Williamstown Library Committee Looks to Advance Renovations
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Milne Library's Building and Grounds Committee on Thursday recommended that the director move ahead with several repairs to the building.
On a vote of 4-0, the committee recommended that the Board of Trustees accept a bid from Bennington, Vt.'s, Vermont Roofing to fix the roof over the bathrooms in the front of the library.
And in a separate 4-0 vote, the building committee told Director Angela Zimmerman to issue a request for proposals to redo windows and doors, two major issues raised in a report the Trustees commissioned from Bennington's Centerline Architects.
In June of last year, the trustees learned that the Centerline report was recommending a number of "critical issues" to be addressed in the building, including the windows and doors, with an estimated price tag of nearly $262,000.
At the May 2023 annual town meeting, members authorized up to $300,000 toward capital repairs at the library.
On Thursday, Zimmerman, who came on board in March, told the Building and Grounds Committee that the $300,000 needs to be committed by the end of fiscal year 2025 next June.
"We at least need to have the projects in motion," Zimmerman said.
Requests for proposals, or invitations for bids, are required under state procurement laws for projects costing more than $50,000.
As for the bathroom roof project, Zimmerman told the committee she had received quotes from three contractors to make the needed repair.
The Library Board of Trustees meets again on Aug. 14.
At Thursday's meeting, Zimmerman reported that a new pavilion in the library's back courtyard has been completed.
The outdoor structure was conceived by retired Milne Director Pat McLeod as a place for "outdoor programming" and an enclosed outdoor meeting space.
It was paid for by a grant from the Friends of the Library.
Zimmerman said she was thinking about a small event of some kind to mark the pavilion's construction.
In other courtyard news, Building and Grounds Committee Chair and Trustee Robin Lenz told her colleagues that she had talked with families at the recent kickoff event for the Milne's summer reading program about how the space could be used. Lenz suggested that the library should solicit ideas from the public.
The committee also discussed this summer's installation of a new sign on Main Street near the entrance to the library. The committee has received feedback from the public about the text of the sign and its location, which is on different posts than the Building and Grounds Committee approved and, at least one member said, in a different location than the committee discussed.
The committee discussed holding off on considering any changes to the sign at least until after the library completes a rebranding process.
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