HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-05-29-CEC-min-execMinutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Date, Place, and Location: May 29, 2012, 8:03 A.M., Town Office Building, Reed
Room (111)
Members Present: Charles Lamb, Chair; Ted Edson, Vice - Chair; Shirley Stolz;
David Kanter
Member Absent: Bill Hurley
Other Attendees: Carl Valente, Town Manager; Bill Hadley, Director, Department of Public
Works (DPW); John Livsey, Town Engineer; Robert Beaudoin, Superintendent of
Environmental Services; Bruce Haskell, Vice President, CDM Smith
Document Presented for Executive Session: Town of Lexington Confidential Draft
Request for Proposal (RFP), May 2012, "Permitting, Financing, Design, Construction,
Operation and Ownership of a Source Separated Organic Waste Processing Facility"
With Mr. Lamb, as Chair, having called to order at 8:03 A.M. the Open Session — which had
been posted also to involve an Executive Session, at 8:03 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"
Committee Comments Regarding the Confidential Draft RFP for, and in General on,
the Proposed Leasing of Land at the Town's Closed Hartwell Avenue Landfill for an
Organic Waste Processing Facility (Alternative 1) —or also including taking over the
Town's Composting Operation (Alternative 2)
No presentation was made by the other Attendees. Instead, the Committee was just asked
about the draft RFP.
In response, the Committee members made wide - ranging comments to the other attendees
that pointed out —among other things— concerns among some members with:
• Assurance that the Town public safety and DPW won't have added burdens;
• Why deliveries are directed to be during the day, rather than at off -peak- traffic times;
• The timing of the RFP relative to the parallel approach involving regulatory and
zoning matters at both the State and local levels;
• The contemplated source - selection evaluation criteria;
• The degree to which some appropriate terms providing protection to the Town might
warrant inclusion in the RFP, itself, rather than only in the ultimate lease;
• Whether the value to the Town (both economic and symbolic) warranted pursuing
such a facility;
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• The absence of any documentation that makes a convincing case that the Town
wouldn't possibly have a higher and better use of at least some of the proposed -to-
be- leased acreage during the contemplated 20 -year lease (one example was a
regional, police, firing range); and
• No plan for the DPW workers displaced if Alternative 2 were to be chosen
Mr. Haskell made notes of all of the Committee's comments and concerns so they could be
considered by the Town's project team as it continues to reach out to other committees,
boards, and the commission in Town over what was expected to be a 2 -month period as
the draft RFP is refined.
The Committee was not asked whether it endorsed proceeding with the RFP or having
such a facility, whether under Alternative 1 or Alternative 2 —and did not volunteer any
endorsements.
At 9:18 A.M., a Motion was made and seconded to reconvene in Open Session. Each
member was individually polled and each voted "yes ". (The other attendees then left the
meeting.)
These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its Open- Session meeting on
January 29, 2013, but without making the content public as it was still sensitive at that time.
In response to a query by Mr. Kanter on October 4, 2013, Mr. Valente advised that the
content of these Minutes could then be made public and the CEC did so by submitting
these Minutes to the Town's public archives on that same date.
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