Middletown Library Building Committee Meeting – April 1, 2026
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Middletown Library Building Committee Meeting – April 1, 2026
The Library Building Committee met on April 1, 2026, at 5:02 PM with five of seven members present. They welcomed new member Pamela Steele, approved the minutes from December 22, 2025, and discussed the environmental impact study for the library site, budget status, and the timeline for a potential major library project.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (December 22, 2025): Moved by Julie, seconded by Phil. Approved unanimously with no abstentions or nays.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke. Judith from the Economic and Community Development Office was present but did not address the committee.
Discussion Items
- Environmental Impact Study Update (Item 5A): Ramona reported that she consulted Chris Nardi of Silver Petrucelli (architectural firm) about obtaining an environmental impact study for the library site and the adjacent house at 139 Broad Street. A phase I study would test for hazardous substances like asbestos, lead, and PCBs. There is approximately $22,000 remaining on a purchase order with Silver Petrucelli, plus an additional $26,000 unencumbered from the original $200,000 appropriation. Ramona is waiting for cost estimates from Mr. Nardi before deciding whether to issue an RFP or use the existing purchase order. Committee member Phil questioned whether the house at 139 Broad Street might have an underground oil tank; Ramona noted that the library converted from oil to natural gas decades ago and has no buried tanks. Anthony advised checking with the purchasing department to ensure compliance. The committee agreed to wait for more information before proceeding.
- Timeline and Deadlines: Ramona indicated that the mayor will present a list of capital priorities, possibly tied to the budget. She noted that a $58–60 million library referendum is unlikely this year given fiscal challenges and other urgent needs (e.g., schools). She has a meeting with the mayor the following day. Committee members discussed the possibility of advocating for the library project and noted that the infrastructure bond passed in November 2025 includes some funding for library repairs, such as elevator modernization ($150,000–$200,000) and chiller replacement. The library also serves as a cooling/warming center. Ramona is coordinating with city hall and the state delegation to secure additional support.
Key Outcomes
- The committee will await cost estimates for the environmental impact study from Chris Nardi before deciding on procurement.
- Ramona will report back on the mayor’s capital priorities after her April 2 meeting with him.
- The meeting was adjourned by a motion (moved by a member, seconded by another) with all in favor.
Note: No agenda or minutes were available for this meeting; the summary is based solely on the transcript.
Meeting Transcript
All right, it is 502. Thank you, everyone, for being here. Um, before we get to public comment, I want to welcome uh Miss Pamela Steele to our committee. Thank you for joining. We now have a full committee of seven. Um, and we have five on tonight, which is fantastic. Well, thank you for having me. Um public comments. Um does anyone want to um speak at all? I see we have just one person from the public, I believe, on here, Judith. I I believe Judith is with the um economic and community development office here in Middle East. Oh, okay. Yeah. So I so we'll go on to approval of the minutes from December 22nd. That was our last meeting, believe it or not, three months ago. Um is there a motion to accept the minutes from December 22nd. I make a motion. Thank you, Julie. Is there a second? Okay, thank you, Phil. Any discussion on the minutes. All in favor. Aye. Any abstentions? Any nays. That wasn't here. Okay. Motion passes. Thank you, everyone. Uh, we're gonna go to unfinished business. Um, we don't have our consultants on here, but Ramona, give any updates from the consultants. Um, really just that, and it it sort of relates to item um 5A under new business, the environmental impact study. So I had gone back and looked through the charge of this committee because I know it is a technically a temporary committee, and uh just to make sure that um the committee was on track for completing all of the duties that you are charged with. And you pretty much have. Um, you know, we've done the feasibility studies, we've gotten cost estimates, but one thing that is mentioned in the ordinance creating this committee is the environmental impact study or any necessarily necessary environmental impact studies. Um, so I did contact Chris Nardi at Silver Petrucelli, our architectural firm that's been working with us and um just kind of picked his brain on what that would look like. Um what kinds of uh what kinds of things an environmental engineering firm or you know who who whoever uh would do. And he said he was going to um look into a couple of firms that he's worked with before and just get some quotes for us. Unfortunately, I don't have anything back from him today to tell you in terms of a dollar amount. I will say that um if he does kind of subcontract with a company to do that here for the library site. Um there is about $22,000 left on a purchase order that we have open with Silver Petruselli. Um, so we could potentially work it that way. Um, you know, typically what you're looking for with an environmental impact study, at least a you know, a phase one um is for lack of a better term, yucky substances like asbestos lead and PCBs. Um typically, you know, they're also looking at records in terms of what was your property used for in the past. Fortunately, you know, we were never saying a gas station, uh, we don't have any buried fuel tanks, anything like that. But it's always good to know um, you know, the landscape, if you will, of what we are what we have here. We obviously have a facility that's been on this site, um, the library site for 150 years, the church was built 200 years ago, obviously many generations of um construction and renovation and additions. So there might be some things that going forward, um, should we end up doing the big project, um, you know, the the rebuild and expansion, we're gonna have to know about, right? Um, in addition to that, the the uh footprint of any new construction would also include the house that is just to the north of the library at 139 Broad Street, and that was a private residence, again, not a gas station, um, not a nuclear power plant, anything like that. But um, there would be some, you know, you'd want you'd want to do a study on that as well.
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