The Rodgers Memorial Library Board of Trustees met on Nov. 20 and took up a discussion about the condition of the Hills Memorial Library building.
Flooding during some recent heavy rains led to water damage and mold in the basement.
Following a special meeting in late October, the basement of the Hills underwent extensive cleaning and mitigation, making it safe to enter.
During the Nov. 20 meeting, Library Director Linda Pilla raised the need for a concrete plan moving forward and having a long-term solution.
“I do have a proposal from Emmerson Builders with regards to the rebuild, and that’s going to come back for a decision,” said Pilla. The building has had mold mitigation, it’s had asbestos mitigation, it’s has had flood damage mitigation.”
Records and documents in the basement were removed following the initial discovery of mold.
“It looks good, it’s clean, it smells wonderful,” confirmed Trustee Chair Mimi Guessferd after a tour of the Hills basement.
A rebuild to fix water damage and mitigate the risk of future flooding is still needed.
“Do we put the money into repairing it if we haven’t resolved the outside source on why the rain came in?” asked Trustee Margaret St. Onge.
It was unclear whether full-scale repair work could be funded in the immediate future.
Trustee Karen Bohrer raised the possibility of mothballing the Hill Building following a suggestion from the Budget Committee. The historical library still sees limited use as a meeting place for some local governing bodies and a location for the Friends of the Library to hold its book sales.
“I love the Friends, the Friends do so much for the library and I want to see membership of the Friends expand and for them to do more, but I also think that keeping the Friends of the Library in this building, whether or not our decision down the road is to mothball the building, maybe that’s not the best use going forward,” said Bohrer. “If we don’t move ahead with turning this building into something that can continue to be used by the entire community, including the Friends of the Library, maybe the Friends should find another spot.”
The Trustees would need to consult with everyone in regular use of Hills, including the School Board.
“I know when we brought this up when trying to get feedback out from the town, we put the question out there and there was no response,” said Guessferd. “What is our pleasure with regard to this moving forward?”
Basement flooding was only the latest maintenance issue for Hills, which has also seen leaks related to roof damage in recent years. The Trustees agreed to contact the School Board to get their input on the matter.
The Rodgers Memorial Library Board of Trustees is scheduled to meet again on Wednesday, Dec. 18, at 6 p.m. in the Hill Memorial Library.
