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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-11-01-CPC-min Minutes of the Community Preservation Committee Thursday, November 1, 2012, 2:00 pm Ellen Stone Room Cary Memorial Building Present: Board Members: Wendy Manz,Chair, Joel Adler, Norman Cohen, Jeanne Krieger (arrived 2:30 pm), Leo McSweeney, Sandy Shaw, Betsey Weiss, Dick Wolk. Administrative Assistant : Nathalie Rice Also in attendance were David Kanter of the Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC), John Bartenstein of the Appropriation Committee and Town resident, Robert Pressman. The meeting was called to order at 3:03 pm. by Ms. Manz. 1.Approval of the Minutes – A vote was taken (7-0) to approve theminutes from the meeting of 2/22/12 and to release the Executive Session minutes of the meeting of 7/24/12. 2.Policies Related to Land Acquisitions, Draft Letter – Ms. Manz asked for comments on a draft letter she had prepared for the Committee which requested Board of Selectmen consideration of all the interests in the CPA statute during the planning stages of a CPA-funded land acquisition. The letter also proposed a modification of the Capital Request Form in the form of a check box that indicated that all purposes of the CPA statute had been considered and all interested stakeholders had been contacted. There was a brief discussion of Ms. Manz’s letter, in which Mr. Cohen stated his objection to a sentence, which stated that there had historically been “little or no debate over the appropriate use of land” in Conservation Commission acquisition prior to the passage of the CPA. Members voted on whether to delete this sentence, (3-4) and the sentence was left as is. Mr. Wolk reacted strongly to the letter stating that he felt it unfairly targeted land acquisitions, and said that he felt proper consideration had been given to the various purposes in the recent land acquisitions, particularly Busa and Wright Farm. Mr. Adler noted his concern over the Selectmen’s proposal for the acquisition of the Wright Farm, which he felt did not allow time for proper consideration of the proposal. Members agreed to continue discussion of the letter th at the November 8 meeting. 3.Election of Chair and Vice-Chair – Mr. Cohen made a motion to elect Ms. Manz as Chair of the CPC and Ms. Fenollosa as Vice-Chair for the upcoming year. The motion was seconded and voted unanimously (7-0). (Ms. Kreiger had not arrived by this point.) 4.5-Year Open Space Plan Update, $30,000 – Karen Mullins, Director of Community Development and Emily Schadler, Conservation Assistant, presented 1 an application to the CPC for the funding for an update to the existing Open Space and Recreation Plan. Ms. Mullins explained that the update is done every five years, and that it is a requirement for the receipt of LAND (Local Acquisitions for Natural Diversity) and PARC (Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities) grants. She explained the work involved in updating the Open Space Plan, and noted that Conservation Commission had applied for a $400,000 LAND grant reimbursement toward the FY13 acquisition of Wright Farm. In response to a question from Ms. Weiss, Ms. Mullins stated that the amount of the grant depended upon the number of the communities applying for LAND grant monies, and the characteristics and open space values of the lands proposed for acquisition. (The LAND grant reimbursement for Cotton Farm was $500,000.) 5.Conservation Restriction Enforcement Funds, $25,000 – Ms. Mullins and Ms. Schadler also addressed this application. Ms. Mullins explained that Conservation Restrictions (CRs) are a statutory requirement for all parcels of land purchased with CPA funds. (The Town has yet to draw up such restrictions on any of the lands purchased to date with CPA funds.) She said the Citizens for Lexington Conservation would hold the Restrictions, and would need a one-time amount of $5,000 per parcel to conduct enforcement and administrative work. Ms. Mullins said she was seeking funds for the two Goodwin parcels, the Leary Land, Cotton Farm and Wright Farm. She was questioned about whether she would be doing a Conservation Restriction for the Busa property, to which she replied that she had not planned on doing so until the division of acreage for different uses of the land had been determined. She explained that the Conservation Restriction for the Wright Farm parcel must be done in order to receive the $400,000 LAND grant. Members of the CPC noted that it might be appropriate to authorize use of funds from the Administrative budget for administration of CRs so as to expedite the th receipt of these grant monies. (The complete application is due by June 30, 2013 yet the FY14 appropriation for this project would not be available until July 1, 2013.) The CPC will discuss this issue at a subsequent meeting. 6.Cary Memorial Building Upgrades, $500,000 – Patrick Goddard, Director of Facilities, explained that the application for Upgrades for the Cary Memorial Building was a placeholder until the Ad Hoc Cary Memorial Building Program Committee issued their final report. He noted they would be holding a public th meeting to elicit comment on November 27, and would then make their final recommendations to the Selectmen in December. He said the request for $500,000 follows on the FY13 request for design funds, of which only $75,000 was approved. He said the figure of $500,000 represented design costs for all improvements, though he expected both the design request and the final construction request to be lower than presently calculated. He explained that the Ad Hoc Committee would be prioritizing the proposed improvements and eliminating non-priority items. There was a brief discussion of some of the proposed improvements to the building. The CPC will await an update on this application. 2 7.Muzzey Senior Center Upgrades - Phase 3, $478,926 – Mr. Goddard also addressed this application, noting that Phase 2 (previously approved) had been put on hold pending the outcome of the investigation of the suitability of 33 Marrett Road for Town purposes. (Phase 2 involved improvements to the lighting, stairs and the installation of a communicating lift.) Phase 3 work would involve installing a new energy efficient HVAC system, correcting code violations, and reconfiguring program space to better meet the needs of the public. Mr. Goddard reported that an agreement has yet to be reached with the Muzzey Condominium Association on Phase 2 upgrades due concerns over access and security. Since the potential vote to acquire 33 Marrett Road may not come up until January, Mr. Goddard noted that he was uncertain whether the Phase 3 project would be ready for the March Town Meeting. Members suggested that it could be put on the warrant and withdrawn if appropriate. Mr. Kanter questioned whether construction costs determined in FY13 would still be applicable to the FY 14 project. Mr. Goddard will examine the costs and revise them accordingly. 8.School Print Shop Renovation, $430,835 – Mr. Goddard and Mary Ellen Dunn, Assistant Superintendant of Finance and Operations for the schools, presented this application for health, safety and lighting upgrades to the school print shop. The CPC questioned Ms. Dunn about the lifespan of the shop in the Harrington School location to which she replied that there were no current plans to relocate it. Ms. Dunn explained that the shop is an important resource for School and Town printing needs. She explained that the current proposal was to upgrade the shop by removing asbestos, improving air quality, widening doors to improve access and improve wiring and the HVAC system. She said it would be upgraded to serve all the school’s needs, including all paper printing, and even the production of banners, printed shirts, etc. Members discussed the fact that the Harrington School building qualifies for CPA funding because it is over 50 years old, but suggested that the proposed renovations might not be in the spirit of the Act, which seeks to preserve historic buildings and historic assets. The Committee noted that the applicant had checked tax “Levy” for potential funding; Ms. Dunn addressed this by stating that she felt the CPC should determine what the breakdown of CPA funds vs. tax levy funds should be. It was determined that the plans and cost breakdown which were a part of the application, had not been received by the CPC office; Ms. Dunn will submit these sections separately. 9.Air Conditioners, School Administration Building, $56,000 - Mr. Goddard introduced this application, explaining that the professional development rooms (Rooms 1, 2 and 5A) in the Harrington School building were insufficiently cooled and that existing air conditioners were noisy. There was a discussion about the length of time the School Department anticipated being in the building and the implication of any recommendations made by the Facilities Master Plan Committee in their upcoming report. A suggestion was made that the proposal might be re-examined after the Committee’s recommendations were made public. 3 10.School Human Resources Office Renovations, $29,500 – Mr. Goddard addressed this application for the redesign and renovation of the Human Resources office in the Harrington School. Mr. Goddard showed the Committee a plan of the renovation, which called for creation of additional office space for interviews and meetings. Mr. Kanter asked for a cost basis for this work. 11.Visitor Center Upgrades, $175,000 – Mr. Goddard presented this project, and was accompanied by Dawn McKenna, Chair of the Tourism Committee. (This project had been put on hold in the FY 13 funding round, so the CPC was familiar with the project.) Mr. Goddard explained that the request for funding would cover design development, construction documents and community outreach. There was a discussion of the eligibility of the building, and Ms. McKenna explained that the building was located in the National Register of Historic Districts, and as such was eligible for CPA funds. Mr. Kanter questioned whether the budget for project had been updated for FY14 costs; Mr. Goddard said he would update the cost estimate. This prompted a discussion of the cost of renovations to the existing structure vs. the cost of the addition. The CPC noted that it could only approve funds for work related to the original section of the structure. Mr. Goddard will take this into consideration when updating the design costs. 12.Tourism Signs for Belfry Hill and Visitor Center – Tourism Committee Chair Dawn McKenna asked the Committee to consider the Tourism Committee’s upcoming application for signs at Belfry Hill and the Visitor Center. She explained that there was a current balance of over $6,000 in the CPA FY08 appropriation for Historic Signs. She wished to use $3,000 of this budget for the fabrication of three signs, two to be installed at the Visitor Center and one at Belfry Hill. The wording of the FY08 project seemed to allow the addition of these three signs. She said the Visitor Center signs were particularly important since many people now approach the Center from the Bikeway where there are presently no signs. Ms. McKenna explained that there is one “story-telling” sign yet to be fabricated under the initial FY08 appropriation, but that the sign is being designed by a volunteer, and has been on hold for two years. She felt the use of part of the $6,000 in remaining funds would be a better use of the CPA monies at present. Ms. Manz suggested that Ms. Rice send the CPC the FY08 application for review, and that the matter be discussed at the next CPC meeting on th November 8. The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 pm. Respectfully submitted, Nathalie Rice Administrative Assistant Community Preservation Committee 4