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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-07-18-CFC-min �`QV9 m°1?",/4, ti E • a s ,n "_> to a� APRIL 19'" ex INGtc0 Community Farming Committee Meeting Minutes July 18, 2013 A meeting of the Community Farming Committee (CFC) was held on July 18, 2013 at 8 00 a m in the Selectmen's Meeting Room In attendance were Chairman, Michael Bliss, Michelle Ciccolo, Alan Wrigley and Tom Oliver Also attending Assistant Town Manager for Finance Rob Addelson and Community Development Director Karen Mullins, members of the RFP evaluation committee), Purchasing Director Lindsay Dahlberg and Town Manager Carl Valente Mr Valente opened the meeting and explained that Charles Lamb, who was in attendance, was being considered by the Board of Selectmen for appointment to the Committee Executive Session Ms Ciccolo moved that the Committee go into Execution Session for Exemption 7, to comply with a General Law requirement MGL chapter (26)(d) and (h) (Deliberative Process, Protect Integrity of Bidding Process) Mr Wrigley seconded the motion The Committee members agreed that it would be appropriate for Mr Lamb to attend the executive session, given his likely appointment to the Committee and his agreement that the executive session discussion could not be discussed publicly until the Minutes were made public On a roll call vote the motion was unanimously approved Interview of LexFarm Janet Kern, President and Ken Karnofsky, Vice President from the Lexington Community Farm Coalition(LexFarm) and Clair Kozower from Community Farms Outreach, Inc (CFO)joined the meeting The RFP follow-up questions asked by the CFC are attached to these Minutes Responses made by the LexFarm team included 1 They have made contacts with some educational groups about developing an educational program There was no specific Lexington preference contemplated for these educational programs, but LexFarm was open to suggestions from the CFC 2 Financial projections included in the LexFarm proposal were prepared by the head farmer at CFO based on crop estimates, experience and information provided by current farmer, Dennis Busa As required by the RFP, LexFarm/CFO will provide financial statements for 2007 and 2008 The 2012 financial statements are not due to be completed until August 3 It was explained that CFO will be LexFarm's strategic partner, providing direct farming experience and, therefore, minimizing farming risk Employees working at the farm will be employees of CFO This will allow LexFarm to focus its efforts on community relationships and educational programs LexF arm will hire an executive director and its 8/5/2013 community outreach and educational programs will largely be funded through fundraising 4 LexFarm believes it understands the neighborhood issues that the farm activities will bring and Ms Kern is a neighbor to the farm, living a few houses away LexFarm and CFO believe that they can manage U-Pick activities Given that the property includes a farm stand, they will be able to handle U-Pick distribution over multiple days of the week This will provide for a less traffic/parkmg demand on the property 5 LexFarm expressed a commitment and willingness to have ongoing interactions with the neighbors, acknowledging that they expect many different neighborhood concerns, depending on where a neighbor lives 6 LexFarm acknowledged the severe parking limitations at the site and that they would be unable to accommodate large events at the site, especially during the growing season Off-season, the parking at the Arlington Reservoir may provide parking options for larger events 7 LexFarm agreed that they would attend CFC meetings, if asked, and invited a CFC representative to attend their Board of Director meetings 8 LexFarm sees the need for farm equipment to be the primary capital need over the coming years Their ability to purchase farm equipment will be dependent on their fund- raising Over the long term, they also see a need to rebuild the farm stand 9 LexFarm expressed their concern that the Town is requiring a$30,000 security deposit and believes that these funds will be better used to fund capital equipment There being no further questions, the interview was concluded 9 08 a m On a unanimous roll call vote, the Committee voted to come out of Executive Session and return to open session 9 08 a m On a unanimous vote,the Committee approved the July 10 meeting Minutes The Committee/evaluation team future schedule is • Tuesday, July 23, 8 a m Interview of second farm entity and begin deliberations as to the most advantageous proposal, if time permits, • Wednesday, July 24, 4 p m If necessary, continue deliberations in order to make a recommendation to the Town Manager of the award of the farming lease The meeting was adjourned on a unanimous vote at 9 10 a m Minute taker Carl F Valente and Rob Addelson Attachment Interview Questions posed to LexFarm LexFarm Clarification Questions 1. Educational Programming Please clarify how Lexington residents will be given preference in educational programming. 2. Financial Capacity What is the basis for your income estimates for the first three years of operations? Can you provide five years of financial statements for Community Farms Outreach (CFO)? 3. Director's Experience According to your proposal you will be outsourcing the Director position and farming operation to CFO. Can you provide more information on your proposed contract with that firm and that Director's experience? 4. Operational/Site Plan Please elaborate on how you propose to mitigate the impact your operations will have on the neighborhood,particularly the traffic that could result from your U-Pick operation. NEW QUESTIONS 1. What are your plans for neighborhood mteraction9 How do you currently work with surrounding neighborhoods when making decisions? Do you have a plan in place detailing how you will handle any neighborhood controversies that may arise? 2. Do you plan on operating any services that may attract large audiences at once? What are your plans to control the overflow of visitors during those times? How much parking do you anticipate will be required for your proposed operations? How do you plan to provide that parking? 3. Will you be willing to attend regular or periodic meetings of the Town's Community Farming Committee to provide operational updates? Are you prepared to work closely with the Community Farming Committee ("Committee"), which will be the Town entity directly overseeing all farm operations? This coordination will include having a representative attend Committee meetings, which may well be monthly during at least the first year of farm operations, and in any case will be at a frequency responsive to issues that may arise. 4. Please describe any capital improvements you plan for the farm over the life of the lease. Do the terms of the lease present any obstacles to capital improvements that you otherwise might plan to make? Please describe any long term capital plans for the facility relative to buildings and equipment. 5. Are you prepared to provide the Committee with a single point of contact with respect to all aspects of farm operations? 6. Are you prepared to include in the Operational/Site Plan specific limitations on the scope of operations and activities at the farm9 Although the draft lease included in the RFP is unclear on the point, the final negotiated Operational/Site Plan is intended to be an enforceable part of the lease. 7. How do you propose to deal with the fact that the existing access way (to the east of the farm stand) encroaches significantly on the land of the private abutter (and the existing Town-owned land here is not wide enough to accommodate this access)?