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Lexington Community Center Program Advisory Committee
Minutes of Meeting
June 23, 2016
A meeting of the Community Center Program Advisory Committee was held on Thursday, June
rd
23, 2016 at 4:00 p.m. at the Lexington Community Center, 39 Marrett Road, Lexington.
Meeting Attendees: Members - Nancy Adler, Alessandro Alessandrini, Dan Palant, Lisah
Rhodes, Nancy Shepard (Chair), Archana Singhal, John Zhu
Ex-Officio Member Attendees: Karen Simmons (Director of Recreation & Community
Program), Sheila Butts (Community Center Director), Charlotte Rodgers (Director of Human
Services)
Other Attendees - Staff and Citizens - Linda Vine (staff), Carl Valente (staff), Kelly Axtell
(staff), Michael Alexander
The meeting began at 4p.m. at the CC with individual introductions of attendees along with a
quick run through of binder materials which provide committee members with an overview of
important historical and current information about the CC. Carl Valente then followed by sharing
with the attendees information about where the CC is now after being opened for a year and the
amount of work it has taken many people (citizens and staff) to get to where we are now. He also
advised us of the importance of our understanding that this committee is only one of a number of
town committees and we need to be mindful of potential overlap in our area of work.
Karen, Sheila, and Charlotte each provided the attendees with information about current usage,
programs being offered, and the overwhelming positive response of citizens who are visiting the
CC in numbers they did not anticipate ahead of time. They also referenced the added support of
the Dana Foundation in assisting with the introduction of new and exciting programming for
seniors.
Michelle Ciccolo, Board of Selectman and past Chairs of the Ad Hoc Community Center
Advisory Committee, then provided a history of the CC and referenced the CC Task Force and
the CC Advisory Committee as two very important groups who both evaluated needs before this
building became available and then also assisted in working on the programming and design
once the town voted to purchase the site for a CC. Michelle also referenced the vision statement
that the Advisory Committee had and our need as a committee to understand what our goals are.
A decision was made by the group to choose the 4th Thursday of the month at 7p at the CC for
committee meetings. The next meeting will be September 22nd.
The group then discussed a number of issues which were tabled until our next meeting. Some of
the issues postponed include possible uses for the carriage house, a discussion of how each
committee member might determine the interests of their particular constituency at the CC, use
of CPA funding for parts of the building etc. When asked if there are any restrictions on the use
of the building, the response was that the building was not to be used for religious services or for
some purely commercial activity. Carl also pointed out that there are funding challenges the
town is facing which means that not all programs can be funded.
A request was made to send out meeting materials ahead of time to aid in member preparation
and also that the members tour the facility and become familiar with what is going on at the CC.
The meeting ended at 5:15pm.
Respectfully submitted - Nancy Adler