2023-02-09-PBC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Tecton Architects on solar canopy update The Feb 2. HDC meeting was cancelled Jeff from Tecton presented a power point that will be also presented to the Select Board on Monday 2/13/23 The Power point slides for the solar canopy included slides showing the use of fletcher field as the Farmers Market as well as the winter skating rink. The views had the main solar canopy in the background. There were also views of both uses of the field with the Mass ave leg solar canopy in the background. These were shown simply to show how the canopies might be used by the fletcher field uses. Jeff related that the panel being considered is a Bifacial 585 watt panel. With the current canopy deign, without the mass ave leg, the current calculations show the project about 800 (canopy) sf shy of making net zero, although they are still working to close the gap. Questions and discussions included: The estimate was discussed at 3.3 million dollars. It is no surprise that the cost of this canopy structure exceeds the cost per square foot of typical solar canopies given it location and the need to be highly sensitive to the very prominent location at the entry to the Town center within the Historic District. It was strongly suggested that the price be parsed something like the following to show the cost of a “vanilla” solar canopy and the added cost/benefit of the refined design to clear the thoughtful recommendations of the Historic Districts Commission, synergistic uses with Fletcher Field functions such as the the Farmers market or music venue and as a large, covered outdoor use when vehicles are not there. , It was suggested that this cost parsing could help sell the project to Boards and Town Meeting. Can the canopy extend more east toward fletcher or perhaps to the west? There is a Natural Gas regulator valve on the property side of the sidewalk at the fletcher entry and we are trying to keep a safe distance from the underground equipment. Westward expansion is being explored. It was stated that when having the discussions about costs we should include the benefit received by free or reduced cost energy. Integrated Design policy That status of the High School Project was requested. M Cronin replied that the project was still in the Eligibility Period although all Lexington work was complete. We are awaiting an invitation from the MSBA into the Feasibility phase, which would begin with hiring an OPM and Architect. It is projected that if invited we would have our consultants on board by the end of the summer. The RFS for these services could go out within 60 days. It was asked if the body of the actual Integrated Design Policy (IDP) was being edited or just the attachment. The co- Chair felt that there would have to be at least some update to the main policy document. Prior to reviewing the highlights of proposed IDP attachment changes the co-chair had prepared a proposed organization chart, which showed where different participants in the process might have their input. There was general discussion about the chart and where some of the various parties might best be placed. It was noted that students and the commercial district did not show up on the chart and should. The School Superintendent shared that this was a good visual and thoughts on placement of different groups. It was thought that this could be shared at School Building Committee once fine-tuned. Through discussion of the Bridge Document, It was suggested that the Town might want to consider hiring its own