2023-11-30-CPC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Lower Level bathrooms receive high usage and so it makes more sense to renovate the bathrooms now, instead of waiting two more years. Ms. O’Brien asked about proposing the library project at Town Meeting. Ms. Kosnoff conveyed that she would want to check with Town Counsel on the appropriate way to present the split funded plan to Town Meeting, and noted the importance of conveying that the project’s debt financed portion would be part of the General Fund and not CPA. Ms. Fenollosa noted that past projects have receive split funding without issue, but noted that was due to ineligibility of a portion of a project and not based on availability of funds. Ms. Kosnoff added that the project would still be under one article, but noted she was unsure if it would be under the CPA article or elsewhere. Mr. Beuttell commented that while it is not under consideration at the moment, he is against the CPC debt financing the library or other projects for FY25. Ms. Walker asked if the safety concerns from the children center’s design was a common issue in public libraries or unique to Lexington. Ms. Stembridge shared that the current design was built before today’s considerations for safety in public buildings, one of the blind-spots leads to a fire exit, and added that the space would not be designed the same way if it were built now. Ms. Beebee asked if there was an amount the Town could pay from the General Fund without debt financing, if the CPC were to take on slightly more of the financial cost for the library project. Ms. Kosnoff explained that the Town’s financing plan is not complete but noted that ongoing and repeated programs are preferably funded with free cash and one-time projects are preferred to consider for debt financing when necessary. Ms. Kosnoff explained that she is pretty certain that the library and other projects will have to be funded with debt financing and does not believe there is another way to split the library project to avoid debt financing and avoid making cuts to the other CPA applications. Mr. Kanter asked Ms. Kosnoff about plans for the large amount of funding in the Open Space bucket. Ms. Kosnoff explained that the CPA is required to set aside 10% of funding for Open Space each year, which can only be spent on Open Space projects that are presented to and approved by the CPC and Town Meeting. Ms. Fenollosa added that the CPC had originally decided on a practice, in collaboration with the Appropriations Committee and the Capital Expenditures Committee, of keeping $2 million for reserves, but noted that this was just a policy and not a requirement. Mr. Creech asked if the safety concerns at the library had been mentioned when the project was first presented to the CPC. Ms. Fenollosa commented that it had been addressed in the original CPC application and Mr. Pressman added that the safety element was addressed in other library presentations as well. Mr. Pressman shared his belief that the large meeting room and smaller meeting room were adequate and excellent spaces, and noted that the current book stacks were not all full. Mr. Pressman asked if the lower stacks for this project would be able to hold all the current books. Ms. Stembridge shared that the project would seek to find a balance between maximizing the book collection with improving accessibility and people space. 5