Alna Facilities Planning Committee

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Date: March 10,2008

Time: 07:00 PM - 08;00 PM

Location: Fire House

Meeting Minutes:

Alna Facilities Planning Committee Meeting, March 10, 2008, held at the Firehouse at 7 p.m.

Present: Tom Albee (TA), Nick Caristo (NC), Gordon Davis (GD), John Green (JG), Fred Gumkowski (FG), Kathy Pendleton (KP) and Cliff Russell (CR)

Absent: Brian Lawrence Also present:   Roger Whitney and Paul Ouellette from the AVFD; Billie Willard, First Selectman   [for discussion about Warrant Articles and ballot mechanics]; and Ralph Hilton [with questions about project cost estimates].

The committee heard reports about several outstanding issues and inquiries:

• The VFD representatives and (later) KP reported that at its business meeting on March 5^th the department approved by a vote of 15 to 3 the following motion:
• “The AVFD Corp. will deed to the Town of Alna, for the consideration of $1.00, the existing fire station building, exclusive of contents, located on land, see Map # R-4, Lot # 36, if the townspeople vote at the annual Town Meeting of 2008 in favor of either the addition proposed by Les Fossel [to be Warrant Article 18], or the stand-alone fire station, with town meeting room [to be Warrant Article 17]; and contingent on the execution of a satisfactory Usage Agreement [referred to by others as a “Memorandum of Understanding”] between the Town and the AVFD.”
• Drafts of the Warrant Articles referred to above were distributed by the co-chairs, who had spent a considerable amount of time during the past week discussing the requirements for the structure of these articles with lawyers for the MMA and a lawyer for the Town of Alna.   As noted in the preceding bullet, there will be two separate articles, and later in the meeting the committee discussed the mechanics of voting on the pair, under the assumption that a motion would be made and passed that the votes be by secret ballot.   The decision, after consultation with Billie Willard, runs along the following lines: Each eligible town voter, on checking in to the meeting, will be given color-coded copies of the two articles, along with matching colored ballot papers.   [For example: if Article 17 is printed on yellow paper, a yes/no ballot, also printed on yellow paper, will accompany it.   If Article 18 is printed on red paper, its ballot will be printed on red paper as well.]    The design of the ballot papers, without any written identification of the proposal to which they refer, reflects a requirement that applies to Town Meeting ballots, though obviously not to those used in town, state or national elections.   Only ballots of the appropriate color will be counted for each vote.
• GD reported on his exploration of the availability of financing for the project, should one or the other of the proposals pass.   He found that the several possible sources from which he was able to get useful responses (one government agency and three banks) all professed to be willing, even eager, to lend.   Most were not willing to quote terms, but the impression conveyed was that, barring a worsening financial melt down, the terms would likely be at least as good as those assumed in the Warrant Articles (6% for 30 years).
• NC reported that the Town Office appraiser has estimated the value of the building, with 2 acres of land and without a kitchen, to be $150,000.
• NC reported that the committee report, to be included in the Town’s Annual Report, will be published in the local newspapers.   An expanded version of the committee’s power point presentation will be prepared for possible publication as well.   Members of the committee were encouraged by the co-chairs to write their own comments and submit them for publication.
• NC reported that the matter of obtaining elevations for the renovated/enlarged firehouse project remains an “open item” on which he will report at our next meeting.
• The committee’s meetings before the Town Meeting are currently scheduled as follows:
• March 17^th
• March 24^th
• March 27^th [This would be the second Public Information Meeting.]

The meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.

Cliff Russell