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Minutes of the
Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting
September 1, 2015, Executive Session
Location and Time: Town Office Building, Reed Room, 7:30 ..
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Members Present: Jill Hai, Chair; David Kanter, Vice-Chair & Clerk; Elizabeth Barnett;
Rod Cole, Wendy Manz
Members Absent: None
Others Present: Joe Pato, Chair, Lexington Board of Selectmen (BoS); Suzie Barry,
Member, BoS; Judy Crocker, Member, Lexington School Committee (SC)
Document Presented: Notice of Public Meeting/Agenda for CEC Meeting,
September 1, 2015
With Ms. Hai having called to order at 7:33 .. the Open SessionÄwhich had been posted
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also to involve an Executive SessionÄat that same time she then declared that an
Executive Session of this Committee 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; that the others present at that time were invited to join the Executive Session;
and with the intention to reconvene in Open Session to address further business. A Motion
to do so was made and seconded. Each member was polled. Vote: 5Ã0
The Committee went into Executive Session at 7:34 .m.
A
Potential Acquisition of the Armenian Sisters Academy (20 Pelham Road, Lexington,
MA 02421)
Mr. Pato, with assistance from Ms. Barry and Ms. Croker, advised:
That since May of this year, the BoS has been aware of the potential for an acquisition
of the school building at the Academy as, having faced dwindling enrollment, the Order had
decided it was no long a viable operation.
The 1-story building, built in 1961 and is on approximately 8.5 acres (including some
wetlands) in residential zone, could be a 10-classroom elementary school and has a full
gymnasium and cafeteria that can accommodate 200 students. There is parking for 47 cars
and there is a small playground.
A sub-division site plan is being prepared in order to ascertain what by-right,
residential, build-out could be done on the propertyÄpresumably the Åhighest and best useÆ
for the propertyÄand therefore what is the fair-market value of the property. Architects
(DiNisco Design Partnership; the same firm that has been working on the Multiple Schools
Construction Projects \[MSCP\]) and the TownÈs Department of Public Facilities had only
initial access to the property and, among much else, the state of the mechanical systems
has not been ascertained.
There are site issues (e.g., the access Pelham Road is narrow and includes a portion
with an 8.5% grade). Also, the Fire Department will determine whether a second access
would be requiredÄperhaps most easily accomplished by expediting the creation, and
extension, of the ÅbackÆ access road off Marrett Road that has been contemplated to the
Lexington Community CenterÄwhich is adjacent to the AcademyÄif an additional building
were to be added to that Center. The costs of even those two site issues have not been
determined.
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Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting
September 1, 2015, Executive Session
A full analysis of the potential use(s) of such a building has not been completed. As an
additional elementary school, that would be a major step toward Åright-sizingÆ the
population at our other elementary schools to their current facilities and, in turn, eliminate
the pre-fabricated additions that had been proposed as an element of the MSCP. (At this
point, no details have been proposed for any redistricting that would be required to support
that use of the new school.)
The last vote by the BoS on this matter was 5Ã0 in favor of pursing the acquisition; the
last by the School Committee was 3Ã1 (Bill Hurley was not present) in favor.
There followed an extensive discussion with this Committee over the many unknowns and
concerns.
Ms. Hai thanked Mr. Pato, Ms. Barry, and Ms. Crocker for providing this Committee an
initial insight into the increased, multi-faceted, issues that the Town faces with the addition
of this potential acquisition to what already were the challenges in moving forward in a
timely manner with the MSCPin order to address what had been the existing overcrowding
in the School District and, now, the increased enrollment pressures already being
experienced and projected to increase.
Return to Open Session: At 8:38 .., it was moved and seconded that the Committee
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return to Open Session. Each member was polled. Vote: 5Ã0
On October 7, 2015, in response to a query from Mr. Kanter, Mr. Pato advised that the
content of these Minutes could, at that time, be made public.
These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its Open-Session meeting on
October 20, 2015, and the CEC also authorized making them public. Mr. Kanter then did so
by submitting these Minutes for the TownÈs public archive on October 21, 2015.
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