Laserfiche WebLink
71-3 <br /> Selectmen's Meeting— September 11, 2017 <br /> Mr. Pato asked if Sustainable Lexington has been part of the integrated building design process. <br /> He asked if building resilience has been considered and whether there is battery storage capacity. <br /> He noted that an early December bid timing for the temporary location is somewhat premature. <br /> He requested feedback from Sustainable Lexington from this point forward. <br /> Mr. Goddard said Mr. Sandeen of the Sustainable Lexington Committee has fielded questions as <br /> they have arisen. Mr. McElravy said the only area of the permanent building he has concerns <br /> about exceeding 600 parts per million CO2 is the training room. There is enough room for solar <br /> on the roof for both power generation and hot water. Rain gardens are planned along the west <br /> side of the building as part of the stormwater management system. Because the Fire Station is a <br /> public safety building, higher standards of resiliency will be met, such as power back-up. Battery <br /> storage is being considered and space has been allocated, although the team is not yet sure what <br /> its recommendation will be. Energy cost assumptions are .15 cents per kWh for electricity and <br /> 1.50 with CCS for natural gas. <br /> Mr. Lucente asked why the permanent building is not positioned closer to Bedford Street. He <br /> asked what the thinking is behind having four vehicle bays and how the square footage cost of <br /> $742 compares to project costs for other regional fire stations. Mr. Lucente is worried that the <br /> hazmat abatement estimate is not sufficient. <br /> Mr. McElravy said the practice is to design to accommodate the full length of the fire apparatus <br /> within the front apron of the building. A drive-thru design would need the same apron space <br /> behind as in front. Chief Wilson said the response standard to send four emergency vehicles <br /> simultaneously, leading to the four-bay design. Mr. McElravy admitted the square footage cost is <br /> "on the high side" but some differentiating factors are: better sustainability; hazardous material <br /> and environmental abatement costs; demolition; traffic work. Additionally, the region is in a <br /> construction escalation period. Based on environmental testing done at 45 Bedford Street, the <br /> environmental engineer calculated the cost of removing all the soil from the site, providing a <br /> cushion to cover a worst-case hazmat scenario. <br /> Dick Friedson, Design Advisory Committee, asked what materials the building would be <br /> constructed with. He asked if the cost has been benchmarked because the hard cost of$650/SF <br /> seems extremely high for an institutional/public project. Mr. Friedson asked if the roof will cast a <br /> shadow on the photovoltaic panels for part of the day. He highly recommended the project be <br /> identified as a 149A so a construction manager is hired to control costs. He asked the Board of <br /> Selectmen to consider allowing the Design Advisory Committee to review the project. <br /> Mr. McElravy said the building will have a steel-frame and the apparatus bays and support <br /> facilities will have a masonry back-up to the brick; the living quarters and administrative offices <br /> will have metal stud back-up to the brick. Mr. Bride said the solar study has not yet been done <br /> but with new inverter technologies, panels that receive shade can be isolated. If necessary, the <br /> panels can be placed on the upper roof but the team is worried about aesthetics. Mr. McElravy <br /> said the cost estimates are more generous now than they will be in later phases. He agreed to <br /> conduct a benchmark exercise against other recent fire station projects, adjusted for location and <br /> date, although he knows of recent projects that have come in at$450/SF. <br />