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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-09-15-CPC-min RECEIVED 2022 28 Oct, &A2 am Minutes for the Community Preservation Committee Thursday 9/15/2022 TOWN CL,ERK Remote Zoom MeetingLEXINGTON MA Meeting ID#896 3614 3271 Committee members present: Marilyn Fenollosa (Chair), Jeanne Krieger (Vice Chair), Kevin Beuttell (Left at 4:29), Bob Creech, David Horton, Bob Pressman, Lisa O'Brien, Mark Sandeen, Melinda Walker Other Attendees: Carolyn Kosnoff (Assistant Town Manager for Finance), Karen Mullins (Conservation Director), Mike Cronin (Director of Public Facilities), Melissa Battite (Director of Recreation and Community Programs), Christine Dean (Community Center Director), Peter Coleman (Assistant Director of Recreation), Sandhya Beebee (Capital Expenditures Committee Liaison), Meg Buczynski (Activitas Representative), Janel Showalter and Sabine Clark Administrative Assistant: Christopher Tierney Ms. Fenollosa called the meeting to order at 4:01pm Vote to elect chair and vice chair: After a motion duly made and seconded, the CPC voted by a roll call vote (9-0) to re-elect Ms. Fenollosa as the chair of the CPC. After a motion duly made and seconded, the CPC voted by roll call vote (9-0) to appoint Ms. Krieger as vice chair of the CPC. CPA Fund Balances: Ms. Kosnoff explained the CPA fund to the Committee and its sources of funding, including a 3% levy on Lexington homeowners' real estate taxes, interest being compounded on remaining funds balances, very occasional donations and considerable funds coming from the Commonwealth. The state match percentage has increased from 11%to 45% of funds raised in recent years. Ms. Kosnoff also explained the current account balances and projections for the remainder of FY23 and into FY24. Ms. Walker asked about the source of the Undesignated Fund Balance and Ms. Kosnoff explained that the Undesignated Fund is the previous years' unused Unbudgeted Reserve, and that accounts at the end of the year should read zero so the funds are moved from one fund to another. Mr. Sandeen asked how many years of debt service remained and Ms. Kosnoff explained that the CPC will be debt-free after 2025. Mr. Pressman asked about the need for$2million to remain in the fund balance and Ms. Kosnoff explained that this was not a state mandate but rather a CPC policy, so that there will be a cushion in the fund if needed for cost overruns and projects coming in on short notice. Center Recreation Complex Bathrooms: Mr. Cronin explained the progress on the renovation of the Center Recreation Bathrooms project and the vision for the rest of the site. Mr. Cronin explained that the project was going to convert the bathrooms from two large bathrooms to individual bathrooms, with one being offered as a family restroom. Mr. Cronin also described how the rear of the building has been used by the DPW as a place to store equipment along with storage containers being used by both the DPW and certain youth and high school athletic 1 programs. Mr. Cronin then explained that the cost of the project is most likely going to require supplemental funding. Mr. Pressman pointed out that the entire cost estimate from last year was $680,000. Mr. Cronin explained that the cited amount included $610,000 just for construction, and that bids for the project came in considerably higher than that amount. He believes a minimum of$912,000 will now be needed for construction costs plus additional amounts for contingencies and soft costs (construction testing, network infrastructure, legal, RCN services, architects' fees), so that the total funds needed would be approximately $1,080,000, or supplemental funding of approximately$400,000. Ms. Fenollosa asked Mr. Cronin to describe how urgently the funds would need to be approved, since it is CPC policy to recommend projects to Fall Special Town Meeting only if a project was time-sensitive or was already underway and needed additional funding for completion. Mr. Cronin said that Special Town Meeting (STM) is the best time to request these funds due to the length of the bidding and construction processes and the need to have safe and clean bathrooms for the summer 2023 season. Ms. Walker asked about the process for cost overruns and Ms. Kosnoff explained that the Center Recreation Complex Bathrooms renovation is currently the only CPC project coming in over budget. Mr. Pressman noted that the women's side of the bathrooms is not necessarily safe and that the state of the bathrooms was "Double Grungy" and that the project should continue. Mr. Pressman also asked if the $680,000 bid went out with the concept of keeping the building in use, and Ms. Battite stated that the facilities were closed. Ms. Fenollosa asked whether a prefabricated structure had been considered for the site, to which Mr. Cronin explained that this was a renovation and not a full rebuild. Mr. Sandeen asked about the potential removal of the storage containers and if there could be consolidation done now as opposed to needing to put more funds into the site for their removal. Mr. Cronin explained that there is currently no plan to remove these containers and that there are options available, including making these shipping containers look more "commercial" or their removal could be tied into the future construction of Lexington High School. Ms. Beebee asked that since the bathrooms are close to the high school, should the Committee wait until there was more "visibility" on the high school site as a result of the delays on this project. Mr. Cronin explained that the bathrooms are not close to the new LHS site. Ms. O'Brien added that this project is long overdue and that it should commence sooner rather than later. Ms. Battite explained that the plan was to improve the storage regardless of a favorable bid and had asked non-municipal entities to remove their equipment, and that temporary storage is desired until the square footage can be determined at a new site. Mr. Pressman said that he believes the project should move ahead but was not comfortable with the 25% increase over the low bid of$818,000 but noted that the project cannot wait. After a motion duly made and seconded it was voted by roll call to recommend funding in the amount of$400,000 for approval at Special Town Meeting (9-0). Open Space and Recreation Plan: Ms. Mullins stated that Activitas was hired as an outside consultant for development of a new seven-year plan for Conservation and Recreation and that 2 the Departments have been meeting weekly with Activitas. Activitas has also held meetings and surveyed community members to help create their recommendations. Ms. Buczynski was introduced as a representative from Activitas and described the results of that report. Proposals included increased communication both within the Town of Lexington and with surrounding communities. Ms. Buczynski then asked the Committee about how projects were prioritized, especially in instances of limited funds. Ms. Fenollosa explained that to this point no eligible requests had been denied and the CPC only once has had to reduce the requested amount of a project that qualified for funding under the CPA, due to a shortfall in funds in the CPA fund (the project was split into two phases, with the second half being funded in the following fiscal year). Mr. Pressman commented that future land acquisitions should allow for consideration of affordable housing and not simply for conservation use alone. Ms. Walker agreed that newly acquired land should be multi-functional. Mr. Horton stated that he wished that affordable housing had been mentioned on the community survey to best ascertain community attitudes and needs on the subject and furthermore would like to see some of the reports Activitas has produced. Town Report: The Committee discussed the submission of the FY22 CPC report for the Town's Annual Report. After a motion was duly made and seconded, it was voted by roll call to approve (8-0). Minutes: After discussing some small edits, the Committee voted by roll call to approve the minutes from the Zoom meeting on June 7t" 2022 (5-0, 3 abstentions). Committee Business: The Committee discussed the next meeting and whether it should be on Zoom or in person. It was decided to continue meeting on Zoom for the time being and that Thursdays at 4:00 still works for the Committee. The next meeting will likely be held in mid- October. Ms. Fenollosa mentioned several future CPC projects that may be coming up in the FY2023 granting cycle, including an education center at Lex Farm, accessibility renovations to the Munroe Center for the Arts, renovations to the Stone Building and the preservation of two antique Lexington atlases that the Town Clerk found in the Town's archives. Mr. Horton asked if there had been any decision made on the re-use of the Stone Building. Mr. Sandeen said that the Select Board had received a presentation about the project but there was no indication of the cost of the project. Mr. Pressman said "a presentation I heard about the Munroe building their project also included a recreation component. We already have two parts of the town that came to us on recreation that totaled over$5,000,000 last year so I will not be voting for any other town entity to get CPC money for recreation". Mr. Sandeen also stated that the Munroe Center for the Arts project sponsors have also made presentations to the Select Board and we should expect to see that soon. Mr. Pressman also stated that he was curious to see the progress on the Old Res Bathhouse and Grain Mill Alley bike node projects. Ms. O'Brien asked Ms. Kosnoff if there were any other guidelines besides the CPC's policy to keep a $2 million balance in the CPA fund. Ms. Kosnoff explained that in an effort to keep debt 3 servicing to a minimum, the Committee had a policy that no more than 50% of new revenues received in any given year should be covered by debt. Mr. Sandeen left the meeting at 6:00. After a motion was duly made and seconded, the Committee voted by roll call (8-0) to adjourn at 6:03. Respectfully submitted Christopher Tierney Administrative Assistant Meeting materials: Community Preservation Committee Report to the Town's FY22 Annual Report Community Preservation Fund Balance as presented 9/9/2022 CPA Debt Service Minutes dated June 7, 2022 Minutes Approved October 27, 2022 4