On November 20, nine of fourteen members of the Mount Greylock Building Committee met to give updates and discuss the future of the current building project. Steven Miller attended his first meeting, as he is one of the school committee representatives replacing Carry Green, who chose not to run for reelection.

Co-Chair Mark Schiek went through the agenda, which consisted of budget updates such as the current budget balance of a possible extra $24,000, permitting for consultants, advertising, extra service, and other similar bonuses. The subject of administrative cost at the beginning of the job arose and was compared with the cost to date: $40,000 after four years.  

Spring cleanup for the landscape also entered the discussion. The committee discussed the fact that it would have to be pushed to April or even May because it wasn’t previously set in place for this year.

The committee went on to consider the building department permit fee, which had come up at the last meeting but was tabled – one of the main issues of Tuesday’s meeting.  Co-Chair Paula Consolini raised the questions formerly presented: “do we agree to pay the invoice now? Do we wait until later in the project?” She invited Thomas Bartels, who had originally made the motion, to give his thoughts. Bartels said that “I’d like to hear from other people. I don’t have anything new to add, really”

Bartels showed his satisfaction with the idea of the district paying the full bill, as long as funds remained in the budget at “closeout,” as Superintendent Kim Grady put it.  Consolini noted that “there could be a motion that the committee says, ‘Should there be dollars available, there’s a commitment to pay the town…,’” “Whatever is owed,” Bartels finished for her. “We owe a debt.”

The committee then voted unanimously to pay the bill for inspection services from Williamstown if the money stays within the budget once the entire process comes to a close.  

The 75-minute meeting wrapped up as Schiek reminded everyone that as the project moves into its “closeout” phase, the work of the committee will certainly change.