At Thursday’s Community Preservation Committee meeting, Chairwoman Holly Morris provided an update on the work of the architectural firm hired by the town to look at the building’s Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, historical preservation and potential uses.

Since March, Boston-based Feingold, Alexander and Associates has been looking at the building for the town with plans expected by the middle of May, said Morris.  She said that the firm has walked through the building several times and that they have investigated several uses of the space including a student union, archival space, storage for library books and space for classes through the Ellison Center for the Arts.

Morris said the architects have suggested that the front portion of the building be used for an archival area for the town and some non-profit agencies and the back for use as a student union with a clear delineation in between.

She added that the architects also envision a part of the back of the building as rental space to generate revenue as part of their preliminary ideas.

Conservation Agent Joe Grady said that there might be grant money available to assist with the project, with Planning Director Christine Stickney adding that she was investigating one such match for handicapped accessibility.

Grady also suggested that the group take out a spot on June’s Special Town Meeting warrant for both deciding the uses of the building as well as funding construction drawings for those uses.  The committee agreed, voting 5-0 to reserve two spots on the warrant for these purposes, leaving discretion as to whether this would be one or two articles up to selectmen.

The committee also discussed other items that they’d like addressed during the upcoming Special Town Meeting.  In addition to $1.5 million in funding for the O’Neil Farm and the potential purchase of the Jaycox/Christmas Tree Farm (see related story), the group also discussed several other projects that they wanted to reserve space on the warrant to discuss.

One of these was a potential presentation by the Historical Commission to the CPC regarding the Tarkiln Community Center that was saved by $7,600 in funding at this year’s Annual Town Meeting after lots of discussion on the value of the space.

Members discussed the possibility of creating a management plan and architectural study for the structure similar to the one being done with the Wright building to avoid revisiting debate on whether or not to save the structure at next year’s Town Meeting.

They voted unanimously to save a spot on the warrant while awaiting a presentation by the Historical Commission.

Thursday’s meeting also included a presentation by the Duxbury Bay Management Committee regarding the restoration of the Island Creek Herring and Rainbow Smelt fish run. Committee chairman John Carnuccio and engineer Bob Fultz talked about the effort to repair a fish ladder along the two-mile stretch of Island Creek as well as restore herring spawning habitat at Mill Pond and Island Creek pond.

Fish ladders are structures that enable fish to migrate beyond river or stream obstructions created by dams or embankments.

Carnuccio said that the history of the run dates back to 1702, is a significant part of Duxbury’s history and may be the oldest fish ladder in the nation.

In addition to grant funding and some work in-kind promised by town departments like the Department of Public Works, Carnuccio was asking the committee for money through the Community Preservation Act to make the project eligible for a grant match.  He said $70,000 would complete the project while $40,000 would enable the restoration of the fish ladder.

Following questions from the committee regarding water quality in the area as well as whether this fit in the historical benchmark under the Act, the committee voted unanimously to save a spot on the warrant to discuss funding the project with no specific amount specified.

With five items on the warrant already, the committee also reserved a spot for possible funding needed for issues regarding the renovation of the Keene Street fields and for the possible transfer of part of the Delano property to the water department, a measure indefinitely postponed at March’s Annual Town Meeting.

After Thursday’s meeting, Morris said that if only the O’Neil Farm were on the warrant, funding would not be an issue, but all these other items have come up.

After checking with the town accountant, she said there was $1.7 million in CPA funds and that, if needed, the town could do short-term borrowing to fund these other projects.

On Friday, Town Manager Rocco Longo agreed that this could be a strategy to employ, saying that CPA funds are “one area of government where cash flow is not a problem."