GREENFIELD – As of Monday, Mayor William Martin has eased restrictions on the Greenfield Public Library.
According to the executive order, the two basement rooms will now be available under new occupancy and exit conditions.
“Basement Rooms 101 and 103 shall, at all times, provide two means of unimpeded egress from each room; and further that, a maximum occupancy load for both rooms shall be 49 with no overflow,” Martin wrote in the executive order. “For the safety of the staff and the public, until further notice, the Library’s ground floor book stack room is closed and not to be occupied until a plan as indicated by the Professional Engineer is submitted and approved by the Building Inspector.”
“There are still no meetings, but when the library is open, there may be limited use,” Martin said in an interview Tuesday.
At the Nov. 5 election, voters approved construction of a new $19.5 million library, and Martin said the city is seeking to avoid the $217,000 threshold that will trigger complete Massachusetts building code compliance.
In the executive order, Martin states the city “received a report by a structural engineer raising serious safety concerns about the ground floor of the library,” and as well as a “notice of violations from the Building Commissioner defining violations and compliance measures required to maintain safety” that sparked Monday’s update to the executive order.
Chief Robert Strahn and Building Inspector Mark Snow proceeded by completing a walkthrough to come up with part of their various strategies to keep cost to a minimum. Snow then issued a notice of violation.
Snow found the building was in violation of the Massachusetts Building Code in three ways: inadequate number of means of egress from the book stacks room and the two meeting rooms; and the stairway to the first floor is not adequately marked with signs as an exit.
The city agreed to comply, stating the two meeting rooms “will always have two unimpeded, separate means of egress from each room and will only be occupied when the Public Library is open. If the city elects to proceed with a plan of corrective action, the plan will be provided to the Building Department,” wrote Martin in an email responding to the notice on Nov. 27. “The city agrees to install additional illuminated exit signs/emergency lights near the door at the base of the center stairs and to install additional directional signage.”
Martin said the city is waiting to hear back from Snow and a request for a waiver from the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board and the Office on Disability.
The mayor also put forward a financial request of $150,000 for a library feasibility study, which will be voted on at the City Council’s Wednesday, Dec. 18 meeting.
“Whatever we do with a building, we’ll have to have that information anyway for cost estimates – if it’s going to be reused as office space, retail, or otherwise,” Martin said. “There will be cost estimates with each change of use.”
The city is also waiting for the results of an air quality study done by the Department of Public Health, according to Martin.
“If the air quality test brings back bad results, we’d have to close the bottom floor or 100 percent of the building if it warrants that,” Martin said.
“The process is taking the next step and following through,” Martin said. “There are also other buildings in the city we have to deal with and come up with best strategies moving forward.”
The report by engineer Michael Rainville states that based on the occupancy load of the basement rooms, two means of exiting the building are required for all areas of the basement at all times the library is occupied.
“There are no code-compliant means to exit from the basement if the northern doorway is blocked,” Rainville wrote. “There is no other code-compliant accessible means of egress from the basement at any time.”
According to the occupancy study, state building code specifies that spaces with one exit have a maximum occupancy of 49 people.
“The calculated occupancy load for the basement rooms is 108 people, which exceeds the one egress criteria of 49 people,” Rainville wrote.
The engineer also provided two options to create a code-compliant and accessible means of exit from the basement area with a cost estimate of $68,000 to $106,000, depending on the option selected.
Reach Melina Bourdeau at mbourdeau@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 263.