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Library requests $30,000 HVAC fix and $90,000 masonry work to CIP committee
Summary
Library board chair Theresa Curtis and director Hattie Panick asked the CIP committee to include a $30,000 third-floor HVAC renovation next year and a $90,000 exterior brick repointing project pushed to 2029; the board plans to seek historic-preservation grants and consider a capital reserve warrant article.
Theresa Curtis, chair of the library board of trustees, and Hattie Panick, the library director, asked the Capital Improvements Program committee to include two projects in the matrix: a $30,000 renovation of the third-floor HVAC system next year and a $90,000 exterior masonry repointing project planned for 2029.
"It is a $30,000, renovation of our HVAC system on the 3rd Floor," Curtis said, noting the 1997 system now often requires fabricated parts when it breaks and that HVAC outages shrink usable library space when the building serves as a heating and cooling center. The board told the committee the masonry work is not immediately critical but has been tracked and that they will pursue grants (including LCHIP) and consider using a capital reserve fund or warrant article to reduce the town appropriation needed.
Committee members asked whether the HVAC work would be funded through the town’s operating budget; the presenters said the project could be included in the town budget and that the board hopes to avoid a separate warrant article. On the masonry request, Panick said the $90,000 estimate is from 2024 and that there is a limited pool of qualified masons for historic work, which affects timing and cost.
The presenters said the library is planning additional accessibility and restoration work (ADA bathroom upgrades, restored woodwork) and intends to bring a capital-reserve warrant forward after finalizing priorities this fall.
