Special Meeting re School Use Committees

Blogger:  Not proofread except in process.  I may or may not check against a recording to get the full text of what I said.  This is the only record of the meeting outside of the official minutes.

This meeting was to begin discussing and setting in motion the formation of the committees that Todd Peetz had suggested at a Civic Center meeting about how to get us into the school.

The committees are Needs Assessment; Volunteers; Sponsors; Building Utilization.

John Festa had pulled three areas of interest from Todd's report.

1.  The cost of rehabilitation and improvement of the site.  These do not fall under Todd's skill set.

2.  Todd had suggested that the trustees establish volunteer committees to fully restore the school.  These included the grants committee and a building utilization committee.

3.  There was also a recommendation, since the building now is zoned residential, that perhaps it be examined as to putting the school property into a commercial district to include the school property.  John Festa considered that important in terms of cost analysis.  He said, "The public needs to know how much it would cost to make that building viable for use (us?) and possible use for the township.

 Vic:  I think we need to set up some committees.  As far as the grants, that should be one of the later committees because we need to establish what needs to be done and the purpose or use.  The grants will have to be filled out in detail in asking for funds.  One of the first should be evaluating the building for uses that they want.

Jason:  I looked over this as well.  I am not an expert in setting up committees, but there are some things I would like to see.  Once we have set up some committees, I think we ought to advertise so we can get community participation.  [Jason commented that the legal ads were the customary method for the township, but those ads didn't get out a lot of attendance.  There were between 15 and 20 people at this meeting.]
Jason was wary of having too many people on any committee
He referred to the 20 possible uses that had been mentioned in the survey.  Later, I said something to him about that--that trying to implement all of them was not feasible, but that there were several that had a lot of "votes" that made the most sense.

Jason thought that, despite the skills of the people in the room, determining the structural needs of the building required professionals.  John Festa agreed on that and went through a list:  structural, HVAC, electrical.  [A lot of this may have been done when the trustees had the building assessed in 2004.]
Then he said that he didn't know whether we were going to go around in circles again about the uses of the building.  [However, as I understand it, the building has had two satisfactory electrical inspections.]

Generally, there was a lot of "let's dance nicely together" discussion.

Vic:  We have a lot of what we need.  An architect can provide a lot of the costs.  When we did the gymnasium, an architect provided the information about the cost.

The meeting began at 6:30; at 6:50 Todd Peetz, Regional Planning, came in from another meeting.

John Festa commented about the committees, in particular the cost assessment.  He wondered about soliciting people in the community and maybe an architect or two.

Todd:  If you can find 1-2 contractors and architects who can give you a cost analysis, that is ideal so long as you don't have to pay a huge amount [for their advice].  The cost analysis drives the whole thing.  That committee would identify all the needs--outside, front, handicapped, interior, etc.  List them all; find out what they cost and then what it will take to get 1-2-3 tenants in the spaces.  Also what will it take to run the utilities.

Another is the foundations and grants.  They can be working at any time.

The other committee working simultaneously is the utilization committee.  They can be working on finding people to rent.

The other is volunteers/sponsorships.  They can go out and see who could fund things or donate things.  Volunteers can do quite a bit.. The steeple, however, requires skilled workers doing that.  In a two-minute nutshell, that is how I perceive it.  It is easier said than done, but we had a good group Sunday before last [at the annual meeting of The Mantua Restoration Society.]  I think you can get a lot accomplished.

The number of people on a committee was discussed.
Todd:  At first I thought that each of you could head a committee.  But probably y9ou want three, four, or five people together and a trustee to organize and then determine how many people you want.  For utilization, you can use more; the more out in the community, the more users you can find.

For the cost/needs committee, you probably just need an architect and 4-5 people.

The volunteer committee should have 5-6 people to organize and then get as many as possible to go out and find people.

Jason asked about the selection process and how to get to the members of the community who do not come to meetings.

Todd mentioned that he had heard Eric Hummel mentioned, and suggested going to the Portage County Building Department and talking to Randy Roberts.

Vic:  When we set up the Land Use Committee, we  advertised and went through an interview process.  We had 25 people for the whole group for that plan.  They were looking for a slice of the community.  Somebody outside the community handled that to pick the committees.

Todd:  I can help out but I think this is more of a community project.

Vic:  For the volunteers and group members, community; but to pick the groups we had someone outside.

Todd:  I know the gentleman who spoke [Steve Coon] was outside.  Maybe you [could use] me also.

John Festa mentioned again the cost analysis committee.

Vic:  If we decide to go that way, would you be interested in helping us set up those committees?

Todd: I would be happy to help out in whatever way I can.

John Festa:  I don't think we will do that.  Your study was exactly what we wanted.

Todd commented on the makeup and number of people on the committees and mentioned sweat equity.

Jason:  It is the community's building, not the trustees' building.  I think that coming up with these committees would be good.  When the committee is formed, they are chosen by their peers and the trustees and so there should be no great argument.    I don't want people to think that this is agenda driven.  Then he asked about the hours we have available from Regional Planning.

Todd:  As long as you know that we are working together, that will be OK.  At one of the meetings I heard that "we don't want Regional Planning here."

John Festa raised the question about a possible zoning change and asked about when that should be done.

Todd said that the zoning is usually correct before you begin a project.  For governmental uses, the zoning is OK.  But if thee are other uses, that may not be consistent with the zoning.  He added that re-zoning usually takes 3-5 months.. There was some discussion about the houses around the school building.

John Festa said that he wouldn't want to infringe on anyone's rights.

Todd:  It would be nonconforming.  We are going to meet with Chris Meduri in June on nonconforming uses.

John Festa said he wanted to get the zoning inspector's take on this.

Vic:  As far as the zoning, we would have to establish the use of the building.  As long as it is for government, it is OK as is.

Todd?  Vic?:  A community center is fine.  One of the recommendations was that  we could have a community consignment shop for arts and crafts.

Vic:  One of the things was a co-op.  Does that fit?

Todd:  It depends on the kind of co-op.  Then he thought it was a gray area and gave examples of things that could work.  I am glad to come out.  Let me know when you are going to kick these things off so I can.

At this point Jason asked the people attending for specific questions.

Dave Pollard:  The government section would not require any changes in zoning.
Todd:  I am quoting as best I can from memory.  I believe that it is a permitted use for government services.
Dave:  There are two different zoning districts on that property.  Since the plan right along has been government services, we don't have to do that right away.
Todd:  You are probably 3-4 months out.  Rather than change the map, you can probably change language.  I don't think you want to include non residential uses as permitted.

Tim Bennett:  Over at the church, there is a free clothes give away.  It is in one of the classrooms and takes a ton of space and is a not for profit.  Is t hat a use that could go over to the school?
Todd:  You could probably rent space.  You want to have revenue generating uses there.
Tim:  You want to keep the lights on.
Todd:  I am assuming that the utilities of a building like that are high.  Maintenance over time could become expensive.  You want to make sure it can pay for part of itself.

Phil Derthick:  We do allow home based businesses in residential areas.
Todd: Those are supposed to look like a house.
Vic grinned and asked if a school house qualifies.

Mark Hall:  About the potential rezoning.  But what about a historical district?  Keep it historical, which would avoid the issue of residents vs. non residential.  Usually the commercial uses are the softer (?) ones.

Carole Pollard:  After listening to all of these uses and possible tenants, I wonder if there is any room for us?

Vic:  Only one room on the first floor has a restroom.

Phil Derthick:  We have had discussions on the cost to fix it.  But shouldn't committees look at what it would cost if we don't use the building?
John Festa:  There is a cost to everything.
Phil: What will it cost if we don't do it?  You have to bring both sets to the township so they know what it will cost.  IF they can't fix it, things need to be rented.

Jason at this point said that what we were there to talk about was the committees.

Mark Hall:  I think we should document exactly what theses committees are.
Needs assessment:  Building utilization.  The words affect how you go about it.  For what each committee is chartered to do, to use your terms, Jason, have some guard rails; the people on the committees need those.

Mark, continuing:  As far as the committees, I would like to see them set up exclusive of the trustees, who would be there as resources.  The committees should be as community based as possible.  It should be driven down into the community.  Have it be more purely community driven.

Vic:  The various committees should  coordinate and report back to the trustees.

Mark:  Even if you do the advertising and pull out names, empower them to report back to the trustees.
Jason:  I completely agree with that.
Mark:   People have different readings for what utilization means.

Matt Parsons:  I think in talking about grants, you guys might really want to look into MaRSI for that.  They have a lot more contacts and have a larger outreach in regard to other historic divisions.  That committee--you might potentially want to lean on them.

Sue Skrovan:  To Matt Parson't comment.  MaRSI did apply for 501 c 3 status and when we get that, it will open a lot of doors for funding agencies for us.
To Mark Hall's point:  I was going to bring up having the committees be independent of the trustees and I thought it would be good for them to be able to do their job.
With the Zoning Commission, for residential non conforming, when a house is no longer a house and they try to use it but fail and then someone else buys it and wants it back as a house, that does not work.
John Festa:  That is why we need to respect the wishes of the people.
Sue:  I think thee is a minimum or rezoning of 25 acres.  Otherwise it is spot zoning.

Dave Pollard:  But you can redress an anomaly.

Linda Ehlert:  Thanked Matt for his comment.  Todd Peetz has already agreed to give us help with this.  I have a daughter who does this (grants) for a living.  I will be happy to go to other community centers and see how they work.  In the meantime, I can go out and put feelers out.

Jason mentioned combining services with entities that may not have the facilities.

Linda:  I saw the other day that Crestwood offices need more space.  Reach out a little bit to the historical society.  They are a little nervous about stepping on anyone's  toes.
John Festa:  Everyone is welcome.
Linda:  They are nervous.

Phil Derthick:  When we worked with D. B. Hart, we told him if we were interested, but they interviewed everybody.

Dave:  About Mark's guard rails.  I have never been too comfortable with the mission statement approach.  But it might be good for each committee to have the equivalent of a mission statement.  Maybe a mission statement for each committee would help keep it focused.
Jason agreed about loss of focus.
Dave:  MaRSI have friends who are architects who are willing to work at a reduced rate.  We have the resources and I think once things begin to move forward volunteers will show up.  I look forward to Todd's help on this.

Vic to Todd:  I appreciate your coming on such short notice.

Jason:  We have a trustees meeting coming up next Thursday.  If we can begin thinking about the different guardrails and how we want to use Todd for these groups.  Once we get the groups and people, if we get a large number of people, maybe you can help us take the bias out of the township.

Phil Dethick:  What is the cost if we run over those hours from Regional Planning?  What if all of them are used up and then zoning needs hours?
Todd:  The average is $60-65 per hour.  I am a little more and Claudia James is a little less.
Jason commented that we are 1/4 of the way through the year but still have all of the 40 hours allocated available to us.

Jason:  So for  the next meting let's think about the guard rails and how to advertise it.

  
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