HomeMy WebLinkAbout1996-12-18-PBC-min.pdf TOWN OF LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS
PERMANENT BUILDING COMMITTEE
Minutes of Wednesday December 18 1996 Meetina in Room 111 , Town Office
Building, as approved February 4, 1997
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Bruckman at 7 55 p m with
other committee members Peter Kelley, Philip Poinelli , and Ted Edson
present Also present were School Committee Chairman Barrie Peltz ,
Director of School Buildings Operation John Moynihan and John Miller of
HMFH
New members Kelley (appointed by Town Manager to replace Scanlon) and
Poinelli (appointed by School Committee to replace Kennedy) were
introduced It is understood that present School Committee appointee
Touart is to be appointed to the committee by Town Manager to replace
outgoing McCabe
Report on space utilization study was begun by Miller with the
distribution of schematics for the elementary schools , whose study is
virtually complete, except for the education program question of whether
or not there should be dedicated computer rooms Middle schools are
soon to be completed and education specifications are done for the high
school Poinelli asked questions about the elements of the study,
program concept diagrams and costing process
Miller pointed out that the final report will represent the "sharpening
of the pencil " Only the finally accepted adopted (by the School
Committee) scheme will be in that report The School Committee will be
the first recipients , since they are the policy-makers Miller further
emphasized that the portable school rooms must go if reimbursement is
sought The town now owns them, and presumably they might have some
needed temporary uses such as relocation spaces during renovations
Assumptions in the study
(1) Class size will remain at current levels
(2) Art and music will have dedicated spaces
(3) Special education will have dedicated class space, and
(4) Special flexible space will be dedicated to a learning center
The above four are "must" priorities Other decisions
(5) No Lextended space will be planned
( 6) No preschool space will be planned
(7) No special elementary foreign languages space is planned
Noted that the School Committee has not finalized any votes on the space
utilization report The proposals for the high school have been well
received
Included in the report will be population figures , operational costs and
total costs for each element of the educational package for the next 20
to 30 years Decisions are not strictly economic, the education program
counts , it was stated By June 1 the town must have a proposal in to the
State for possible consideration in the next round of reimbursement at
the 59 percent level to accommodate increasing enrollments
PBC Minutes of 12/18/96 - Page 2
Superintendent Young has requested Town Manager to reserve an article
for an anticipated capital project for the schools Presently the
School Committee is considering grouping projects Parity among schools
across town is among the issues the forthcoming proposals will address
Expectation now is for system-wide upgrade The presentation to Town
Meeting (and the town's voters) will be colored by decisions and
agreements to be made now by the School Committee By January 21 an
all -level report is to be done, and it will include description of the
process Among questions to be answered Which renovations are really
required?
HMFH has been continuing the Archetype report , along with costing and
new code requirements PBC members questioned whether seismic F
requirements are really necessary Lexington' s schools are new enough
that code regulations should not be a worry, committee members opined
No non-reimbursable items should be included in recommendations
However, long-neglected site work mostly in Archetype report will be
included New committee members suggested they look carefully at each
school site, talk with school (and recreation? ) personnel and write two
to three pages on each school
Next meeting, to take place Tuesday January 7 at the Diamond Middle '
School simultaneously with the School Committee' s , will include approval
of minutes
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Meeting adjourned at 9 35 p m
Respectfully submitted,
624a- 41( o
Erna S Greene,
Secretary
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