The purpose of the Permanent Building Committee is to provide a resource for and advice to all building committees and proposed building projects. The Committee is chaired by Pat Brusch, with Karen Pressey serving as Secretary. Other members are Rob Jones, Bob McLaughlin, Joel Mooney, Steve Sala, and Bill Shea.
The Permanent Building Committee has been involved in the following projects during 2004:
Joel Mooney continues to chair the Town Hall Complex Building Committee. This project has been under construction all year, and is nearing completion. We are looking forward to occupancy of the Homer Building (formerly the Annex) and the School Administration Building in the spring of 2005.
Bob McLaughlin and Bill Shea serve on the Fire Station Building Committee. Bob chairs this committee. The design for the project was completed in 2004 following a successful debt exclusion in April. The project is out to bid, with proposals expected in January 2005.
Karen Pressey (Chairman), Pat Brusch, and Rob Jones serve on the Senior Center Building Committee. The Committee chose John Catlin and Associates as the project architect in early 2004, and the schematic design was completed in June. That project is now in the hands of a private fundraising group who are working hard to provide substantial funding for this project. Once the amount of private contributions is determined, the Board of Selectmen will decide when to place a debt exclusion question to the voters.
Karen Pressey is also our representative to the Cemetery Building Committee. That Committee has been inactive in 2004, and is still waiting for the transfer of the land, so the building of the new cemetery can begin.
Bob McLaughlin and Karen Pressey also serve on the Energy Services Building Committee. This Committee was initiated by Selectman Paul Solomon and has engaged a firm to provide an audit of all Town buildings in terms of energy effeciencies that could be achieved.
Joel Mooney and Karen Pressey continue to serve on the Wellington School Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee reviewed the feasibility done in 2000, and updated the costs for the Wellington project. It was anticipated that Town Meeting would be asked to authorize a building committee for this project at the Special Town Meeting in November, but the Board of Selectman withdrew the article with a statement that they would put it on a Warrant in early 2005. It is hoped that the Wellington design and debt exclusion will be completed in time to apply for SBA reimbursement in the summer of 2007.
Pat Brusch continued to serve on the Belmont High School Advisory Committee which received funds from Town Meeting to prepare a Master Plan for the renovation of the high school. Karen Pressey and Joel Mooney assisted with the selection of an architect for this project. The firm of Desgin Partnership of Cambridge was hired to study the high school. Bob Vogel, who was the architect of the Chenery Middle School (with another firm), was the lead architect on the high school project. The Master Plan was completed in September of 2004 and was presented to the School Committee and then to the "mega-group". The Advisory Committee will spend the next few months getting community input on the proposal.
Stephen Sala, our newest member, served this fall on the Belmont Public Library Feasibility Study. Karen Pressey and Pat Brusch also helped with this project. At first, it seemed that this would include a swap in land between the pool and the library, but after a lot of study it was determined that both activities should take place in their current sites. The study was due to be complete in January 2005 in order that the Library Trustees could submit an application to the State for reimbursement for the project. This project is many years off, but there was a concern that there may not be another grant round for a long time, the waiting list is anticipated to be 7 to 10 years long. If Belmont were prioritized low on the list, resulting in a wait of 7 or so years, it might work out that the funding would be available around the time the Town
was able to begin on this project. It is our understanding that if the funding became available, the Town could turn it town with no penalty to future applications.
Pat Brusch worked with the Highway Dept. and Kevin Looney, Manager of Buildings, to prepare an RFP for the Highway Feasibility Study. It is anticipated that this study will be complete in early summer 2005.
The Permanent Building Committee continues to serve with the Board of Selectmen, Warrant Committee, and Capital Budget Committee on the so-called mega group, which meets about twice a year. At the most recent mega-meeting an updated Capital Project Priority List was created. This list has the Senior Center and the Wellington School as the two projects which are anticipated to begin within the next 5 years. The Belmont High School Project was thought to be "next in line", with the remaining projects on the list being placed in the "5 Years and Beyond" category. Those projects include the Library, the Underwood Pool, the Highway Department, the Police Station, the Hockey Rink, and the White Field House.
Respectfully submitted,
Patricia Brusch, Chairman
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