design of the building by donating his time. He would consider doing this with modular construction techniques; pre-manufactured building components. With all due respect, 4

that is a flawed concept from multiple perspectives. In New Hampshire, a building of this sort has to be designed by a registered architect and licensed engineers of at least four different disciplines; electrical, mechanical, structural and civil. The person suggesting this idea cannot do that. It is not lawful. Architects are trained through a rigorous education process and long experience to do the designing of buildings. Public buildings can t be designed by someone other than a registered architect. This idea and saying it can be built cheaper with modular construction, is going throughout the community. It is not viable. This is in the same category as the Public Safety Building. It can t legally fly and can t proceed. Acting Chair Musselman stated that people are saying that the project can be done in the two million dollar range. Construction costs have been inflating higher than the rate of inflation for years. Construction costs are going up about a rate of four to five percent per year. Interest rates are increasing. If the town could find another architect that would be willing to work with the town, after the debacle from last time, go through a process that takes two to four years, design a building and come to a consensus on how a less costly building will look, the town would be into more money by that time. He does not think starting over, from any number of perspectives, is a viable path for the town at this point. He thinks it is time for the town to proceed with a viable, efficient, attractive alternative, which they now have on the table; new construction with a similar exterior. He cannot see much downside to it, other than it has a price tag of 3.3 million and change; but that is what it is going to cost to do this project. He thinks the Selectmen should place a warrant article to proceed in that direction. He understands that there will be people who are upset and want to retain the circular stairways. Maybe those could be auctioned off and reused in a building where they will be effective. He knows there are people who think there should be multiple bids. There are not multiple bids. It could ve been opened up to all contractors but proposals would be received that were not focused. The town was asking a lot of a contractor in the period of time that was given. He reiterated that he thinks the Selectmen should proceed with a warrant article for new construction with a similar exterior. Referring to the plan, Selectman Jenness asked what degree of change can be made. Not to the interior, as it is her understanding that the interior is not that set but to the exterior. For example, the placement and the style of the door is not acceptable. To what degree can outside changes be made? There is a factor of time. Acting Chair Musselman stated that there have been comments from people in the last month about adding windows in three locations. Those would probably be an added cost. He asked Hutter whether or not moving the spaces around, with the same number of square feet and partitions, can be done without cost implications. The answer was probably. With the numbers, there is a $145,000 project contingency, which goes more towards design changes with new construction. In his opinion, it would all go toward design changes with new construction. Some people have asked if there is going to be a foundation problem. He does not think there will be an issue. He thinks there is probably a rather high and dry foundation setting with good bearing capacity. The $145,000 is more than sufficient for whatever changes will be made, except if it is made larger. He does not think it is wise to make it larger. He thinks the proposal works. Mae Bradshaw, 106 Harbor Road, stated the Heritage Commission sent a letter asking about the monumental windows and specifically about adding windows for a more balanced appearance. She asked if it would be possible to have the original monumental windows, with secure storms, incorporated into the new plan, if the town was able to receive grants. Acting Chair Musselman explained that this question was posed to Hutter. Their answer was that they would be willing in the design process to consider that. They did not have firm price proposals back from people who restore windows at the time they made their proposal. He noted that there would not be much 5

time to consider that. With Hutter s schedule, if the town wanted to proceed, those decisions would need to be made around a May timeframe. Ms. Bradshaw asked if this is something the Selectmen are willing to consider. Acting Chair Musselman stated the he is willing to consider it, as long as its viable and there are long term windows in the end. The Selectmen would want to talk to the restorer and make sure they feel comfortable. Selectman Jenness stated that her feeling has been that in the spirit of compromise, if the exterior can be retained to the best of its ability, then something has to be given up as far as division of interior space. Maybe the town will garner more support this way. She commented that things are becoming pretty desperate as far as safety. When the building was originally constructed, there was no electricity, no inside plumbing or technology. All of that has been added. The building can t help but have borings through its timbers and beams. Ms. Bradshaw asked if the word demolition would be part of the warrant article. Acting Chair Musselman explained that the warrant article takes on a life from here. The notice for the bond hearing will go out on January 6 th and the warrant article will be posted on the warrant, which has a deadline of January 23 rd. The wording of the warrant article will be worked on before it is posted on the 23 rd. The warrant article wording can be changed at the Deliberative Session; however, it cannot be changed to a different project. He noted that the Town Moderator and Town Counsel will be at the Deliberative Session and will opine if the change is a substantial change that changes the meaning of the warrant article. The town will also not be able to change the fundamental meaning of the bond hearing discussion. Victor Azzi, Old Ocean Blvd., asked if there will be an opportunity for someone, who represents the town s interest, to look at the details of the plans. He asked who will make the decisions on how the interior floor plan should be laid out and what materials will be used. Acting Chair Musselman explained that they have proposed to include an architect representative for the town to help administer the design build contract. There will be some involvement by town staff. As the project moves through construction, it will move through the decision making structure through the Town Administrator and to the Board of Selectmen. Ms. Bradshaw asked if there has been any consideration on placing a warrant article for the $68,000 that it would take to scrape and paint the building in case this warrant article does not pass. Acting Chair Musselman noted the $68,000 was for replacing siding. He is not sure what the cost would be for painting and the warrant article has to be placed soon. His concern on having this as a backup warrant article is that people would vote for it and not the other one, thinking it would take care of the issue. To him, that is not acceptable. Motion by Priscilla Jenness to post a notice for a bond hearing to be held on January 17 th for consideration of a bond article in the amount of $3,386,752 for the purpose of constructing a new town hall, with a similar exterior, consistent with the proposal for new construction submitted by Hutter Construction, Corporation, on December 8, 2016, as would be modified in the subsequent design process. Seconded by Craig Musselman. 6

Selectman Jenness stated that a statement of facts should be drafted that can be distributed widely. The problem continues to be that very few people come to meetings to discuss the project and many people vote without being a part of that discussion. That has hurt along the way. She is not sure how they can fought. This is the age of information. There has to be some way to let people know what this project consists of. Vote: 2-0 All in favor. III. OTHER BUSINESS Bond Hearing to be held on January 17 th, 6:30 p.m., Rye Town Hall ADJOURNMENT Motion by Priscilla Jenness to adjourn at 5:40 p.m. Seconded by Craig Musselman. All in favor. Respectfully Submitted, Dyana F. Ledger 7