2010-02-04-CPC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Community Preservation Committee Thursday, February 4, 2010 3:00 pm G-15 Town Offices Present: Betsey Weiss, Chair; Joel Adler, Norman Cohen, Marilyn Fenollosa, Vice Chair; Jeanne Krieger, Wendy Manz, Leo McSweeney, Nathalie Rice, Admin. Asst; Sandy Shaw, and Dick Wolk (left at 3:35 pm.). Present from the Capital Expenditures Committee were Charles Lamb, Chair, David Kanter and Ted Edson. Also present were Rob Addelson, Director of Finance and John Bartenstein from the Capital Expenditures Committee. Ms. Weiss called the meeting to order at 3:05 pm. The purpose of the meeting was to receive updates on two important projects, the Town Office Building project and the Cotton Farm land acquisition project, and to receive a status report on the Goldinger parcel. 1.Town Office Building Project – Mr. Valente, Town Manager, Ms. Linda Vine, assistant Town Manager, Mr. Mark Barrett, Project Manager, Mr. Patrick Goddard, Director of Facilities were in attendance to present the update of the Town Office project. Mr. Valente commenced the discussion, stating that the project consisted of two parts; upgrades to conform with ADA and code requirements, and a smaller portion devoted to office realignment. Mr. Valente passed out a memo entitled, “Summary of Proposed Improvements to Town Office Building, dated February 4, 2010”. Mr. Barrett described fourteen code-related projects that were outlined in the memo. They included installing handicapped bathrooms and handicapped access at the front door and back westerly facing door, installing new customer service counters to accommodate wheelchairs, stair modifications to meet fire safety codes, and installing a fire suppression system in the newer section of the building. There were questions from CPC members regarding the fire safety improvements, and Ms. Fenollosa asked Mr. Barrett if the building was unsafe as is. He replied that it was not. Mr. Adler expressed his concern that a renovation of Town Offices would resonate poorly with Town Meeting members, and therefore reflect unfavorably upon the CPC. Mr. Kanter questioned Mr. Barrett about the market value of the Town Office Building, and whether the improvements met the 30% threshold, that triggered the requirement for ADA work. Mr. Barrett responded that the project was large enough to trigger the need for ADA work, and that even if broken into smaller jobs over a number of years would still necessitate the handicapped improvements. 1