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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-11-07-CPC-min Minutes of the Community Preservation Committee Monday, November 7, 2011 3:00 pm Ellen Stone Room Cary Memorial Building Present: Board Members: Wendy Manz,Chair; Marilyn Fenollosa, Vice-Chair; Joel Adler, Norman Cohen, Jeanne Krieger, Sandy Shaw, Betsey Weiss, Dick Wolk. Administrative Assistant : Nathalie Rice Also in attendance were Shirley Stolz, member of the Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC), and Glenn Parker, Chair of the Appropriation Committee (AC). The meeting was called to order at 3:04 pm. by Ms. Manz. 1.Minutes – Approval of the minutes of 10/24 was postponed until the next meeting. 2.Visitor Center Redesign and Expansion – Dawn McKenna, Chair of the Tourism Committee, presented this project application for $225,000. In her presentation, she referred to a draft of a “Visitor Center Report” which she said she would later submit to the CPC. Ms. McKenna itemized the reasons for the need for renovations to the Visitor Center. She said the building is somewhat out of date, cannot accommodate busloads of visitors, does not have adequate restroom facilities and is not welcoming from the Minuteman Bikeway side of the building. She said the project would involve both a renovation and expansion of the building. Ms. Fenollosa raised the question whether the CPC could approve funds for the design of the new portion of the Visitor Center, when it could not approve funds for its construction. (The Statute allows CPA funds to be used for renovation/rehabilitation of historic resources, not new construction.) Ms. McKenna was asked to break out the square footage of the proposed addition and its associated costs, and submit these to the CPC. There was also a discussion of whether the Visitor Center, constructed in the 1960s, qualified for funding under the Historic Preservation category. Ms. Fenollosa stated her opinion that it did qualify for funding, due to its inclusion in the Historic District and its listing on the State and local Registers of Historic Places. Mr. Wolk noted that the projected FY 14 costs for this project were substantial – some $1,403,500 - and suggested that an alternatives analysis be conducted. 1 Ms. McKenna may be scheduled for additional time with the CPC in December, once complete application materials have been submitted. 3.Antony Park Project – Ms. McKenna, presented this project on behalf of the Tourism Committee for an unspecified amount of CPA funding. There was no plan submitted for the Park, but Ms. McKenna explained that Antony Park would include French gardens and a “water element”, and commemorate Lexington’s friendship with its sister city Antony, France. She said it would be located on the south side of Tower Park, and that a second abutting Town- owned parcel could also be used for the Park’s construction. Ms. Manz read an email from Kevin Batt, Town Counsel, in which Mr. Batt discussed his opinion as to whether the project would qualify for CPA funding. Mr. Batt noted that if Tower Park were determined to be historical, the construction of Antony Park would be new construction, not a rehabilitation of existing resources. If Tower Park were open space, the same would be true. (CPA funds similarly cannot be used to rehabilitate or restore open space that was not first purchased with CPA monies.) Ms. Manz noted that it looked questionable whether the Antony Park project would be eligible for CPA funds. 4.Battle Green Implementation Plan – Ms. McKenna presented this request for $224,845 in CPA funding on behalf of the Tourism Committee. Mr. Pinsonnealt, Director of Operations at DPW, was in attendance for this discussion. The Battle Green Master Plan Implementation Plan includes restoration work to the paths around the Battle Green and Belfry Hill, restoration of the fence at Ye Old Burying Ground, and a traffic study. Ms. Manz questioned how the traffic study qualified for CPA funding. Mr. Pinsonneault stated that the traffic study would be integral to the flow of traffic in the historic Battle Green area, and was a critical piece in determining the ultimate restoration of the Green. In response to a question from the CPC, Ms. McKenna noted that the traffic study was $60,000 out of the requested $224,845. Ms. McKenna noted that the breakdown of costs for the Battle Green Project could be found on pages 91 through 94 of the Master Plan, which was not before the Committee at the time of her presentation. 5.Center Playfields Project – Mr. Pinsonneault, Director of Operations at DPW gave an overview of phases I and II of the Center Playfields Project, and described the work in the third and final phase. He noted that Phase I was nearly complete, with rehabilitation of the varsity baseball and softball fields. In Phase II, the football and JV baseball fields will be addressed, and in the final phase, for which he was requesting $605,718, he explained that the 2 practice field along Worthen Road, the Little League baseball/JV softball field, the center track and associated parking area will be rehabilitated. He noted that the bids for Phase II will go out in January. There was a discussion of artificial turf, which Mr. Pinsonnealt told the Committee presented too many long term maintenance issues when installed on such unstable soils as those underlying the Center Playfields. Ms. Stolz asked him whether he completed borings for the soils underlying the track, to which Mr. Pinsonneault replied he had not. 6.Updates – Ms. Rice informed the Committee of four new applications for CPC funding: LexHAB’s request for $500,000 in Set-Aside Funding, the Historical Society’s Historic Records Preservation ($77,268) and their request for an Historic Structures Report/Needs Assessment for Buckman Tavern ($65,000), and The Housing Authority’s project to construct four accessible units at Greeley Village ($555,337). Ms. Manz updated the Committee on a recent meeting of the Board of Selectmen with LexHAB and the Housing Partnership, at which housing opportunities for the Busa property were discussed. She reported that LexHAB agreed, at the request of the BOS, to do a pro forma for up to eight units on the property. Ms. Manz quoted LexHAB’s report to the Selectmen that if the Town is to stay current in complying with MGL Section 40B, it will have to construct three new affordable units per year. There was a general discussion of this projection. th Pictures for the Town Report will be taken on December 5 at the Stone Building at 2:30. Ms. Rice will post the meeting to begin “off-site” and resume at 3:00 in the Legion Room. 7.Paint Mine Barn Restoration – Karen Mullins, Lexington Director of Community Development, met with the Committee to describe this restoration project request for $34,770. She said the barn needed new windows and roofing work, and that its renovation would be accomplished with the help of Minuteman Technical High School students. The barn will be used by the Conservation Commission for much needed equipment and supply storage. Ms. Mullins stated that the Conservation Commission had made a request to the Historical Commission during the summer about the historical status of the barn. As a result of the HC’s discussion of the property at that time, the barn was tentatively placed on Lexington’s Comprehensive Cultural Resources Inventory (“the Inventory”), pending further study. Once on the Inventory, Ms. Fenollosa stated that the Paint Mine Barn is afforded the same level of protection as those properties which have received full study. Ms. Manz sought further clarification of this policy, and there was a general 3 discussion of whether the Barn, as a “pending property” could be considered “historic” under the terms of the CPA statute. There was some discussion of having the CPC fund a Historic Structures Report from its administrative funds to clarify this issue, but this suggestion was not supported. Executive Session 8. – The CPC took a roll call vote (8-0) to enter into Executive Session for the purposes of considering the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property, the discussion of which in open session might have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the Town. The CPC vote included the provision to reconvene in open session only for the purposes of adjourning. At 5:05, the CPC took a roll call vote to end the Executive Session, and to adjourn the meeting. Respectfully submitted, Nathalie Rice Administrative Assistant Community Preservation Committee 4