HANOVER — The South Shore Vo-Tech Capital Projects Subcommittee has green-lighted a request for qualifications process for an existing facilities assessment at its meeting Monday, Aug. 14.

The vote came after a discussion of planning “the first and most important steps in working toward an ultimate goal” of creating a master facilities plan for the school by the end of this calendar year, according to Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey.If the study completed by this December, a proposed project could be included in the fiscal 2019 budget.

“There is simply no way we can handle our educational needs within this building footprint,” Hickey said. “You’re going to need something with a high ceiling and a free-standing out building could be part of that.”

The plan would also outline the available land on which the district can build.

The district already knows at least one out building is needed for the automotive shop or a greenhouse for the new horticultural program, as well as targeted expansion within the current building’s footprint — such as a possible second floor for academics. Hickey said examples of specific need should be included in any building study.

“This also gives us an unbiased look at what we’ve got when we go to do something,” said School Committee Chairman Robert Molla of Norwell. “This is just a piece of the puzzle.”

The master plan’s major goal, would include components to be used to inform an engineering firm on the repair or replacement needs the school is seeking to expand the school building and accommodate new educational standards and increasing enrollment.

“This document will also help when going to towns for a legitimate, verifiable need,” Hickey said of the needs of SSVT’s 70-year-old building.

Hickey also reviewed what some “end products” and request for qualifications (RFQs) would look like. The bulk of that presentation focused on a facilities plan that KBA Architects produced for Tri-County Vocational. An RFQ details information on what a school district or municipality wants to see in a construction project — to be used as the basis for a plan proposal.

The subcommittee would then wait for firms to respond, choosing three applicants to interview.

“There are firm criteria in here to determine whether or not the firms are eligible,” Hickey said. “My research is showing there are two ways of doing this.”

The panel can require a “not-to-exceed fee” in the proposal if they wish as a way to control the scope and cost of a firm’s engineering study.

“What we would need to do is make very clear what we want and what we don’t want, but we would have to either state that up front or in the form of an addendum,” Hickey said about components that may have been overlooked. “They could ask those questions, we could answer those questions and then we would supply any answers to questions asked, making it completely transparent to anybody who seeks them.”

Committee member Robert Mahoney of Rockland asked if the state could provide a vetted bid list of engineering firms for the facilities plan work.

“It’s not so much the pricing as it is approved state to use, kind of like the bid process for machinery,” he said.

“It’s the authority to get on a government project,” added Molla. “They pre-qualify you to bid.”

Hickey said such a list would be helpful and he would look into it.

One process of selecting proposals, starts with an examination of its qualifications and not the price proposal, he said, with price negotiated after a firm is selected. Some municipalities notify RFQ bidders that there is a not-to-exceed clause in effect, limiting the amount they are willing to pay for an engineering study.

“Everybody has a budget,” Hickey said, noting he does not want to spend the entire $125,000 booked in for master facilities planning and other design fees on the master facilities plan alone. “This kind of plan does not include the actual design of anything.”

Member Kenneth Thayer of Cohasset asked if there was funding built in for unanticipated cost overruns on such a plan.

“We’re basically going to tell them what we want,” Molla replied. “Those are things we know. They’re going to go through and say, ‘you can’t do this without that.’ It’s not them telling us what they think we need.”

Brookline High School did an educational master plan in 2015 at a cost of $105,000. Lincoln Public Schools did one in 2016, contracting with a firm for $40,000. Lexington spent $75,000 and Cape Cod Academy, a private school, paid $59,000 for a master plan in 2014. Tri-County Vocational spent $125,000.

“I personally don’t think that we would be spending that much money,” Hickey said. “We are not the same size and we have done some recent planning and our circumstances are such that parts of this building are in very good condition.”

He advocates being very specific about what parts of the building need review and which do not, making the school’s previous study data available to an engineering study contractor.

“Out of this should come a 10-year capital facilities maintenance plan that we should be able to debate, reprioritize, move things around,” he said. “But this outside analysis should give us a roadmap for the next 10 years.”

The major goals cover specific needs under the heading of architectural, civil or site requirements, structural, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, hazardous material and a capital improvement plan and cost estimate. A second goal would include a location for a greenhouse, a space needs analysis the percentage of  classroom use —including the amount and how much of the school day in which it is used — and identification of all buildable land on campus

“This is what we could bake into the RFQ,” Hickey said. “The firm should have a draft of the highest-priority items, unofficially, to the superintendent by Dec. 1.”

HANSON — The Recreation Commission voted Monday, Aug. 7 to present a warrant article before Town Meeting to reduce the recreation director’s position to 20 hours, as they address what they deem a more pressing problem — facilities upgrades and repairs at Camp Kiwanee.

The 4-0 vote — members Diane Cohen, Rachel Gross and John Zucco were unable to attend — reflects the commission’s continued commitment to programs, they said, while addressing needed repairs. The commission is slated to meet again at 6 p.m., Monday, Aug. 14.

“I do not think we’re going to get away with not having a director,” Chairman Annmarie Bouzan said. “I understand that … I feel like the money aspect of this is really important. But we have to come to a happy medium, so maybe we have a facilities manager that comes in and, for the moment, they can only work 19 hours — that’s not enough.”

Member Brian Smith argued the commission would be better off going to a part-time director and save the full-time costs for the facilities manager they need.

That’s where a Town Meeting warrant would be needed, because the recreation director’s job description as voted at last year’s October special Town Meeting reads 35 to 40 hours.

“That’s going back to Town Meeting and saying, ‘We want to change this at Town Meeting to a 20-hour position,’” Bouzan said.

Smith also argued it would be easier to hire a recreation director on a part-time basis than a part-time facilities manager.

“I really tossed this around because I just feel like we need what we need,” Bouzan said. “The bottom line is if there was somebody here that knows about [managing buildings] … it would benefit the town and the camp at the same time.”

“The facilities are much more important at this time,” member Theresa Cocio said. “Caretakers can’t do everything.”

Members plan to contact an architect to perform an assessment of the repair needs the commission can prioritize and include in an updated job description for a full-time facilities manager position — paid on an hourly basis — to either serve the Recreation Department or to be shared with other town departments.

There is already a facilities manager position listed with the town’s Wage and Personnel Board, so once the job description is ironed out, commissioners said all that would be needed would be to hire someone.

That would ultimately be a Wage and Personnel decision.

Bouzan said she has presented a draft of such a job description to Town Administrator Michael McCue, who has forwarded a copy to Wage and Personnel Chairman and Selectman Kenny Mitchell and to Selectmen Chairman Jim McGahan.

“It’s not like we’re reinventing the wheel here, so we don’t need to go to Town Meeting to get that job approved,” she said. “It’s just kind of trying to find funding for it.”

Bouzan said McCue and selectmen are asking the commission to expand on the list already presented in the job description.

“We need this more than anything else,” Smith said. “If we had another event coordinator and then put that money from the director’s position [it could make the difference in hiring a facilities manager].”

“This place has run for how many years without it,” Cocio agreed.

Smith said the camp’s seasonal use makes it feasible to share such a manager with other departments if necessary.

“If we put somebody full time on this, maybe in a year, you get a lot of repairs done,” Smith said. “After that, it’s maintaining.”

A priority list or repairs, which a consultant can help with, can help the commission compile a matrix, Bouzan said.

“I just feel that’s what we need right now, because we’re out in left field,” she said. “We’re catching stuff and screening cabins and looking at septic designs. Honestly, I don’t think we have a part-time crew that could do half the major things that are on these [repair] lists.”

That’s where a facilities manager’s expertise in knowing how to prioritize and when to seek contractors to do work would be important, according to Smith.

Commission members also argued the manager could also effectively prioritize and assign repairs as well as work on grants for more expensive repairs.

The commission also made its formal vote to accept the resignation, effective July 24, of former Recreation Director Marybeth MacKay, which had not been done previously because the resignation was received the day of the meeting and could not officially be placed on the agenda.

In other business, the commission discussed $78,000 in Community Preservation funds earmarked for the north campground, but which come with restrictions on its use.

“I thought it might be in the best interest of the Recreation Commission to just return the money saying we can’t use it right now and go for a bigger grant for the gatehouse,” Bouzan said.

No decision on the funds have been made at this time.

The previous commission had accepted the funds in 2014 or 2015, she pointed out noting that needs at the south campground is also a bigger priority right now. The funds must be used for materials only on exterior work on the cabins and the north end is not used as extensively right now.

While the commission need only use a portion of the funds in the first year to retain it, the restrictions limit the use to where it is least needed, members agreed.

“I don’t want to hold onto this money when they can use it on other funding sources,” Bouzan said. She said she will email CPC Chairman Thomas J. Hickey for some guidance on the issue.

HANSON — The Highway Building Committee is looking to educate the public on the need and cost of building a new facility and tearing down — and cleaning the site — of the current building, its chairman, Selectman Kenny Mitchell reported to the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, July 25.

A series of public meetings is planned to accomplish that aim, Mitchell said. Town Administrator Michael McCue also attended the committee’s last meeting on July 17, along with a representative from project engineering firm Weston & Sampson.

The Committee and engineers will be working to educate the public on the need and cost for the project both for use of the existing structure at the former LiteControl site — as well as for starting from scratch. They will also be crunching numbers on the potential site cleanup costs at the current highway barn.

An environmental assessment of that existing facility is required in the first phase, which could cost about $15,000. Phase II would depend on what is identified in the assessment, Mitchell said, but could range between $10,000 and $30,000.

“One way or another, we need to know what we’re dealing with on [the current highway barn] property,” agreed Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “People want to know, soup-tonuts, how much it is going to cost.”

Mitchell said the cost for taking down the old building and site cleanup is needed, but the two issues cannot be combined, one reason being funding sources.

“Anytime you do demos, you can’t put that in a 20-year debt exclusion,” he said.

“You’re going to want to do it in stages,” she agreed. “But at least people will be fully informed of what the plan is.”

The firm has been working on Highway/DPW projects for a couple of other towns while Hanson has been holding meetings on its project. Cost increases on those projects have moved the company to suggest finetuning the numbers before the committee goes to Town Meeting for the cost of engineering and final design phase.

The engineering costs should be known by Aug 20, Mitchell said.

“That’s going to allow us to do an actual RFP on the building next March and get an actual, physical cost that somebody’s committed to build this building, and then we’ll be able to go to Town Meeting and say … it’s going to cost X-amount,” he said. “We’ll have a number so we’re not playing that Russian-roulette game and we’re not losing that precious time we’re all concerned about.”

Hubbell’s Chief Engineer Matt O’Neill has reported to the building panel on July 17 that the company’s cleanup work at the Hawks Avenue site if 95-percent complete, but planting in the wetlands have not been finished because of the rain.

“He admitted to me that they’re a year behind,” Mitchell said. “This fall, there is no question in his mind, that they’ll be able to do that. Once the permit is closed, from the Army Corps of Engineers, at that point they can subdivide the property and convey it over to the town of Hanson.”

That would not realisticallyhappen before winter,Mitchell reported.

Appointed town boards and commissions that have not video recorded meetings in the past have already begun doing so, McCue noted. Two cameras and tripods are currently available to be distributed for use as needed.

“I have not heard back from the Finance Committee, the Planning Board, or from any of the other elected boards where, obviously, it is up to them,” he said. “We can’t tell them [to do it]. We’re encouraging them, but they need to choose whether they are going to do that or not.”

The Water Commission did film one of its last meetings, using a VHS recorder — one in almost-new condition — but a third digital camera and tripod is being provided to that board, as VHS tape cassettes are harder to come by these days.

Newer cameras record video onto a USB thumb drive, he said.

Former volunteer videographer Richard Edgehille said he could help find tapes for use with the VHS camera. He also argued the filming of meetings could help spur residents to volunteer to serve on boards and commissions.

“If you don’t advertise, you can’t make money,” he said. “If you cover those boards, you’re going to get participation.”

Selectman Don Howard argued that, if more meetings are filmed, residents would opt to stay home and watch meetings on TV.

Edgehille gestured to the nearly-empty chamber.

“Look at the room now,” he said.

“We need new people to get involved,” Selectmen Chairman James McGahan agreed.

Selectmen also discussed public access to the recordings.

“It’s great that we’re recording it, but accessibility is really about getting put out there,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said asking how soon are recordings uploaded to YouTube and how long are they archived there.

Selectman Don Howard said it takes about a week to get the recordings uploaded and McCue said he will look at how archives can be accessed online.

McCue and McGahan met with Arlene Dias of the Cable Access Board of Directors and WHCA-TV Executive Director Eric Dresser on Friday, July 28 regarding the contract with Hanson and may be reporting back to Selectmen on the status of the contract at the Aug. 15 meeting.

In other business, Mc-Cue reported he plans to negotiate for ne request for proposal services as “good business sense to go out there and see what is available.” There is a possibility the town will remain with its current provider, but he wanted to determine if there are other options out there.

McCue also reported he has met with the Library Trustees regarding potential expansion and relocation. He also said he has received a favorable quote on a new ramp for the Hanson Food Pantry and will be drawing up a contract with the bidder, which will also be submitting a quote for windows, to be compared with other price quotes.