HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-04-06-CPC-min
Minutes of the Community Preservation Committee
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Parker Room
Town Office Building
1625 Massachusetts Avenue
3:00 PM
Committee Members Present: Marilyn Fenollosa (Chair); Dick Wolk (Vice-Chair), Norman
Cohen, Charles Hornig, David Horton, Jeanne Krieger, Bob Pressman, Sandra Shaw, Melinda
Walker.
Administrative Assistant: Elizabeth Mancini
Other Attendees: Wendy Manz, Capital Expenditures Committee liaison to the CPC; Melissa
Battite, Director of Recreation and Community Programs; Peter Coleman, Assistant Director of
Recreation; Chris Filadoro, Public Grounds Superintendent; Lisah Rhodes, Recreation
Committee; Tom Scarlata, Bargmann, Hendrie & Archetype, Inc.
Ms. Fenollosa called the meeting to order at 3:00 PM.
1) Town Pool Renovation Project- Ms. Battite appeared before the CPC to request an
increase to the Town Pool Renovation project. Despite the completion of a 2016 mini-
audit on the facility, project bids were received significantly higher than expected. Ms.
Battite requested an additional $534,350 in CPA funding, resulting in a total project cost
of $2,154,350.
Ms. Fenollosa questioned what, if any, changes occurred within the project scopeto
cause such an increase. Ms. Battite explained that the only change from the initial
proposal involved the creation of a family changing area which was not part of the
original plan. She explained that changes could be made to the scope in order to
decrease the cost but there was no guarantee that bids would come back lower. The
target start date would be pushed back if such changes had to be made. She also
advised that of the four bids received, the lowest bid was chosen.
Ms. Shaw explained that the Recreation Committee had evaluated the project to see
where they could potentially make reductions but ultimately decided it was best to
move ahead with the entire project. Ms. Battite advised that members of the Capital
Expenditures Committee also endorsed moving ahead with the complete project at the
increased cost.
1
The CPC continued to discuss certain aspects of the request but ultimately agreed that
cutting back on project features would do a disservice to the Town since the facility is
heavily used.
The Committee also reviewed a hand-out of available CPA balances prepared by the
Comptroller. Both the Town Manager and the Comptroller endorsed the use of
available CPA funds for the project instead of issuing debt.
After a motion duly made and seconded, the CPC voted (9-0) to approve $2,154,350 for
the Town Pool Renovation Project.
After a motion duly made and seconded, the CPC voted (9-0) to pay for the project with
available cash, allocating $1,920,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance and $234,350
from the Unbudgeted Reserve.
2) Update #2 to Town Meeting- Due to the increase in the project cost, the CPC voted (9-0)
to approve a second update to its report to Town Meeting.
3) CPA Town Meeting Discussion/ Committee Business- Ms. Fenollosa updated the
Committee on a potential change to the Munroe School Window Restoration project.
Due to the proposed window renovation, the Munroe Center for the Arts was notified
that certain accessibility codes may require updating because of the project scope. The
Center was currently trying to determine if those updates could be done within the
initial project request.
Mr. Wolk made a general comment regarding the last-minute project updates coming
before the CPC and cautioned the Committee about increasing project amounts. Ms.
Krieger and Ms. Fenollosa reasoned that the Town Pool increase was not a typical
request and was an example of the proponent performing due diligence but having
outside factors ultimately impact the outcome.
The CPC also briefly discussed a potential change to the Affordable Units Preservation
project recently approved by Town Meeting. A Selectmen suggested that all 16 units
should be owner-occupied instead of conveying five units to the Lexington Housing
Authority for rental purposes. The CPC discussed the possibility of this change and
whether it would invalidate the agreement.
Ms. Fenollosa reported that she prepared a letter in support of pending CPA legislation.
Ms. Shaw also sent a letter in support.
2
After a motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 3:49 PM.
The following documents were submitted at the meeting:
1) Memo re: Article 10m 2017- Town Pool Renovation $1.62M (April 6, 2017)
2) Community Preservation Fund Balances
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Mancini
Administrative Assistant
Community Preservation Committee
3