Library Leaders Foresee Need For More Town Funds

Unexpected repair costs were the dominant theme at the November 29 meeting of the Jones Library Buildings & Facilities Committee.

Reporting on the state of the library’s aging HVAC system, Facilities Supervisor George Hicks described a recent incident where a piece of metal ductwork broke off and fell into the air circulating fan. He immediately shut down the system, preventing further damage, but warned that if the mishap had occurred on a weekend, the fan might have been destroyed, which would have required an expensive custom replacement to be fabricated. As it was, the repair required hiring a service contractor and left the 90s addition of the library without heat for four days.

The fan breakdown comes after a costly repair to faulty pipe seals in the boiler room earlier in the fall.

Roof leaks were also a topic of concern. Hicks explained that the area of the metal roof where the 90s addition joins the building’s original section is prone to leaks during bad weather and when ice accumulates. The Special Collections area and the first floor Reading Room are particularly vulnerable to leaking water. Hicks’s efforts to find a roofer willing to estimate a repair cost have so far been unsuccessful.

The library’s 2006 model year van is running roughly and often displays check engine warnings. It needs service and possible replacement. There is concern that the library will rely more heavily on the van once operations are moved to one or more satellite locations for building construction.

Hicks also mentioned the patching of a sidewalk crack that had recently caused a patron to trip.

Library Director Sharon Sharry did not have exact figures at meeting time, but attendees estimated that half of the Jones FY22 repair budget has been used up and are concerned that, if the pattern of unanticipated repairs continues, an infusion of funds from the Town will be required. Sharry said that Town Manager Paul Bockelman oversees an emergency repair fund from which money could be requested. With construction for the library building renovation/expansion project not scheduled to begin until April 2023, the library’s heating system and roof must last for two more winters. Sharry stated that “We’re going to need more money from the Town. We’re going to have to put together a request for FY23 JCPC [Joint Capital Planning Committee] funds.”

Trustee Alex Lefebvre attributed repair cost overruns to COVID-19 and a delay in starting the building project. “Everybody knows between Covid and the vote which nobody was counting on initially because of the way our charter is structured, we should have been out of the building a year and a half ago,” she said.

Director Sharry brought up that the building project requires completion of a Historic Structures Report. She met with a newly formed group tasked with producing this assessment. The group consists of UMASS architecture lecturer Ann Marshall, Director of Historic Preservation at Historic Deerfield Eric Gradoya and graduate student Carly Regalado, and is overseen by Ben Breger of the Town’s Planning Department. The report will inform efforts by the building project to qualify for historic tax credits and is due to be completed at the end of January 2022.