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Home My WebLink About2014-11-20-CPC-min Minutes of the Community Preservation Committee Thursday, November 20, 2014 Selectmens Meeting Room, Town Office Building 1625 Massachusetts Avenue 3:00 pm Committee Members Present: Marilyn Fenollosa, Chair; Richard Canale, David Horton, Jeanne Krieger, Leo McSweeney, Bob Pressman, Sandy Shaw and Richard Wolk, Vice-Chair. Absent: Norman Cohen Administrative Assistant : Nathalie Rice Also in attendance was David Kanter, Vice-Chair of the Capital Expenditures Committee. The meeting was called to order at 3:05 pm. by Ms. Fenollosa. 1.Two New Capital Requests: Cary Memorial Building Sidewalk Enhancement and Community Center Sidewalk - Robert Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance was scheduled to meet with the CPC regarding the CPF balances. He commenced his discussion, however, with the submittal of two capital projects which had not been previously identified as CPA eligible. The first was the construction of a handicapped accessible sidewalk at the Community Center, a project which had been indefinitely postponed at the March 2014 Annual Town Meeting. Mr. Addelson explained that John Livsey, Town Engineer, was in the process of submitting design alternatives to the Selectmen and that Mr. Livsey would submit costs and a design to the CPC after the Boards approval. The second project submitted by Mr. Addelson was the redesign of sections of the sidewalk surrounding the Cary Memorial Building. Mr. Addelson explained that the contract called for removal and replacement of the bricks in the front and sides of the Cary Memorial Building. The Commission on Disabilities, however, had recently reviewed this element of the contract, and had requested either wire-cut brick or poured concrete. Mr. Goddard is in the process of getting approval for the sidewalk treatment and will be back before the CPC when he has final numbers. Mr. Addelson noted that the Center Committee will be consulted. 2.Community Preservation Fund Balances Mr. Addelson reported on the status of the Community Preservation Fund and presented the Committee with a preliminary estimate of the available funds for FY16. He stated that the projected CPA revenue was $5,025,000 and that the existing balances in the CPF totaled $3,032,017. These two sources of funding for FY16 totaled $8,057,017. The Committee discussed the burden of debt service payments in FY16 and for years to come. Mr. Addelson gave a general summary of the debt service, noting that the CPA might have the opportunity to pay down some of its debt in FY16. Members agreed that this might be wise, but conversely noted that current 1 interest rates are so low, that bonding made a great deal of sense. Mr. Kanter added that the CEC generally favored paying down if at all possible. 3.Grain Mill Alley Project, $455,600 Melisa Tintocalis, Economic Development Director, met with the CPC regarding construction funding for a Pocket Park between 1775 and 1778 Massachusetts Avenue. She summarized the input from public forums that had been held to date and reported that her recent meeting with the HDC resulted in some constructive criticism. Members were generally supportive of the idea of a Pocket Park but had concerns about: (1) pedestrian safety in parking lot section of the park, (2) the need for a more timeless design, (3) the cost of the project, (4) its relationship to the Scenic Byway, and (5) the need to design treatment for sides of the buildings on either side of the park. Ms. Fenollosa suggested that the project might benefit from some additional planning and public comment. She questioned if Ms. Tintocalis had exhausted the planning monies from her FY15 CPA funds. Ms. Tintocalis replied that the funds were nearly depleted. After some discussion, the CPC agreed that it would be most prudent if Ms. Tintocalis amended her application and applied in FY16 for additional planning monies. Though the CPC agreed that it customarily does not comment on project design, it agreed that in this case the Pocket Park needed further public consideration. The Committee agreed to reconsider an amended application for design funds only. Later in the meeting, Mr. Kanter stated his opinion that the project was not worthy of further design monies. He said he felt the CPC should request a report on the project to date, and that the Grain Mill Alley project should be incorporated into the larger Streetscape Design work. He said it represented the cart before the horse, particularly since one of the adjacent owners had recently asked to reserve the right to open a store front on the alley. He said he felt this recent change could greatly impact the design. 4.Cary Memorial Building Records Center Shelving, $30,000 Town Clerk, Donna Hooper met with the Committee to request funding for permanent shelving in the secure documents storage room adjacent to the Robbins Room. The shelves would be used for long-term and permanent records storage. Ms. Hooper explained that since the submittal of her capital request, there had been further review of the storage area and specifically, the adequacy of the sprinklers in the room. She reported that the Fire Department had conducted an inspection, and had determined that new sprinklers would be needed to accommodate the new taller shelves with their greater density of paper records. She said the additional work on the sprinkler system would push the cost up significantly, with initial estimates coming between $60,000 and $75,000. The Committee discussed the project, its additional fire safety costs, and the timing of the work, which optimally should be conducted before July 1. Ms. Hooper noted that she had a balance of $1,000 in a CPA Cary Vault Shelving project from FY07. It was noted, however, that this funding could not be used for the current request, since it had been specifically appropriated for the climate-controlled vault. 2 There was a general discussion of the application, with some members questioning the use of CPA funds for yet another records preservation project. Mr. Wolk said he felt the Town had approved a number of such projects, and questioned whether other CPA projects might improve Lexington residents quality of life more significantly. Ms. Fenollosa called for a preliminary straw poll for consideration of the project at $60,000-$75,000 under an amended application. The Committee voted (6-0-1) in favor; Ms. Fenollosa did not vote. 5.Updates and Member Concerns a.)Parkers Revenge Project Jeanne Kriegerreported that the Parkers Revenge Restoration Project would be re-submitted for archaeological excavation costs. (Ms. Krieger is scheduled to return to meet with the CPC to present her amended th application on December 11.) th b.)Dec. 11 Public Hearing for Needs Assessment Report The Needs th Assessment Report Hearing is scheduled for December 11 at the Cary Memorial Library at 7:00 pm in the lower level large meeting room. c.)Lincoln Fields FY14 Project - Mr. Kanter reported that work under the FY14 CPA project on Lincoln Field #1 has resumed. He said the installation of the synthetic turf had been faulty, and that a new contractor had been hired to do a new installation. There will be no additional cost to the Town. The following documents were presented at the meeting: 1.Preliminary Estimate of Total Available \[CPA Funds\] for Use at the 2015 ATM. Presented by Mr. Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance. 2.Cary Hall Archive Room, Lexington, MA Study 11-12-14. Presented by Ms. Donna Hooper. The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 pm. Respectfully submitted, Nathalie Rice Administrative Assistant Community Preservation Committee 3