HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-05-04-CEC-min-execMinutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Date, Place, and Location: May 4, 2012, 8:05 A.M., Town Office Building, Room G -15
Members Present: Charles Lamb, Chair; Ted Edson, Vice - Chair; Bill Hurley; Shirley Stolz;
David Kanter
Other Attendees: Carl Valente, Town Manager; Rob Addelson, Assistant Town Manager
for Finance; Eric Michelson, Appropriation Committee
With Mr. Lamb having called to order at 8:00 A.M. the Open Session —which had been
posted also to involve an Executive Session, at 8:05 A.M. he declared that an executive
session was warranted under the Open Meeting Law Exemption 6 (To consider the
purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property) as the discussion in an open meeting
may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the Town. A Motion was made
and seconded to go into executive session, with the other attendees being present, with the
intention to reconvene in an open session. Each of the above - identified members was
individually polled and each voted "yes"
Potential for Purchase of Some National Heritage Museum Land and Structures
Mr. Valente explained that he had been approached by a representative of the National
Heritage Museum (at 33 Marrett Road in Lexington) regarding the Museum's intention to
sell a substantial portion of their land, including the structures thereon —but excluding the
main museum and a significant portion of the parking lot immediately adjacent to the
museum. The Museum wants to offer the Town the first opportunity to be the buyer. (There
is currently no information on the price the Museum would place on such a sale, nor what
value an independent appraisal might assign to the property.)
As the Museum wishes to complete the sale in the not - too - distant future, the Town would
need to make a decision relatively soon (e.g., likely within the next five months) as to
whether it wishes to proceed as the potential buyer and is, therefore, prepared to present
such an acquisition proposal to a Town Meeting— whether a fall 2012 Special Town
Meeting or not later than the 2013 Annual Town Meeting (ATM). Otherwise, the Museum
would proceed with publicly announcing its intent to sell on the open market.
Besides the substantial open space along Marrett Road —which provides a beautiful
viewscape —and a residence on Marrett Road, the proposed sale includes a very -large
building that is currently being used as a training center and offices with the adjacent
balance of the current parking lot. Mr. Valente has toured that building and although much
of it is currently configured as relatively small training rooms, the overall facility appears to
be in top -notch condition with modern systems throughout —which suggests it might well be
the basis for a relatively -easy conversion into a Community Center for the Town. (While the
Museum would retain much of the current parking lot, as their need for all of that parking is
not full time, it's conceivable that some of the Museum - retained parking spaces could be
made available for the Town's use if there were major functions, etc., taking place at such a
Community Center.)
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Mr. Valente offered to arrange for a very -low -key visit to the property, especially the training
center /offices, by one or more members of the Committee. The Committee's response was
that such a visit definitely would be desired. The Committee advised Mr. Valente that it also
expected to having the opinion, as soon as practical, of Pat Goddard, the Director of Public
Facilities, regarding the condition of the building and the practicality of converting its smaller
spaces into one or more of the larger spaces that a Community Center would need for its
operations —along with whatever other matters Mr. Goddard might raise in regard to that
building becoming a Town asset and his Department's responsibilities for it.
The discussion then turned to the funding of such a purchase. As the purchase would entail
open space, the original core of the building with the training center and offices is expected
to be deemed historical, the residence or some other portion of the land might be used for
community housing, and there might even be some recreational use —all of which are
purposes of the Community Preservation Act —the Community Preservation Fund (CPF)
would appear to be an allowable source for some major portion, if not all, of the funding.
That led to Mr. Valente requesting that the Committee revise its current recommendation to
use $1,000,000 of the CPF cash, along with CPF- funded debt, on the funding of the Wright -
Farm Land Purchase (2012 Annual Town Meeting, Article 9). He suggested the decision on
how much cash, if any, to use on that purchase, if approved by the 2012 ATM, could be
deferred until the Town were ready to issue a bond for the debt portion —which is not
anticipated until the spring of 2013. (A bond anticipation note would be used for the initial
debt financing.) Doing so would provide the maximum flexibility with regard to CPF cash
until it's known whether the purchase of the Museum property, which is expected to be a
substantial cost, would be pursued by the Town and, therefore, to what extent the CPF
cash would be used toward the purchase of either property, left available to meet the debt
service of either property, or applied toward other projects eligible for CPF funding.
The Committee discussed Mr. Valente's request and agreed to revise its recommendation
regarding the Wright -Farm Land Purchase, accordingly —and would do so following return
to Open Session.
At 8:55 A.M., a Motion was made and seconded to reconvene in Open Session. Each
member was individually polled and each voted "yes ". (Mr. Valente and Mr. Addelson then
left.)
On October 2, 2012, in response to a query by Mr. Kanter that same day, Mr. Valente
advised that the subject matter in these Minutes could now be made public.
These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its Open- Session meeting on
October 16, 2012, and declared as then being a public record.
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