Minutes for July 14th, 2010

Hatfield Public Library Building Committee
Dickinson Memorial Building
July 14, 2010 6:30PM

Present: Dodie Gaudet, Mary Williams, Susan Gaughan, Stephen Hale (architect), Bryan Nicholas, Emi Estelle (intern), and Eliza Langhans (recording secretary and librarian)

Committee Membership Updates: Milton Howard may be interested in returning as a member but needs to be contacted. Jim Phaneuf has not yet been sworn in as a member.

Approval of the Minutes: Moved, Seconded, Voted: Approve the minutes with minor edits (typos!)

Grant Application Status

* MBLC grant: Emi has divided the grant into a checklist of subsections to make it easier to divide up and assign to different people. Each member received a copy to take home and look over, and Eliza will also sent out copies of the 2005 Construction grant for those who want more detail. Susan volunteered to help with Section 1 (General) and Bryan volunteered to help with Section 2 (Project Description).
* CPA Grant: Deciding that it would be more efficient to work in a smaller group, we formed a subcommittee to meet on July 28th at 6:30PM. Emi will be out of town that day, but will leave us with her research and working draft. At the moment, this grant has the most priority.
* USDA: Eliza will email Harold to meet and try to finalize this grant.
*

Other: Emi shares several grant opportunities she discovered. The Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts gave $20,000 to Westhampton for their Building Project. The deadline for this grant is in the Spring. Bank of America gave money to the Lily Library for their C/W MARS conversion. Construction is one of the options covered by their grant. An organization called the Gladys Bilks (sp?) Foundation also gives money to libraries with a rolling deadline. These grants are all strong possibilities but, at the moment, their grants are a lower priority.


Video Project Status: Eliza says they need a place in Hatfield with space to set up the editing equipment (there is no spot in the library to leave it set up, and it is cumbersome to take apart and put together). Sue Gaughan offers the den in her house and says that people will be welcome to come over and work on the editing.

Community Relations Updates: Members of the Historical Society are concerned there may be termites in the roof of the building. The situation will be monitored and Eliza will call an exterminator if needed. Members of the Historical Society are also concerned that there may not be space for all museum materials in the current plan. They are taking an inventory of all items which will help them determine how much space they need. This inventory has been delayed due to high temperatures in the museum space.

Renderings: Stephen Hale showed us the drafts of three renderings and the group made comments. Stephen will pass comments on to the artist. Renderings should be ready before the Community Preservation Committee meeting at the end of August.

New Open Meeting Law Impact: Bumped to the next meeting due to lack of new information.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, August 11th at 6:30PM