HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-02-13-PBC-min.pdf TOWN OF LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS
PERMANENT BUILDING COMMITTEE
Minutes of February 13 1992 Meeting in Room 105, Town Office Building,
as corrected on page 1 March 12 , 1992, (Fire Dept info) , and on page 2
April 21, 1992
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Kennedy at 7 47 p m with
other committee members Bergeron, Donnelly, Johnson, and Edson present,
as well as Town Manager White
PBC Role in Fire Department/Protection Area Chief Bergeron has asked
to upgrade the Fire Department Headquarters for the past several years
The PBC should be part of the planning process to reexamine needs , now
different from when the Headquarters were first built Possibly the
Fire and Police departments could share some areas of communication and
training, such as physical fitness and CPR/emergency Fire Department
needs must also be carefully considered, along with most economical use
of financial resources Noted that Civil Defense forces are composed of
Fire Department personnel plus a few volunteers
Standards of physical fitness for protection workers are to be imposed
soon, but no funds have been provided for this Presently town
protection workers have some privileges at Hayden and some fitness
clubs Particularly needed would be stairs and bicycle-type equipment
Nearby towns of Arlington and Winchester have combined police/fire
headquarters, sharing some aspects of communications and administration
In addition to the above-mentioned indoor facilities , the Fire personnel
need outdoor space for training with the Jaws of Life and hose testing
Lexington has a long history of two centers for fire equipment and
personnel , beginning in the 1830 ' s with the privately-funded purchase of
two hand engines, one in East Lexington Although Lexington's fire '
equipment was housed at the East Lexington Fire Station location since
1857 , the town did not acquire the site for full fire house use until
1873 That wooden building at Locust Ave and Massachusetts Avenue was
demolished and replaced with the present structure in 1951 (See A
History of Engine One Lexington, a 15-page report by the Fire
Department that the Secretary will return to the March meeting)
Chief Bergeron told the committee that his department responded to 1500
fire and 1300 ambulance calls Among the options noted were
1 Do nothing
2 Rehabilitate present HQ, retaining two stations
3 Consolidate Fire on One site
4 Combine and consolidate police with intercommunity dispatching
for fire
Committee members , agreed that all possible options must be considered
Lt Donnelly lauded the central HQ location, where there are some
sleeping rooms , as the firefighters work 10-hour day shifts and 14-hour
night shifts Donnelly and Bergeron agreed to list square footage of
future needs (probably to include an elevator) as well as existing
facilities Fire discussion concluded at 9 p m
I
PBC Minutes 2/13/92 - Page 2
Report on Schools projects progress On January 27 the Chairman and Ted
Edson met with Craig Stewart, TAMS and Chartwell regarding J P ' s plans
to sue the town for $500, 000 This claim has been nearly all analyzed,
with some more work to be done by TAMS in the next two weeks Chairman
expressed opposition to negotiating with J P He pointed out the town's
reputation for being strong winners , and the need to continue this
stance as a message to J P Edson did not agree completely
Field House Roof money apparently exceeded appropriation in efforts to
gather facts for the court case
New Capital Program for Schools Committee members opined that the KLQ
needs assessment should not be repeated but that a more extensive
analysis of mechanical systems should be done The more recent
Geiger/Moynihan Master Plan was praised Committee members McCabe and
Touart participated in planning the capital proposal for the upcoming
Town Meeting (elevator for the High School , elevator and science labs
improvements for Diamond) Noted that Higashi School has two more years
in the Hastings School before town will reoccupy the whole building
Meeting adjourned at 9 18 p m until March 12, 1992 at 7 30 p m
Respectfully� submitted,
flat-t-- 41'e/aat-,
Erna S Greene
Secretary to the Committee