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THE LEXINGTON HISTORICAL COMMISSION
Lexington, Massachusetts 02173
Meeting Minutes
Room G15 7:30 p.m.
Lexington Town Office Building "- 3 , 1978
The meeting was called to order at 7;50 p.m. by Sara
Chase . Present were Norma Bogen, Sara Chase , Anne Grady and
John Orcutt of the Historical Commission, Linda McAui.ay, John.
Packard and Georgia Williams of the Historic Districts
Commission, John Bradford, Phyllis Bradford, Don Olson and
Ruth Thomas of the Belfry Hill Neighborhood Association,
Catherine Donahue and Josephine Pfister, Hancock School
Condominium owners, and Wilbur Jaquith.
Ms . Chase stated that the purpose of the meeting was to
hold a preliminary discussion of items of concern about the
exterior of the Hancock School building as it now stands . She
presented a series of color slides showing the building and
grounds before recent construction and in its present condition.
As Ms . Chase showed the slides , the following concerns
were pointed out chiefly ;by :Ms . Chase , Mr. Orcutt, architect,
and Mr. Olson, landscape architect;
1 . The orange color is inappropriate for the doors and exterior
wood trim. Ms . Chase explained the previous colors she
had found on the paint sample she examined. There were
several coats of chocolate brown, then dark green,sandstone
color and cream. Members of the historic districts
commission felt a dark brown was the best color choice .-
2 . Down spouts are tucked into cast iron pipes in an inapprop-
riate fashion.
3 . There is no fence around the transformer, durnster space and
cooling unit.
4. Holes in the masonry are as yet unpatched.
5. The concrete of the walls at the foundation on the basement
terraces is not neatly finished. The point was raised that
the developer gave no indication that he intended to use
concrete in the present manner on the terraces or surrounding
the base of the porte cochere . Mr. Olson mentioned that it
is a shame that the finely made balla'ards on the interior or
the porte cochere which were put there to protect the hubs
Minutes ---2- Nov.
3, 1978
of carriage wheels have been masked by so much unnecessary
concrete . Mr. Orcutt noted that the concrete is a particu-
larly noticable element since it is at eye level. The
concrete , in addition,is already beginning to stain below
drains . Everyone felt that as much concrete as possible
should be faced with brick. This should cost about $150
per terrace .
6 . Mention was made of the sloppy way in which the window trim
was repainted without replacing missing putty.
7 . A bend in the gutters exists which will cause water problems
if not fixed .
8 . There is only one snow guard left on the roof.
9. The treatment of the north porch is inappropriate and no
one remembered it on the development proposal.
10. Areas around the basement terraces are already beginning
to erode .
11 . Steps to terraces are dangerous .
12 . A skylight is being put in the east end roof of the building.
This was not on the development proposal.
13 . Reusing granite slabs for benches on the north side was a
good idea, but setting them on concrete blocks is entirely
too crude .
14. The spiraea used to screen the parking is not sufficient.
Only one tree has been planted. Ground cover has been
planted where it won' t grow and in fact is alre�ady dying.
Everyone remembers that the land was to be soced. Mr. Olson
pointed out that years of play have packed the ground to the
point where it will need reworking if anything but crabgrass
is to grow. Neighbors know that a large puddle occurs on
the north side of the building. Grading should be done to
alleviate this problem. The Town should match the efforts
of the developer on the portion of the land it retained.
If sodding is not going to be done , its cost should be
alloted to other improvements .
15. The narrow concrete walks "smack of the worst possible
cheap housing" . The terrace on the north side was described
as looking like a helicopter launching pad.
16 . The Town should take away the rest of the fence .
A discussion followed about how the above concerns could
Minutes --3-- Nov. 3, 1978
be remedied, what would be the best way to proceed and what
went wrong.
Ruth Thomas cited the written proposal given to town
meeting members . She felt that the developers had not adhered
to it. She also cited the revised zoning by-law approved byTown Meeting this year which was supposed
to remove the possibil-
ity of problems with developers in the future .
Sara Chase summarized the problems Mr. Noyes found with
cleaning the building. Basically, he had not budgeted enough.
He had already used up his 5% allowable :; ;increase in unit costs
because of "problems with his electrical contractor" . The
selectmen voted to. deny his request to add additional cleaning
costs of several hundred dollars per unit.
Mr. Olson felt that if Mr. Noyes had misjudged costs , the
town should not have to bear the burden.
John Packard stated that a certificate of occupancy must
be issued by the building commissioner before a building may be
occupied. The selectmen could request that the building
commissioner not issue the certificate until problems are
cleared up.
Ruth Thomas stated that the developer must post a bond
with the Town that is not to be released until work is satis-
factorily completed. Did Sidney and Noyes Associates post
this bond?
Persons buying condominium units could apply pressure to
the developers .
Sara Chase wondered if the developer had allowed a conting-
ency fund. If so, what happened to it?
Mr. Jaquith wondered if a chain of authority in overseeing
theoonstruction progress was set up by the Town. He also
wanted to know if the building commissioner issued the building
permit after the Hancock school became part of the historic
district on June 23, 1978. If so, this would constitute a
violation of the historic district act.
It was decided that those present at the meeting would
request a meeting on Monday, November 6 with the Selectmen. At
that time the Selectmen will be asked to hold up release of the
developers'bond and the issuance of the building commissioner's
certificate of occupancy until the concerns are cleared up.
Selectmen and the building commissioner will be invited to tour
the building with John Bradford this weekend.
Respectfully submitted,
Anne Grady