Forbush Library project vote on Tuesday
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

Library Custodian Bob Cramm points out how the temporary columns are holding up the ceiling and roof of the old building due to when the addition was added to the Forbush Library. JOURNAL PHOTO/JEFFREY W. BOUDREAU

Westminster voters will get the chance to determine if they are going to support the five-year debt exclusion for $490,000 to repair the exterior of the Forbush Memorial Library on Tuesday.

Voters already decided to support the appropriation of $2.04 million project at a Special Town Meeting in February, of which $1.91 million will come from the town's free cash. The town for a variety of reasons had money left from the Fiscal Year 2007, which Selectmen, with the support of the Advisory Board, decided to use to fund a large portion of this project. "We're hoping to get done top-to-bottom - the peak of the roof to the bottom of the foundation - tightening up the exterior of the building," said Dana Altobelli, the chairman of the Library Trustees and the project's building committee. "It's a comprehensive solution."

The damage on the exterior of the building from ice and other weather eliminates is visible while looking up at the deteriorating eves of the building. JOURNAL PHOTO/JEFFREY W. BOUDREAU

The tax impact will be between 10 and 12 cents per $1,000 of valuation for the next five years. Once the project is paid off, the debt exclusion will end. The average valuation of a home in Westminster is about $220,000, which would translate to a $22 to $26 increase on a home with an average value.

"The impact to the homeowner is modest tax increase," Altobellli said. "Although, I'm not trying to minimize it."

Construction Dynamics was the lowest bidder on the project, with a $1,547,300 general bid, as well as the three alternates, which include changing the flooring in the children's room for $20,100, painting the interior of the interior walls for $53,200, and a rough finish of the attic for at $40,000. These alternates take the total construction costs to approximately $1.6 million.

Selectmen supported the move to do the entire project in one go-round.

The approximately $2 million cost also includes a contingency budget, a clerk of the works and other associated costs.

Voters are approving a hard number for this project and not an estimated cost because trustees and selectmen did not want to come back to voters if the project went over budget.

The goal of the project is create a new exterior of the building, install new windows and change the drainage around and on the building as well as repairs to the roof of the addition to the building.

"We're just ripping everything off," he said.

The new exterior will be brick, to match the original building from 1901.

"It's a permanent solution," he said.

Altobelli said most of the work is for the exterior of the building, but there is interior work in the roofline above the Eloranta Room. He said the room's ceiling began to sag, which was noticed not only because of cracks in ceiling but also because of the architect's inspections.

He said the beams in the roof were cut on two different sides of the library structure and the pressure for both sides of the building were causing a problem. He said the plans call for the beams to be tied off and to be reinforced.

"It's bowing out because of both pressures," Altobelli said.

The room has been closed since the fall and temporary support structures have been created to stop the progression of the problem.

Altobelli said he foresees having to close the library in the future if the project is not approved. The water issues have created areas of the children's room that cannot be used because of mold issues, and the Eloranta Room is closed.

"There is already a big chunk of that is off limits," Altobelli said. "There are fundamentally sound reasons for doing this."

The project is not related to the flood damage that was caused earlier this year when a pipe burst in the library. Altobelli said all of the repairs and cleanup from that were covered by the insurance company.

"The town has great insurance," he said.

The library will temporarily relocated to "the old Digital building," which is on the same property where Tyco/Simplex-Grinnell is based, off Route 140 on the western edge of town.

The project is expected to take six to nine months, and Altobelli said the library should be back into Forbush by Christmas.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 1, at Westminster Elementary School.