Forbush Library project approved
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

Some of the damage to the exterior of building where the EFIS has failed is visible to the naked eye. FILE PHOTO

The construction on the renovation of the Forbush Memorial Library will begin this spring after Westminster voters approved the borrowing of $490,000 on Tuesday night to give the project the go ahead.

The vote was 66 percent - 311 votes - in favor of approving the funding for the project that will create a new exterior for the building, establish new drainage patterns around the building, and reconstruct the roof above the library's meeting room.

"It passed by more than I thought it would," said Dana Altobelli, the chairman of the Building Committee and of the Library Board of Trustees.

The ballot vote, for which 9 percent of the registered voters turned out, was the second step of the approval of money for the project. Voters approved the expenditure of $1.55 million of the $2.04 million project at a Special Town Meeting in February.

The two-part funding comes because Selectmen and Advisory Board members recommended funding a large portion of the project through the town's free cash.

The tax impact will last five years from the date of the borrowing.

Altobelli said he wasn't surprised by the low turnout because it was a single-question election.

Construction Dynamics, the lowest bidder on the project, will meet with town officials within the next few days to begin the process of signing a contract and setting a timeline to begin construction.

The project's general bid was $1,547,300, and the project's building committee considers it a systematic tightening of the exterior of the building. They are also repairing the roof structure above the Eloranta Room, which is the meeting room on the third floor of the building.

The project will also include changing the flooring in the children's room for $20,100, painting the interior walls for $53,200, and a rough finish of the attic for $40,000. These alternates take the total construction costs to approximately $1.6 million.

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

Altobelli said he expects the library services to be ready to move in the next four to six weeks to their temporary home while Forbush is under construction. A reduced amount of library services will be offered at what many residents know as "the old Digital building," which is located next to Tyco/SimplexGrinnell off of Route 140 on the western edge of town.

"Margaret (Howe-Soper, the library director) has been working on plans," Altobelli said. "She's well along in plans."

He said he expects the library will have to close briefly to allow for the move but isn't sure what the exact dates or length will be.