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somewhat out of date, cannot accommodate busloads of visitors, does not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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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