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Selectmen’s Meeting – January 9, 2012 The presentation included the work that has been done so far; leader/department head input received, stakeholder priorities, current fragmented programs, services and facilities, the Committee’s vision, the Synergy concept, how it would be an effective, efficient use of space for all and the final steps of the Committee. The Committee is looking for input from the Selectmen, they will be holding focus groups/coffees, and doing a survey. They expect to provide a final report in March. In response to a question about whether communities with community centers would have done something different, Ms. Hussong responded that the issues were all over the place, but one community felt it was too difficult to renovate an old building because of lots of problems and it was more expensive. Another community center was already too small because of how successful and so it is difficult to schedule efficiently. Another community center was too dependent on volunteers and forced parents to volunteer. The CCTF learned from visiting some of the community centers that they are particular to their town’s needs. Mr. Kelley hopes the committee will look for opportunities even before a place or structure is decided on and not miss the opportunity to move forward with the current passion of the community; there are a number of different groups with different passions for different things. He is interested in seeing the Facilities Department identify all public and private spaces that could possibly be used for any number of different interests or groups. The utilization of space needs to be looked at. Ms. Koplow stated that the committee’s homework indicated that there are no glaring needs in Lexington but there needs to be one place to bring people together for enrichment of the community. Mr. Cohen believes a site for a community center has to be addressed. The CCTF will continue to poll the community to gather more information about the specific needs they have. The report will describe what the Committee has found and how those needs can be met in a community center. The CCTF will not to try to decide how much a community center would cost but they will be reviewing what kinds of activities a community center could provide with the Town’s current staff. Mr. Cohen reminded the CCTF about all the current programs offered by Recreation, Library and Senior Center. The Selectmen should send any further comments to the CCTF. The Selectmen thanked the CCTF for all the work it has done so far.