HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-03-20-PBC-min.pdf TOWN OF LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS
PERMANENT BUILDING COMMITTEE
Minutes of March 20 1996 Meeting in Room 105 , Town Office Building, as
approved June 5, 1996
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Bruckman at 7 46 p m with
other committee members Edson, Johnson, McCabe, Pierce, Scanlon and
Touart present Also present were Emily Silberberg of the Enablement
Committee and Barrie Peltz of the School Committee as well as Stephen
Hale and Melissa Bennett architects and Sergio Siani , Engineer working
on the Cary Library plans Also attending were library staff Carol
Mahoney, Director and Julie Triessl , project coordinator
Walter Pierce, who is also chairman of the library's building committee
told that the project had been reviewed with the Historic Districts
Commission, the Building Finance Committee and Board of Appeals It is
known that the sideyard setback and off-street parking requirements
cannot be met and variances or some other arrangements are needed
Answers to all the handicapped access needs also have to be devised
The State board of libraries reported 95 prospective applicants, of whom
20 have applied so far These will be sorted and judged according to
town size In mid-summer the first cut will be announced to library
boards and award finalists will be announced after Labor Day in
September The winning municipalities have nine months after approval
to have funding appropriated or raised and then have until December of
1997 to begin construction
In the process of building the schematic plans , three schemes were
explored (1) to keep the same building foot print, (2) to expand the
mezzanine floor area and (3) to add on an L-shaped strip on two sides,
expanding the area from 38,000 square feet to 52 ,000 square feet
Findings on the current building The HVAC systems need replacement
This will be about one-third of the building cost Utilities need
automatic controls and a new gas or dual-fuel burner needs to be put in
A new air conditioner will be needed as the current one doe not match
proposed plans Some current plumbing and electric system fittings are
0 K and may continue to be used No leakage has been detected in the
in-ground oil tanks However, controls are not functioning properly and
do not meet present standards Humidity control is also needed
In new addition areas radiant floor slab heating is proposed In the
data/communications area, the hodge-podge needs to be eliminated and
flexibility introduced so that the library can respond to future
changes Current fire alarm can be reused, and telephones need only be
updated Snow-melting at entries would be a highly desirable safety
measure
Committee member Kennedy asked about cost of the radiant slab heating
Sciani responded that this kind of heating would be installed only in
perimeter areas On the lower level a raceway in the ceiling would be
installed A computer-driven energy management system would be able to
note trends in the various building systems and enter corrections
through telephoned instructions Heating to melt snow would be
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installed in the handicapped ramp and entry walk
Chairman Bruckman questioned cost estimates Hale explained that costs
have been checked against expenditures for recent library upgrades
In the plans , two main entries are shown in the same location as the
current entrances Popular library activities would be placed close to
those entrances Toilets would be easily accessible to the children's
area There would be only one central check-out area and also there
could be self check-out Also handy would be information kiosks and a
technology information center Rooms that are now around the
Massachusetts Avenue entrance will be preserved The cooling tower will
be no more Both entrances will be handicapped accessible, though it is
not yet sure what the arrangement from the parking lot will be
(Committee vetoed the idea of a lift, citing example of the high
school )
During construction the library will move out of the building and locate
services elsewhere Valuable items will be put in storage The East
Lexington Library and other donated spaces will be used
Originally built in 1908 , the library has been expanded in 1957 and
1974 In additions it has been tricky to keep footings and columns and
plan for extra loads In the forthcoming addition, the adult stacks
will be consolidated, better security and clear visibility lines will be
gained More lighting from natural sources will be added through sky
lights and monitor strips Shelving will be more compact for archives
and materials will be more accessible for people with disabilities
Total cost will be just over $7 5 million, with roughly $2 5 million
each from the state, town and private sources The plans include only
built-in furnishings, and it is estimated that about $550 ,000 will be
needed (to be raised by the Trustees) for the movable furnishings that
can be added after the complete building opens Cost estimates are
changing on a daily basis and will of course be set before the
application is sent off to the state on April 10
School Proiects
At 9 30 p m John Moynihan appeared to report on progress on the
negotiations with Cole and Goyette (Price reduced from 17 to 12 percent)
bringing the design cost to $60 ,000 According to the state DCPO the
design cost should be between 11 and 13 percent A letter of intent has
been signed with them The contract with Shooshanian has not yet been
done, even though his design work is almost done
Summer work totalling $308,000 will be done (phase I ) A list showing
work to be done until 1998 was distributed (phase II ) How much of
this will be actually done will depend upon how much Town Meeting
appropriates A considerable portion of the work will be to fill out
the missing parts of the Archetype report Reuse of 12 ,000 square feet
of industrial arts space, 7 , 500 at Clarke and 5,000 at Diamond as well
as addition of space at elementary schools are to be completed by the
end of 1998 At first the industrial arts spaces will be used "as is"
The schools are submitting a $2 2 million capital expenditures request
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for FY97 Of that $27 ,000 is for replacement of computers at the high
school , $102 ,000 toward implementing the technology report, and $175,000
for the roof at Harrington Much school work if afoot
Ms Silberberg asked about ADA compliance Moynihan responded that the
enablement committee did a survey of the schools four years ago He
said signage is needed for all classrooms Silberberg will have a
report done on all town buildings in May She noted that a State-
sponsored seminar on ADA requirements will be help in Marlborough May 13
and 14 and that town people should attend
The meeting adjourned at 9 53 p m
Respectfully submitted,
Erna S Greene
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