Merrimack School District
Planning & Building Committee
Minutes of the September 9, 1997 Meeting
Present: S. Heinrich, W. Morrison, M. Morrison, T. Koenig, D. Miller, School
Board liaison J. Flis, Business Manager S. Isabelle
S. Heinrich called the meeting to order at 7:33 P.M.
Approval of Minutes
On a motion from T. Koenig, seconded by M. Morrison, the minutes of August 19,
1997 were approved with the following corrections:
- T. Koenig made the motion and D. Miller seconded the motion to accept the
minutes of July 8.
- Several spelling and grammatical errors were corrected so that first
paragraph on the second page, Other now reads: J. Flis told the
committee that after due consideration, he was resigning as an active PBC
member. He noted that he would still attend committee meetings as the School
Board liaison but he felt that the committee would benefit from the
participation of an additional active member. Motion was made by T. Koenig to
accept with regret the resignation of J. Flis. Second: D. Miller. The vote
was 5-0-1. S. Heinrich thanked J. Flis for his past contributions to the
committee. He requested that notices of the vacancy go to area papers asking
people interested in filling the vacancy until the next election to send a
letter of interest to the committee by September 8, 1997 care of the
Superintendent's office. The committee will conduct interviews of interested
candidates at a meeting on September 23, 1997.
Athletic Field Update
S. Isabelle gave the committee a brief overview of the project history to this
point. He said that the School Board has given approval to the proposed
project and he will be holding a meeting of various school district officials
to plan the scope and timetable of the work involved. He would like one or
two members of the PBC to be involved with this group which he hopes will
include Shirley Lemay, Joe Raycraft, and the Mastricola parent groups. S.
Heinrich told him that he and D. Miller would continue to represent the PBC
with this committee. There were several comments about committees being
appointed by the School Board or the Administration to redo work the PBC has
already done or has been requested to do. J. Flis said he would bring this
concern to the entire School Board. D. Miller said he hopes that the PBC will
be feeding information about work already accomplished by the PBC to
Digeronimo. J. Flis suggested that representatives from Digeronimo should
meet with the entire PBC or at least 1-2 PBC liaisons.
Traffic/Parking Recommendations
J. Flis requested that the word "pedestrians" be substituted for the word
"walkers" throughout the document. He asked about putting speed bumps on
O'Gara Drive. The committee felt that speed bumps were not "plow friendly".
T. Koenig requested that more explanation be added to each recommendation.
J. Flis requested that a picture/map be put together to show the parking/bus
lanes, sidewalks, etc. as well. T. Koenig will work on detail and E-mail the
clerk and D. Miller will work on the picture/map. Final acceptance and plans
for presentation to the School Board were tabled by consensus.
Discussion: School Board Charge re: Kindergarten
The clerk gave each member copies of pages of School Minimum Standards and
School Building Construction Manual as related to kindergarten & elementary
schools. In lieu of a written charge detailing the School Board request on
kindergarten, S. Isabelle provided copies of the minutes of the meeting where
the School Board decided to ask the PBC to look into kindergarten. Before the
meeting S. Isabelle had sent copies of the law dealing with construction aid
for kindergarten, the kindergarten assistance advisory, and a letter from
Secretary Twomey to Superintendent O'Neil. Additionally, he provided diagrams
that had been requested from Keyes Associates regarding possible kindergarten
additions at Reeds Ferry, Thorntons Ferry and Mastricola Elementary schools as
well as an example of a free standing kindergarten concept which could be
enlarged to a full elementary school. He further explained that the School
Board is looking for a recommendation as expeditiously as possible.
The ensuing discussion raised the following comments and concerns:
- The need to review the current space utilization.
- The need for current, accurate topographic surveys for Buker, Timmins and
the extra piece of property at Thorntons Ferry.
- Adding more classrooms to current buildings will make large schools even
larger.
- The committee needs to look at long term district needs in conjunction
with the short term goal of kindergarten.
- Adding to existing buildings could save possible land acquisition and
additional administrative costs unless currently owned land was used for a
free standing kindergarten; however, there would still be land preparation
costs.
- The need to review all material thoroughly before deciding on a plan of
work for the project.
- The need to have recommendations before December.
On a motion from S. Heinrich, seconded by W. Morrison, the committee
unanimously voted to request that the School Board immediately fund
topographic surveys of the rest of Buker, all of Timmins and the part of
Thorntons Ferry on the other side of the Bypass. J. Flis will bring the
request to the board at the next meeting under committee reports. Several
members suggested that they might try to walk the various sites before the
next meeting. Members were asked to read materials provided and notify the
clerk if they had any other information requests. The committee asked S.
Isabelle to research the current costs for new building vs. addition
construction, land development, sewer and road construction. The committee
agreed to review 1997-1998 space utilization inventory and the population
projection figures at its October 14th meeting.
Discussion: Procedure for Filling Vacancy
S. Heinrich indicated that two people had sent letters of interest in the
vacancy and that they would be individually interviewed by the committee
during a non-public session at the committee meeting posted for September
23rd. The committee will announce its decision after the non-public session
and the clerk can swear in the new member immediately. M. Morrison asked that
each member be provided with copies of the letters of interest.
Public Participation
Don Smith-Weiss asked about adding second floors to current schools.
Ed McCam asked for an idea of costs for providing kindergarten and said the
committee seemed to be preparing to do a thorough job.
Bob Triolo asked if the committee had considered a new high school and what
the effect kindergarten in an elementary school would have on the children.
On a motion from D. Miller, seconded by T. Koenig, the committee unanimously
voted to adjourn at 9:25 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Planning & Building Committee
Merrimack School District
Last Updated: February 2, 1998 by Wayne Morrison