The old library has a new life, Keezer and the Beavers

My suggestion is to watch the COO part of the meeting starting at 1:15:00 through 1:40:00. It's probably the best part of the entire night. Cannon picks a fight with the COO over the pot shops and insinuates that Keezer is a liar. The Council has adopted rules that Keezer doesn't like. Pam is Pam, as usual. Judy Grove at one point asks, what Levy?
And the charter folks said Town Meeting was dysfunctional.

 I wanted to not post anything about the last Council meeting until I read it in the paper or on Patch, Source or Face Book. There's a real lack of informative, relevant information that is just not reported on... fore instance... did you know that the issues with the beavers (now that there all killed off) has been eliminated by DPW. Evidently, the flooding problems on Singletary and surrounding area was not started by the beavers, but rather a 1890 culvert that was not working. The DPW contractor punched a whole in the line and made a concrete floor for the water to move. So.. no more drowning of beavers to prevent flooding.. seen at 1:26:00

As you will read, the Council asked the COO why the old library was being renovated and where the money is coming from. It appears, since the BOH is displacing the facilities group at Town Hall, Paolini went ahead and claimed the library as his own space. I'm not at all apposed to such a move. It is our building, worth a million bucks and has good parking across the street.
1:39:35


http://207.172.210.8:5002/CablecastPublicSite/show/1732?channel=1

 From the MWDN: Jim Haddadin

FRAMINGHAM — City councilors want an explanation of what’s going on at the old McAuliffe Branch library, where the Facilities Department has apparently started renovations to move into the building, to the surprise of the building inspector and others.
Councilor at Large George King pressed Chief Operating Officer Thatcher Kezer last week to provide more information about the cost of the project, which began sometime in the last several weeks, and how it will be paid for.
“Looking through the windows up there, it appears to be a relatively extensive renovation,” King said during a public meeting last week.
The old McAuliffe building on Nicholas Road has been largely empty since 2016, when the library moved to a new facility on Water Street. Facilities workers have used it for at least one year, though the department’s administrative staff were housed inside the Memorial Building.
Those workers were recently uprooted to make way for the Health Department, which will vacate its headquarters at the Fuller Middle School and move into the Memorial Building by mid-June.
“When we were dealing with the Health Department move and we ultimately made the decision to move the Health Department into City Hall, somebody had to be bumped out,” Kezer explained last week, “and it ended up being the facilities folks.”
In the ensuing shuffle, Kezer said the city began conducting “prep work” to create office space for the Facilities Department inside the old McAuliffe building. Kezer said he did not know the date that work began or the cost of the project.
Responding to questions from King about whether the work began without proper permits, Kezer said staff from different departments were communicating about those issues last week.
“There was an application for a permit to do some work,” he said. “There was some back and forth between Inspectional Services and Facilities as to what the requirements were, questions in regard to what has already been done or not done. And so in that regard, I have (Facilities Director Jim Paolini) and (Building Inspector Mike Tusino) working directly ... to kind of work through whatever the issues are. If there’s any paperwork requirements that the Inspectional Services needed that they didn’t get, to make sure they get them, and to make sure that everyone’s on a clear understanding of what’s being done.”
City officials had yet to furnish additional information to the council regarding the renovations as of Thursday morning. The Daily News also requested that information on May 24 and May 29, but had yet to receive a response.
During last week’s meeting, King said he is concerned that the administration did not initiate a public discussion about the future of the old McAuliffe building, which is valued at more than $1 million.
“From a financial point of view,” he said, “I just don’t see where this money keeps coming from, but it is just not true to say it’s minimal cost, and that’s looking through the windows. ... It’s not minimal cost, and it’s just not accurate to say that, and I think we deserve to be at least informed of what the costs are.”