WHATELY — The Select Board is seeking members for a new Municipal Building Committee.
According to the town website, the Municipal Building Committee will be “responsible for assisting town departments and boards who wish to construct, alter, renovate or remodel any municipal building.”
The committee will advise the Select Board and any other bodies on the future needs for municipal buildings; oversee feasibility studies and project estimating; and review designs and budget reconciliation, the website continues, thus “ultimately ensuring the desired project is delivered on time and within budget.”
The new committee will first focus on replacing the decades-old Highway Garage at 71 Christian Lane. According to Select Board Vice Chair Fred Baron, the project is in the preliminary stages. Town Administrator Peter Kane said engineering firm Weston & Sampson is currently conducting a feasibility study to determine the costs and “rough scope” of building a new Highway Garage before the town can set aside the proper funding for the project. Kane anticipates the study will take a few months.
The Municipal Building Committee will consist of five volunteer voting members. In addition to Highway & Buildings Superintendent Garrett Barry, the Select Board is seeking residents with professional backgrounds in architecture, law, building construction, municipal finance and either civil, mechanical or structural engineering. The Select Board will then appoint the members at a future meeting.
Along with the five voting members, the Selectboard, Finance Committee and Whately Elementary School Committee may also appoint non-voting liaisons to the Municipal Building Committee “to have a place at the table,” according to Selectboard Chair Joyce Palmer-Fortune.
Those who are interested in serving on the Municipal Building Committee can email Kane at townadmin@whately.org.
