2022-09-29-REC-min-att - Laserfiche WebLink

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RECREATION COMMITTEE: FY24-FY28 CAPITAL SUMMARY STATEMENT aligning with the goals and priorities of other Town boards and committees including but not limited to the Select Board, the Conservation Commission, and the Lincoln Park Subcommittee; • and honoring Town bylaws and Town Meeting resolutions. The Town has enjoyed great success over the years in developing its recreation infrastructure, and we consider ongoing investment to maintain the quality of the existing recreation opportunities to be critical. As a result, most capital expenses proposed by the Recreation Committee are "level - service" projects, i.e., those necessary to maintain the recreation, leisure activities, play, sports, and physical education as they are currently being enjoyed by residents. Such projects most commonly comprise end -of -life renovations and replacements and/or updates to meet current recreation industry best practices. The staff of the Recreation and Community Programs Department have done a great job over the past several years of building out a multi-year schedule to account for the timely completion of these types of end -of -life renovation and/or replacement projects at our playgrounds, playing fields, and at the Pine Meadows Golf Course. As described above, the Recreation Committee considers numerous factors when evaluating and preparing the 5 -year capital projects table. The recent acceptance of Lexington High School into the MSBA process is a new factor for consideration that must be weighed carefully in our decision making about projects over the next 5 years. In particular, the Recreation Committee is deeply concerned about the potential loss of the heavily utilized athletic fields at the Center Recreation Complex for the multiple years of a LHS building project. The problem would be exacerbated by any overlap of such field loss at the Center Recreation Complex with scheduled end -of -life turf renovations at the Lincoln Park fields that require field closure to complete. The magnitude of any potential field loss is highlighted by the findings of the Comprehensive Study of Athletic and Outdoor Recreation Facilities (2021-2022) that was recently completed for the Town by Weston and Sampson, Inc.' The study was commissioned to quantify the demand for athletic fields in Lexington following the Town's decision to not participate in an athletic fields/facilities partnership with Minuteman High School, a decision that may merit reconsideration as another means of athletic facility relief during a LHS building project. The report comprises the results of a comprehensive analysis of athletic field supply and demand in Lexington and documents that currently, with the entirety of the Center Recreation Complex and Lincoln Field operational, the demand for organized, permitted field use exceeds what is available by some 6,100 hours annually. The potential loss of availability of Center Recreation Complex fields during a LHS building project, exacerbated by scheduled field renovation closures at Lincoln Field, would dramatically increase that imbalance and negatively impact all field user groups in Lexington. 'funded by 2020 Annual Town Meeting appropriation of $100,000 from the tax levy (Article 12b)