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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-06-07-CEC-min Minutes of the 4 Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting ook June 7, 2017 yh Location and Time Town Office Building, Parker Room (G-15), 7 45 A.M Members Present Jill Hai, Chair David Kanter, Vice-Chair & Clerk, Sandy Beebee, Rod Cole, Wendy Manz, Frank Smith Member Absent: Charles Lamb Others Present Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance, Melissa Battite, Director, Recreation and Community Programs, Christine Dean, Director, Community Center; Hank Manz, Member, Permanent Building Committee, Elaine Ashton, Member, Town Meeting Members Association, Bob Pressman, Resident, Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Documents Presented • Notice of CEC Meeting, June 7, 2017 • Alternative Proposal for Debt Exclusion Referendum, Use of Capital Stabilization Fund, prepared by John Bartenstein, Chair, Appropriation Committee, May 15, 2017 • Draft#3 Minutes of the CEC Meeting, May 15, 2017 • Draft Minutes of the CEC Meeting, May 30, 2017 Call to Order• At 7 47 A.M , Ms Hai called the meeting to order Special Financial Summit Meeting In preparation for the June 8th summit, Ms Hai asked for input on three issues related to the use of the 20 Pelham Road property, recently purchased by the Town, as follows 1 Lexington Children's Place (LCP) Approximately half of the Pelham Road facility currently has classrooms that could be renovated to accommodate the LCP A consultant has developed three levels of renovations, but there is general concern that the two least expensive would not be adequate There is also the possibility of demolishing that part of the building and constructing a new LCP facility on the property While this Committee generally agreed that having more information about the alternatives would be useful, it was likely that demolishing and rebuilding the classrooms would be the preferred alternative because this could be expected to provide a 50-year building that would incorporate flexibility for expansion and/or alternative uses A Motion was made and seconded to endorse the high-renovation option or a new building for the LCP, with a bias toward building new and a request for schematic designs for both alternatives that could be used to confirm or challenge the bias Vote 6-0 2 Lexington Community Center (LexCC) Annex The non-classroom half of the Pelham Road facility currently includes a gymnasium (which could be a very-large event space), a cafeteria-sized space, and potentially a full, commercial, kitchen— facilities that are not available at the near-by LexCC The consultant has identified three levels of renovations for that half of the building, or that section of the facility could be "mothballed" or demolished It was noted that although expanding the LexCC had been identified as a possible future goal, it had never been included on Page 1 of 4 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting June 7, 2017 prioritized lists of capital projects because of other pressing needs, it is only being considered now because the Pelham Road property has potential for a facility that could benefit the LexCC Ms Battite discussed demand for activities at the LexCC, reporting that use of the facility has tripled in three years and it is used by residents of all ages Because of inadequate space at the LexCC, programs are being held at public schools when space is available, at private facilities in Town, and sometimes in facilities in other towns With additional space, more after-school programs could be offered She suggested that the middle-level renovations would be adequate, although the differences between the middle- and high-level renovations are not substantial She urged decision makers to analyze the current LexCC property and the Pelham Road property as one campus for multiple uses Ms Battite agreed to provide information on the level of use by senior citizens and students and to identify basic program needs versus "wish list" programs that could be served by an annex on the 20 Pelham Road property Committee members identified the following concerns and questions • Adequate information for making this decision is not available, schematic designs and value engineering are needed • There should be community consensus on priorities • To what degree would the two large function rooms at the Pelham Road facility really reduce the need for space at non-LexCC facilities? • Could renovations be phased-in to minimize the financial burden? • Global optimization of the property should be considered, but the timing for approving the Hastings Elementary School (Hastings) and the LCP projects should not be jeopardized • Funding of a LexCC annex at the Pelham Road site should be a separate question on the fall debt-exclusion referendum • Funding for a LexCC annex will likely generate some opposition by residents when they are already being asked to support major debt-exclusion of funding for the new Hastings and the Fire Headquarters • If LexCC renovations at the Pelham Road site are included on the fall debt-exclusion referendum and are approved, some residents may be less likely to support a new high school that is needed and is expected to be on a future debt-exclusion vote After considerable discussion, the general consensus of the Committee was that additional information is needed, and there should be a coordinated look at the Pelham and current LexCC properties, to avoid precluding a potential future expansion of the LCP or another desired use of the property, however, none of this should impact the timeline for the LCP At this time, this Committee does not support moving forward on renovations at the Pelham Property for the LexCC annex, but wants to preserve the ability to do so in the future Page 2 of 4 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting June 7, 2017 3 Pros and Cons of Delavinq Decisions Until Additional Information is Available It was generally agreed that a comprehensive plan for using 20 Pelham Road and the LexCC property is needed, but the LCP project should not be delayed, and it is critical to maintain the Hastings replacement schedule to meet Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) requirements for receiving a State grant for the project. It was noted that a debt-exclusion vote for Hastings must be held within 120 days of MSBA's approval of the project that is expected in August. It is understood that the referendum for Hastings would, as required by the MSBA, be a separate question with specified language and there would be separate questions for other projects, including the LCP—and as requested by this Committee, a separate question for the LexCC Annex Alternate Funding Proposal Related to Fall Debt-Exclusion Questions Ms Hai reviewed a proposal made by Mr Bartenstein suggesting that about $12,500,000 of the Capital Stabilization Fund (CSF) be used to reduce the amount of the fall debt-exclusion request. Ms Kosnoff reported that her preliminary analysis has led her to be comfortable with using the CSF to pay for the purchase of the two pieces of property that were being considered for inclusion on the debt-exclusion referendum the properties at 20 Pelham Road and 173 Bedford Street—the latter is to be used as swing space for the Fire Department while the Bedford Street fire station is rebuilt. Although this reduces the ability to use the CSF to minimize peaks in the Lexington property-tax bills triggered by capital projects, it would save money in the long run by eliminating the future debt-service that would be required for financing those two already-purchased properties A Motion was made and seconded to endorse the concepts included in Mr Bartenstein's memo regarding the use of the CSF to fund recent land purchases rather than using long-term financing and including them on the fall 2017 debt-exclusion referendum Vote 6-0 Approval of Minutes A Motion was made and seconded to approve the Draft#3 Minutes, as amended, of the CEC meeting, May 15, 2017, and the Draft Minutes of the CEC meeting, May 30, 2017 For the May 15, 2017, Minutes Vote 4-0-2 (Ms Beebee and Mr Smith abstained as they were not members at the time of that meeting) For the May 30, 2017, Meeting Vote 6-0 Mr Cole left at 915 AM This Committee's Input to the BoS' Upcoming Goals Setting Session Ms Hai and Ms Manz discussed refining several of Ms Manz's recommendation in the proposed input related to low- and moderate-income housing—the providing of which had been discussed at this Committee's May 15 meeting After hearing the text of those recommendations, Mr Kanter offered his positions on them for consideration A Motion was made and seconded to authorize Ms Hai to proceed with edits on the recommended goals, to make distribution of her latest draft to all members of this Committee, all recommended edits should only be sent to Ms Hai, and Ms Hai was authorized to submit to the Assistant Town Manager the final version as the Committee's input. Vote 5-0 Future Meetings Page 3 of 4 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting June 7, 2017 This Committee is scheduled to attend the Special Financial Summit tomorrow evening at 7 00 P M at the Samuel Hadley Public Services Building The Pelham Road building will be open tomorrow starting at 5.00 P M for those interested in visiting the facility prior to that meeting Although it does not usually meet in the summer, it is expected to be necessary to do so this summer because of the need to deliberate on a variety of issues requiring timely inputs by this Committee In those cases, the meetings may not be on a Tuesday because of Ms Hai's commitments Adjourn A Motion was made and seconded at 9 31 A M to adjourn Vote 5-0 These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its meeting on August 2, 2017 Page 4 of 4