DRAFT MINUTES

TOWN CLOCK COMMITTEE

Minutes

October 7, 2008

Newmarket Public Library

A meeting of the Newmarket Town Clock Committee was held on  Tuesday Oct 7 at the Town Library  In attendance were Mr Richard Alperin,Mr. Steve Dow,Mrs Isabel Donovan, Mr. Al Zink and Mr. Robert Gazda.

Absent were Mr Ed Wojnowski. Phil Lepage and,Dave Legault

Mr. Gazda brought the committee  up to date on the repairs made to the stairs leading to the clock tower  All repairs have been made and a safer stairway  is now complete   Wiring has been completed as well.

Mr. Philip D'avanza from  D'avanza clock repair was here to answer any questions and provide information on how he intends to proceed with the repair of the clock.  It was brought to his attention that the repairs would probably not happen all at once  but proceed in stages  First   the repair of the time train which he assured us he could meet our requirements of one minute per week accuracy or to as accurate as if new condition.

Mr Al Zink  restated the intent of the RFP was to get the clock back to like new condition with the possible exception of the striking train which would consist of a electric striking motor  actuator.  Phil has designed a electric actuator  and invites us to go to New London N.H. to view it.

Phil restated his proposals as provided in his letter to the town dated March 11 2008 

Proposal 1   restore time  portion to mechanical wind  This would be phase one of the repair and made to get the clock to keep accurate time  hopefully  1 min/week.  Cost $3,260.00

Proposal 2  Install motor strike actuator for the bell.  We discussed the option to have the Crane Striking mechanism repaired to look like new while using the new electric motor  actuator do the actual striking..  It would  be best if we could secure funding to restore the broken gears and crane striking mechanism back to original condition but   cost prohibitive,He assured us he could do either. $7,895.00

Proposal 5  Repair clock faces  Major repair  to the exterior face of the clock  Remove the clock dials and determine the extent of rebuild necessary  it is hard to tell what condition the surface is under the existing dials He said  but worst condition would be for repairs to cost $24,752.00

It was asked if these prices were expected to rise  considering the lapse in time between completion of the various phases of the repairs  Phil stated that other than the obvious increases in cost of materials he may have to procure all estimates would stay as specified.

Rich Alperin expressed a consern that the Town Council stand behind  our proposal  to allow the town clock to strike on a 24/7 basis.  He would like us to  get the Town Council to agree to this,since so much money and effort will be expended  it would be best to have it run continuously

Mr. D'avanza  was most helpful and expressed his willingness  to answer any other questions as the need arises.  He can be contacted  @ 603-668-2256 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Al Zink will work up a final draft of the RFP for our next meeting.  Robert Gazda would like to know if anyone would like to go to New London NH.  to view Mr D'Avanza's clock restoration it is similar to our clock.

I would also like to invite the next clock repairer  Mr. David Graf to our next meeting  I hope more of you can make the meeting   it is our best time to get questions answered.

  I would like to have our next meeting on Nov 11 or the 18  Please let me know which one is best  so I can contact Mr. Graf