That staff report further with revised costs and timeframes in conjunction with the initial 2009 operating and capital budget meeting scheduled for August 11, 2008.
The Library’s senior management team will be working very hard over the next few months to research and write a number of reports in preparation for this August 11th Budget Committee meeting. First, we will be confirming our staffing complement for the new Georgetown Branch, and reviewing with the Treasurer. This information will then be incorporated into a report on Operating Costs. Added to this Operating Costs report, will be information on the anticipated utility and maintenance costs, with assistance from the Town's Facility Manager. And finally, this report will include a more precise costing on the temporary site. It appears as if the Holy Cross Church and Rectory will be our focus for this temporary site, which we expect to occupy from January 2010 to March 2011. Our architect, John Knox, is in the process of doing a review of the Holy Cross property to assess its suitability for public library service. His assessment report is due the end of June. In July, senior staff will be involved in negotiating the leasing arrangements with the Church, assuming that the site is suitable, and that any upgrades required can be reasonably accommodated.
Also available for the August 11th meeting, will be a detailed report on LEED from our architect, John Knox. LEED stands for “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design”. According to Wikipedia, The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction. LEED was created to accomplish the following:
-Define "green building" by establishing a common standard of measurement
-Promote integrated, whole-building design practices
-Recognize environmental leadership in the building industry
-Stimulate green competition
-Raise consumer awareness of green building benefits
-Transform the building market
Green Building Council members, representing every sector of the building industry, developed and continue to refine LEED. The rating system addresses six major areas:
-Sustainable sites
-Water efficiency
-Energy and atmosphere
-Materials and resources
-Indoor environmental quality
-Innovation and design process
Mr. Knox's report will outline the sustainable features to be automatically incorporated into the design and construction of this project and will list some recommended features that could be added, along with the benefits, and the estimated cost. Also provided will be a detailed description and approximate costing of the administrative process involved with LEED accreditation. This report is expected to demonstrate that an upfront investment in environmentally sustainable design does have a long-term pay-off both financially and in terms of a reduced carbon foot-print.
Beyond these reports on operating costs, and LEED, there will be a third report on other funding options available through large scale fundraising and government grants.
In their meeting on June 10th, Council recommended that the Library Board pursue fundraising to offset the capital costs. Terry Alyman (the Director of Recreation and Parks) and I will be preparing a report on what would be required for a major capital campaign. The usual first step is a feasibility report to determine the community’s capacity to give. The results of this report will enable the Town to set a reasonable fundraising target. Assuming there is some capacity, the Town would then need to engage a professional Fundraising Consultant to conduct the campaign, including producing the “ask” packages and making the approach to potential benefactors.
As mentioned, this report on other funding options would also explore the available grants for the project.
As always, please feel free to pass along any questions or concerns you may have about this project.
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