Borough Hall Facilities Committee
September 7, 2007 minutes
Borough Hall Meeting room. Webb, McWilliams, Tovo, Emr and Shaw, Urankar abscent. New additions, Pat Rusak, Mark Cohen and Armen Melikian
Meeting called to order at 8:40am
I. Minutes of August 24, 2007 meeting approved with 2 minor changes
-Steve will run the meeting in Richard’s absence.
-Guests (new members) introduced and they are filled in on our mission.
Mark Cohen of the Board of Education (BOE)
Pat Rusak of the Historic Preservation Committee (HPC)
Armen Melikian (formerly) of the Planning Board
All, welcome aboard.
We all received copies of the following;
FAQ refined a little more Steve
History of the MLPD space and needs Bob
History of the current Borough Hall Ellen
Space and needs study Steve
Minutes of the 8/24 meeting Doug
II. Steve outlined the building needs analysis so far (work on file). Much of the building is studied but both BOE and Fire areas need more input and study. (work assigned). Also parking needs to be added to the study. Please read and send comments to Steve.
-Gary invites BOE to look at their needs and respond with any changes, too.
III. Bob Tovo ran through the various facilities options we have discussed and that have been otherwise brought to our intention. These options all have some merit but they also have drawbacks. He agreed to develop an matrix so we and the public will be able to see graphically where these ideas may lead.
IV. On Communications, we are ready to post the FAQ as our first item with more to add later to include also our minutes. All material will be looked at and approved by the committee and it is further agreed we can do that by e-mail.
-Mark Cohen asked,”Why the web site?” and all responded with the idea that we want to keep the public informed from early on in the process.
We further talked about the Home & School Bulliten and agreed that we should ask the mayor to write about and introduce us to the public including our web site (due the 11th) and in the next issue and forward do our own page with updates, etc.
Ellen reported that the League of Women Voters (LWV) could not make our meetings but did invite us to put items in their newsletter and to make a presentation at the events they will hold on the 18th & 19th of September.
Any items presented to them would of course first be approved by us.
We also looked at the date to first formally present our work to council and it was agreed that the second meeting in November would be a good target date.
Mark suggested grass roots meeting, coffees, etc. to help get the information ball rolling as it were. He also suggested having a fairly clear idea of where we want to go with our proposals before getting that word out. At least approve a matrix, present it, solicit input and then make our decisions.
V. Gary went over the timeline and how that relates to all of the above and will
refine it as needed though he cautioned we really need to stay on target.
We could realistically shoot for Planning Board and HPC approvals in the
March to May time frame. This will work especially if these groups continue
coming to our meetings and providing us with feedback from their organizations.
VI. Action items for the next meeting;
-Doug, minutes, fire department needs data and talk to Richard
-Bob, create matrix and include site pictures where possible
-Steve, Update FAQ & continue to refine space/needs analysis
-Ellen, Add fire department link, photos and walk Pocono property
-Mark, report to BOE and bring us feedback, also space/needs info
-Armen, report to Planning Board and bring us feedback
-Pat, report to HPC and bring us feedback
-Gary, communicate with George, Richard, Andy Bulfer on site and keep
tuning out timeline.
-Welcome back, catch up on the above.