Wilber School Redevelopment Committee

December 12th, 2005 Meeting Minutes

Approved January 9th, 2006

 

Committee Attendees

Jim Goldsmith – Chairperson

Bob Levin

Michael Baskin

Marcia Liebman

Craig Edwards

Melissa Mills

David Gordon

Joel Tran

Marilyn Z. Kahn

 

 

Guests

Alice Cheyer - Citizen

Paul Lauenstein – Planning Board

 

Meeting Initiation

Meeting was called to order at 7:40 pm by Jim Goldsmith.

 

Meeting Minutes

v      Liebman/Tran moved to accept minutes of November 7th; unanimously approved.

v      Tran/Liebman moved to accept minutes of November 21st; unanimously approved.

v      Gordon/Kahn moved to accept minutes of December 5th as amended; unanimously approved.

 

Horsley Witten Group Presentation

Goldsmith opined that the Horsley Witten Group presentation given at the December 5th, meeting presented a concept not yet seen; they appear to be creative and think outside of the box. The viable alternatives presented, have worked in other communities. Tran agreed and added that the Horsley Witten study could be added to the RFP and might aid in the response process. Others were also in favor of Horsley Witten and felt their impact would have a positive impact to developers, to the various town board members and to the town’s people.

 

Goldsmith iterated that Horsley Witten can finish their work realistically within a six week timeframe (sooner if necessary) and that their product would be of tangible value for the $5000 fee. It was a positive presentation as they considered the ground water situation an opportunity rather than a problem that they would like to address.

 

Liebman/Tran moved to hire Horsley Witten for the proposed project plan for $5000; motion passed unanimously. Goldsmith will follow-up with Ben Puritz regarding the signing of the Horsley Witten contract.

 

Available Grants

Lauenstein discussed a possible grant of $45,000 which could be used to pay for a more detailed plan. Goldsmith/Gordon/Lauenstein agreed to form a task force to apply for the grant.  Lauenstein will clarify with the grantors, which entity needs to apply - Wilber School Redevelopment Committee or Town of Sharon (via the Board of Selectmen).

 

Edwards discussed grant money from the Mass Historical Commission for abatement. Kahn expressed concerns that if the developers have no interest in preserving the current building, we don’t want to be trapped by the acceptance of a grant into keeping the building in its current state. Baskin pointed out that abatement is now in the hands of the Standing Building Committee.

 

RFP

It was concluded not to send out the RFP until the water study from Weston and Sampson is received. The RFP will not be completed until the end of January. Baskin questioned if the committee needs to go to the BOS for RFP approval.

 

Next Steps

  1. Kahn/Liebman will speak with the Board of Health to discuss the Horsley Witten presentation and to bring them up to speed on the committee’s progress.
  2. Levitts to compile editing of RFP, using comments received from committee members. All committee members to provide comments to Levitts by December 19th for first round of editing.

 

Future Meetings

v      Monday, January 9th, 7:30pm at the Library, Room TBA

v      Monday, January 23rd, 7:30pm at the Library, Room TBA

 

Meeting Adjournment

Liebman/Mills moved to adjourn meeting at 9:15pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Rachelle F. Levitts