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Home My Public Portal About20140319 - Appropriations Committee - Meeting MinutesTown of Hopkinton Appropriation Committee (AC) Minutes of Meeting on Wednesday, March 19, 2014 3rd Floor Meeting Area, Town Hall, Hopkinton, MA In attendance: Mike Manning Pam Waxlax (via teleconference) Frank Sivo Pat Mahon Chris Ketchen Suzanne Marchand Susan Porter (Library Trustee) Rownak Hussain (Library Director) Laura Barry (Library Building Committee) (1) Open Meeting: Chairman Manning called the meeting to order at 6:38 PM. (2) Public Comment: There were no public comments at the meeting. (3) Fiscal Budget and Annual Town Meeting Article Discussion (3a) Library and Library Building Committee Presentation was made on the Library Operating Budget by Chris Ketchen and Rownak Hussain. It is proposed that to support a population of 15K Hopkinton residents, the library increase its operating hours from 47.5 to 50. Currently, there are 6.5 FTE and no proposal was made to add staff. There was a discussion around the need to add staff for the library expansion, but no presentation on future staffing was made. Ms. Hussain was asked by the Chair to provide information on future staffing requirements. Ms. Hussain accepted this action item. As a follow-up, Ms. Marchand agreed to send Ms. Hussain a request for a 5 -year staffing plan for the library. A presentation was made by Laura Barry on the proposed Library expansion capital article. The proposed cost to the town is estimated to be $11.75M. There was discussion on the status of the funding raising efforts. To date, pledges of $270K have been received, but it was noted that one benefactor pledged $100K at the outset. There was discussion around offsetting grants from Commonwealth and Federal level. It was reported by Ms. Marchand that any/all grants would be used as reimbursement and would not reduce the total borrowing needs in the article. The debt service on the project will be 20 years and is assumed to be 4% rate. Following the discussion on the Library project, a motion was made by Mike Manning to move library capital project outside the levy limit and make this recommendation to the Board of Selectmen at their next meeting. The motion was seconded by Pat Mahon. A vote was taken and was approved 4-0. (3b) Miscellaneous Budget and Article discussions The Committee discussed the Underride. It was agreed that more information would be required before the Appropriations Committee could make a specific recommendation as was requested by the Board of Selectman. Ms. Marchand agreed to create a tax levy worksheet that would aid the committee in evaluating a variety of scenarios using different underride amounts. (4) Acceptance of Minutes from March 12, 2014 A motion was made by Frank Sivo to approve the minutes of 3/12/14 as written. The motion was seconded by Pat Mahon. A vote was taken and approved 3-0 with Pat Mahon voted present, not voting since he did not attend the 3/12/14 meeting. (5) Old Business: None (6) Adjourn: At 8:50PM, Pat Mahon made a motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Frank Sivo. A vote was taken and the motion was approved 4-0. Prop osed Hopkinton Library 3 Ii 4 Exciting de velopments for H opkinton Library r •ASYM nT ,,s el w.ymCMP,YI 'P . tity ,I,v1Ps ,9WM11010 A?' : :.:. > -; rxa.'3'1 ✓L . ; Zt' 'W :: sasm.tna*Ws4F�w+o-x *..::.�, :;;,,�,�ro dn.•: a� .srr Number 4 on Waiting List for Library Construction Grant! +$4.5 Million Library C onstructi on Grant awarded in 2011. ❖ Grant expected to be funded in FY 2015 ➢ Project Cost: $ 10.2 million + $ 1.55 millio n $ 11. 75 million 2011 T otal Project Cost Project Contingency & Escalati on for 2014 - 2016 ➢Article funding Library at ATM in May 2014 will benefit town: ' :•Avo id further potential increased co nstruction costs ❖Avo id co st of Special Town Meeting in fall or winter Need s for Hopki nton ➢ 2008 - Input fr om community determined needs in Library Building Program 1. Lack of Spac e — lack of space f or collecti ons, equipment, programs & seating 2. Infrastructure — antique building unable to keep up with new advancements in technology 3. Lack of Accessibility 4. Lack of Parking ➢ 2012 PBC Report — Library no t meeting needs of community ❖ $1.1 million for repair & maintenance • .• Does not address all major issues Has Library use cha nged in the "Digital Age"? From 2008-2013, Hopkinton Library usage has increased: ❖Circulation (b orrowing) INC REASED 28% ❖Computer use at the library INCREASED 43% ❖Attendance at programs INCREASED 80% .11J -se of Libraries in Massachusetts : ❖Library usage INCREASED each year since 2000 Nationwide: ❖ Library circulation INCREA SED 26% in the last 10 years ❖ Pew Research Study on Libraries Services in the Digital Age • 91% of Americans say public libraries are important to their communities • 80% of Ame ricans say borrowing books is a "very important" service libraries provide . • 77% say free access to computers and the internet is a "very imp ortant" service of libraries. • 76% say libraries a re impo rtant to them and their families. Strengthen Economic Vitality of Dow ntown Hopkinton ➢ Our Library serves as an anchor in d ownt own Hopkinton. The renov ati on and expansion of Hopkinton's library will be b eneficial to economic development & vitality of Hopkinton Center . �= A recent study of libraries that built new buildings or ren ovated existing ones between 1994 and 2004 in M ass achusetts found that the number of library visits for serv ice s and materials increased by 30 percent once the project was completed. The additional visits to Hopkinton's renovated library is likely to► genera te increased business for local merchants. This will help strengthen the vitality of do wnto wn, enha ncing the town's strong s ervic e infrastructure and increasing property values throughout th e community . P' Currently, patrons tra vel to other co mmunities to use libraries with larger facilities, larger collections, more computers and that are more accessible. Given increased usa ge (lo ca l, sta te, national levels), Hopkint on could `lose' va luable busine ss opportunities if patro ns visit libraries in oth er communities. Comparison: Square footage a nd Populatio n Library Square Footage by Population M Population: 40,000 35,000 30,000 25,000 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 Ashland North borou gh Millis W estw ood Hopkinton Sq. Footage: Hopkinton Public L.ib ra1 y Foundation fund raising ➢Hopkint on Public Library F oundation, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) non- profit organization with a mission to raise private funds for the expansion and state-of-the-art renovation of Hopkinton Library . ➢2013 E vents & programs raised $65,000 ❖ Events for Children and Adults ■ To uch A Truck ■ Princess Tea ■ Pink Pint Night ■ Hop-to berfest ❖ Corporate Partnerships ❖ Individual Contributions ❖ Corporate Sponsorship ❖ Marathon Invitational 1000 Homes for Hopkinton Library MAWYA .1! >1895 - Total cost of Hopkinton Public Library $14,000 ❖ 15 homes contributed on average $900 >1000 Homes for Hopkinton Library echoes this challenge +Goal to raise $1,000,000 over 4 years ❖ 135 Families, Businesses, and Organizati ons +Over $270,000 in contributions and pledges in just 4 months! SUPPORT t CPKII`I t'ON I. UBI I L E i E 1000 llOIE FAR HOP}il\TQN LIBRARY Newr Our Ryi, BuigOur u E IPLFincorg