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2016-05-06-AC-STM2-STM4-rpt (supplement)
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2016-05-06-AC-STM2-STM4-rpt (supplement)
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3/2/2022 3:29:19 PM
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5/26/2016 11:47:34 AM
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2016
Department
Town Clerk
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Minutes - AC - Appropriation Committee
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AC–STM2016-2STM2016-4(P2) <br />PPROPRIATIONOMMITTEE AND ART <br />Special Town Meeting 2016-2 <br />Analysis and Recommendations <br />The Warrant for Special Town Meeting 2016-2 has one unresolved article. <br />Article 2016-2.2: Land Purchase – 20 Pelham Road <br />Funds Requested Funding Source Committee Recommendation <br />$8,000,000 GF Debt Approve (7-1) <br />Background <br />The property at 20 Pelham Road was formerly known as the Armenian Sisters Academy, a private K-8 <br />school. It is comprised of about 8.4 acres of land with a mostly one-story school building constructed in <br />1959, with two paved driveways and two small paved parking lots. Roughly four acres of the plot is cov- <br />ered by woods, with a small clearing on the west side of the building. The large wooded area includes <br />roughly 2 acres marked as wetlands by the Mass Dept. of Environmental Protection. The building offers <br />slightly less than half the classroom capacity of other Lexington Public Schools elementary schools; it <br />presently includes space for 10 classrooms, as well as a large two-story gym, a cafeteria, and administra- <br />tive offices. The property abuts the new Community Center adjacent to the old carriage house. <br />The School Committee and other Town officials became interested in purchasing the property after the <br />Academy closed in June 2015 due to dwindling enrollment. The Town’s interest in the property is based <br />on its potential to satisfy the current and future facility needs of the Lexington Public Schools, and/or <br />possible municipal facility needs. This interest is driven by the Town’s strategic needs, i.e., that the <br />Town’s public schools are already overcrowded and facing rising enrollments, and that important munici- <br />pal facilities including the Headquarters Fire Station and the Police Station need to be renovated or re- <br />placed. New sites may be needed for schools, for the school administration, for the Town’s preschool <br />program, for the fire and police stations, or for swing space for various projects. At present, the Town has <br />very limited options to develop new facilities for either school or municipal needs, including the acquisi- <br />tion of land. <br />Potential Uses <br />The acquisition of the 20 Pelham Road property will not solve an immediate problem commensurate with <br />its cost to the Town, furthermore no long term use of the property has been identified. Instead, the acqui- <br />sition is expected to give the Town an alternative location for a range of possible facilities as a number of <br />both major and medium-scale capital projects evolve. <br />Opportunities to acquire useful property for the Town are always fleeting. These opportunities must be <br />considered as they arise, and they are rarely coordinated with the timing of the Town’s long-term needs. <br />When such properties are not acquired by the Town, they are usually sold to private developers, preclud- <br />ing any future chance for acquisition. <br />Currently, the Town has very little in the way of unused property at locations that are considered practical <br />for school or municipal facilities. To develop short- and long-term options for the locations of new facili- <br />ties, the Town may consider acquiring a limited number of strategically located properties. To do this, the <br />Town must proceed in a timely manner when such properties become available, even when the final use <br />cannot be determined at the time of acquisition. <br />There are inherent risks in this strategy. The Town’s capacity to handle additional debt service on large <br />property purchases is constrained due to existing and anticipated capital expenditures. Acquiring any <br />2 <br /> <br />
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