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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-05-29-CEC-min LL , Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting YI 4 . n May 29, 2014 A9flIL V$' 4,4°,7,,,'Z,,,," Location and Time Town Office Building, Reed Room, 3.30 P M Members Present Jill Hai, Chair, David Kanter, Vice-Chair, Bill Hurley, Wendy Manz, Beth Masterman Members Absent None Others Present Rob Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance, Pat Goddard, Director, Department of Public Facilities, Joe Pato, Board of Selectmen (BoS), Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Documents Presented • Notice of Meeting/Agenda for CEC Meeting, May 29, 2014 • June 16, 2014, Special Town Meeting [STM] Town Warrant, signed May 19, 2014 • Draft #2 of CEC Report to the 2014 STM (June 16) (sent electronically earlier this date, printed copies presented if requested) • Lexington Community Center (LCC) Total Project, May 28 [2014] draft, spreadsheet listing budget estimates created in November 2013, March 2014, and May 26, 2014, and for June 16, 2014 • Draft Minutes for the Joint Appropriation & Capital Expenditures Committees Meeting, May 7, 2014, as annotated by Mr Kanter (sent electronically, May 28, 2014) • Mr Kanter's Input, May 29, 2014, to the CEC Input to the BoS' Goal Setting (June 19, 2014) with Comment's, July 17, 2013, from that Board (sent electronically earlier this date, printed copies presented) Call to Order Ms Hai called the meeting to order at 3:35 P M School Department Project Mr Goddard reported that the School Committee recently approved the expenditure of $27,500 from its Fiscal Year 2014 operating budget to pay for the sub-division of a room in the school administration building This is being done to create an office for an employee whose office is currently located in the high school The project was triggered by the retirement of the Director of Special Education, which resulted in the reorganization of some staff responsibilities There was agreement that ordinarily the Town does not use operating funds for what would generally be considered a capital project. (This project is over the $25,000 threshold that normally applies to a capital project.) It was noted that this is a small project and the funds are being spent at the end of the fiscal year and therefore it can be seen that the expenditure is not in danger of jeopardizing the schools operating budget. The only identified concern was that it may be necessary to undo the renovation at a future point in time if the building were to be repurposed The requisition for this project is currently on Mr Addelson's desk. It was noted that if these funds were not used for this project, they would likely be returned by the School Department and flow to the general fund at the end of the fiscal year A motion was made and seconded to endorse the creation of a new office in the School Administration Building using School Department operating funds as discussed above VOTE 5-0 Page 1 of 4 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting May 29, 2014 Preparations for the Committee's Input to the June 16, 2014, STM Mr Kanter led a discussion of the second draft of this Committee's report to that STM The Articles on which this Committee would be reporting were discussed as follows Article 3 Land Acquisition—Off Concord Avenue The purpose of this Article is to acquire a landlocked parcel off Concord Avenue that has been considered by the Town as conservation land, but whose title is contested by the owner of the front lot (Mr John H Sellars) and the Town The Town expects to take the land by eminent domain—which would establish a clean title to the Town A settlement agreement between Mr Sellars and the Town has not yet been finalized The Committee agreed that it is reasonable to support this Article if all expectations relating to the purchase of this land are met and the cost is reasonable The Town cannot spend more than the appraised value of the land if Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds are to be used, as expected The Town is currently waiting for two appraisals, which should be available before the BoS' June 2 meeting Article 4 Authorize Easement on Land at 430 Concord Avenue The Town currently has a sewer easement on this property, but no other access rights The Committee agreed that it is appropriate to have an easement that allows access not only for the existence and maintenance of the sewer, but also for the public to the back lot being considered for purchase under Article 3 so if the Conservation Commission supports having public access, the Town would have the right to allow it This Committee supports asking that Town Meeting address Article 4 before Article 3 so any acquisition under Article 3 only proceeds after knowing the public access to that parcel can also be achieved Article 5 Schools Master Plan This request for $250,000 is to fund a 3—phased study to update the Schools 2009 K-12 Master Plan, additional funds would be requested at subsequent Town Meeting(s) to implement any projects recommend in the study and approved for execution The School Committee recently formed a new committee—the Ad hoc School Master Planning Committee—which will work with the consultant hired under this Article's funding to study the School Department's needs for capital projects (The BoS has already designed the members of the new committee as Special Municipal Employees ) A Motion was made and seconded that Mr Hurley, as this Committee's liaison to the School Department, also be this Committee's liaison to the new committee VOTE 5-0 Article 6 Amend General Bylaws—Contracts and Deeds This Article will allow the Town to enter into contracts for solar facilities that run for 22 years rather than 20 years as currently stipulated, so as to cover the likely up-to-two years needed to satisfy the permitting process As an aside and unrelated to the objective of the Article, there was a discussion of the status of the on-going process to sign a Power Production Agreement (PPA) to put solar panels on Town schools and the Public Services Building (PSB) Analysis by the proposed PPA participant has found that solar panels cannot be installed on some buildings in Town, including the relatively new PSB, because of weight restrictions, the structural code for such installations has become more stringent in recent years However, the Town hopes to have solar panels approved and installed where Page 2 of 4 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting May 29, 2014 appropriate before September A group is being established to analyze the proposals and a participant from this Committee has been requested A Motion was made and seconded for Ms Masterman to be this Committee's participant in the solar-panel proposal-evaluation group VOTE 5-0 Article 8 Establish and Appropriate To and From Specified Stabilization funds This is a placekeeper, it has not yet been determined whether there will be any such requests Article 10 Amend Article 5 of November 4 2013 Special Town Meetina Renovation to Community Center A spreadsheet showing the various stages of the budget for the LCC was reviewed The current appropriation for this project is $6 22 million The 90% construction-documents-stage cost estimate, when burdened with the soft costs, comes to approximately $1 0 million more than at appropriation The increase in estimated cost includes only one change in the scope an accessible lower-level entry as requested by the Lexington Commission on Disability Other major cost increases result from items such as information about the relocation of sprinklers and associated piping now that the location of the upgrades to the heating, ventilation, and air-condition (HVAC) system is more-precisely known, and the in-depth investigation of the deteriorated condition of the building envelope The Ad hoc Community Center Advisory Committee (AhCCAC) pursued a Value-Engineering process which identified changes that would reduce the budget gap by approximately $500,000 Some refinements to the estimated savings are being made The BoS will get a general overview of the additional budget needs for this project at its meeting on June 2nd and a detailed description of a request for additional funds at its meeting on June 9th As it is believed the entire estimated cost increase is eligible for funding from the Community Preservation Fund, a request for all of the additional funds will go to the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) on June 10th Mr Addelson is adjusting his budget models to reflect a request for the additional funding The Town plans to include several add-alternates in the request for bids These are believed to be covered by what the appropriation would be if the funding request is approved by Town Meeting, but provide an incremental reduction in scope so as still to be able to make an award if the lowest responsive and responsible bid for the base scope plus those add-alternates is for more than the available appropriation (The add-alternates would be included, in sequence to the extent the appropriation would still be sufficient.) Ms Masterman explained how her other personal commitments have made it impractical for her to attend the majority of the AhCCAC meetings and that would likely be the case in the future As Mr Kanter has been attending most of the past AhCCAC meetings she suggested that he be made this Committee's primary liaison to the AhCCAC She said she would try to substitute, as necessary, if Mr Kanter can't attend A Motion was made and seconded for Mr Kanter to replace Ms Masterman as liaison to the AhCCAC VOTE 5-0 Article 11 Amend Article 2 of March 24 2014 STM Cary Memorial Buildina Uparades There was only one general-contractor bidder for this project and, subject to completion of qualifications, the total bid (including the filed sub-bids) is within the existing appropriation Thus, it is expected that this Article will be Indefinitely Postponed Page 3 of 4 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting May 29, 2014 Article 12 Appropriate for Authorized Capital Improvements To date, no items have been identified for this article and if that should remain the case, this Article would be Indefinitely Postponed Future Meetings This Committee has been invited to join the BoS on June 2nd, at 5 45 P M , for its Executive Session regarding the Fire Station' under Exemption 6 of the Open Meeting Law (Purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property) This Committee agreed it will meet on June 10, 2014, at 5.30 P M (which is after the CPC meeting), and on June 11, 2014, at 9.00 A.M , with the intent for both to have most, if not all, members approve its report to the STM (Ms Hai hopes to do so by remote participation as she will be out of Town at the times of both meetings ) Minutes A Motion was made and seconded to approve, from this Committee's perspective, the annotated Draft Minutes for the Joint Appropriation & Capital Expenditures Committees Meeting, May 7, 2014 VOTE 5-0 The Committee's Input to the BoS Goal Setting Mr Kanter presented his input for this Committee's consideration Ms Masterman suggested that the BoS establish protocols for pursuing major projects Ms Hai asked that, to the extent not already done so, each of the Committee members submit recommendations to the Chair so the Committee could discuss at its June 3rd meeting what would be its submission for BoS goals This may include items that were submitted in 2013 Member Concerns and Liaison Reports Ms Manz reported on the Board and Committee Chair Training session on May 16, 2014, that she attend in Ms Hai's stead as Ms Hai had a conflict. The primary emphasis was on the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law Ms Manz said she would submit a written summary to the Committee of her notes from that session Adjourn A Motion was made and seconded at 5.07 P M to adjourn VOTE 5-0 These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its meeting on June 10, 2014 Page 4 of 4