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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-10-12-LCC-minTown of Lexington Lexington Center Committee Minutes for the meeting of October 12th, 2023 beginning 8:45 am in Estabrook Hall, Cary Hall Building, Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, Massachusetts Center Committee members present: Eric Ballard (arriving late), Upasna Chhabra, Katherine Huang, Frederic Johnson, Jeifrey Lyon, Pamela Lyons, Innessa Manning, Jerold Michelson (Chair) Liaisons: Doug Lucente, Select Board, Sandra Shaw, Council on Aging, Sandhya Iyer, Economic Development, Capt. Chris Barry, Lexington Police Department, Ross Morrow, Engineering, DPW, Lorraine Welsh, Economic Guests: Sorabh Kapor, Clay Oven, Sharon Spaulding, 1666 Massachusetts Ave, Heather Hartshorn, Chamber of Commerce, Jim Georgaklis, Cambridge Trust 1690 Massachusetts Ave We began with Ross Morrow who described the current status of the construction of the trafflc circle on Bedford Street. Given the end of the construction season on November 15th it is likely that full paving will not occur until next year. Some fall cleanup has been taking place around the Center. Chris Barry let us know that the new police station is on schedule. Ross then described a third option for the location of the “Conte Bike/1666” bus stop. This would involve literally bumping out the sidewalk in front of Conte Bike into the trafflc lane for one bus length. No trees would be removed. A drain would have to be installed. Ross estimated the cost to be between $40 to $50k, for the construction and police details. Sharon Spaulding said that she feels a bus stop at 1666 makes the crosswalk unsafe. If the bus stop is moved to 1666 she will change the plaza design, remove the benches and install vegetative screening. Doug Lucente asked if there would be space for a bus shelter, Ross said yes, with some engineering it could happen. Eric Ballard noted that with more density coming to the Center the stop should be moved back to 1666. Pamela Lyons felt that she could not take a real vote until she heard from the cycling community and the Commission on Disability. A straw vote was taken, 2 in favor of the new bumpout option, 4 to moving it back to 1666 and 1 abstention. Ross then introduced the Jacobs Team, (Lou Rabito, Pat Crowley, Rich Sammon) consultants who are working on the design for the Waltham Street parking lot (known generally as the Michelson’s lot) and the Cary Library parking lot. Patrick Crowley gave the slide presentation. There won’t be much in the way of redesign for the Cary Library Lot. Sandhya Iyer urged the installation of bike racks behind Michelson’s. Jeif Lyon noted delivery trucks and trash (dumpsters) are key issues. All the dumpsters are on private property. And there are a lot of them. The trash trucks have difflculty picking emptying the dumpsters in some spots, and delivery trucks, some of which are semis, sometimes park in the middle of the lot. Doug asked if EV chargers were being considered. A suggestion was ffoated (Upasna?) that parking be located underground and the surface area be a large green space. Ross noted that underground parking costs about $50k per space. Jeif noted that the trash situation at Lexington Place (Center Condos) is a nightmare and not a good model. We are going to need more information about the property lines in the parking lot. Right now there are six diiferent degrees of angled parking spaces. Sandra Shaw suggested that bike racks be added to the parking lot. Sandhya gave the economic development update: Nueve, a bakery, is coming into the LaDolda space, Revival Café has started work on the Starbucks space, Karma is getting a new architect; and there is some interest in the Sanyo space. Lexington does not allow bars. Galary is open and working on their signage. There’s some talk about getting some tax incentives. Doug referenced the Housing Feasibility Study “we’re at the beginning of a long, tough conversation about housing. There is going to be a charette led by John Mullins who specializes in revitalizing downtowns. The purpose is to create a vibrant downtown for residents and visitors. This is in the top seven of the Select Board’s goals. Jerry reminded us that “we ” agreed to have two subcommittees. Revising the usage table and the sign by-laws. Urged people to join. And the Chamber of Commerce’s annual Craft Fair (postponed due to weather) will take place on the Visitors Center lawn on Saturday, October 14th. The Center Committee voted six to zero to approve the minutes for September 14th, 2023.