HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-09-18-PBC-min-AM.pdf TOWN OF LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS
PERMANENT BUILDING COMMITTEE
Minutes of Thursday September 18 1997 Meeting in Room 111, Town Office
Building, as approved December 9, 1997
The meeting was called to order at 8 00 a m by Chairman Bruckman with
other committee members Johnson, Kelley, Poinelli and Touart , as well as
project manager Faye D'Avignon and ( later) Director of School Building
Operation John Moynihan present Also attending were Diamond Middle
School Principal Joanne Hennessey and Dawn McKenna Also present was
Dorthea Hayes of HMFH
Hennessey's concerns on the design of new wins were described by her as
principally traffic and secondarily security She noted that as many as
300 students would be passing the gym-new wing hall intersection and
that a large part of the school ' s security worries center on the gym
locker room In the present building this concern has been dealt with
by limiting traffic in the area Hayes suggested possible internal
changes such as widening the hallway, and committee members offered to
plan for low-traffic classrooms in the area Another possible proposal ,
to move the school ' s office to that area did not meet a favorable
response from Hennessey
Early in the discussion committee members explained that the addition
would be adding 30 percent to the school 's square footage Hennessey
injected the idea that it would be advantageous to have a separated area
devoted to the sixth grade However, she admitted that it was a notion
brought to her attention by parents and that she did not hold strong,
firm commitment to it
Poinelli and other committee members described the process by which the
decision on the new wing' s location was reached They emphasized the
severe limitations of the site due to property lines , residential
neighbors and, to a large extent , wetlands "The footprint of the
building will not change, " Chairman Bruckman pronounced PBC members
pointed out that the interior use and configuration is not now set and
that Hennessey's input will be heeded After Hennessey departed, the
committee concluded that interior adjustments will be made if possible
in the next one to two weeks Hayes offered to meet with the Diamond
staff , along with Project Manager DeAvignon
Approval VOTED for $886,000 invoice from HMFH for 95 percent of schema-
tic design
Plans for phasing of packages to be presented to the town bodies have
been proposed by the school administration The School Committee will
not vote on this option until Tuesday, September 23 D'Avignon was
asked to provide cost information on how much more it might cost the
town in terms of project costs to split the entire project into two
parts Committee will weigh in favor of doing the whole project
Moynihan stated that about $3 million of capital expenses would have to
be requested if the whole project is not approved
Replace Diamond with a new school? This question was raised by Johnson F
to help solve Diamond' s many problems , provide swing space, and cut
PBC Minutes of 9/18/97 - Page 2
phasing expenses Cost roughly estimated would be $18 to $20 million
for a new school , and most recent estimates for renovations and addi-
tions at Diamond are approaching 17 million Hayes was asked to provide
information if a school of the required square footage could be built on
the Diamond site without demolishing the present school To minimize
footprint impact it would have to be two or three stories high
Review of identified cuts as compiled on a list by HMFH was requested by
Hayes The first on the list , whether underground runoff detention
would actually be needed, will be known on Monday Confirmed that the
Clarke locker room should not be reconfigured ( leaving the shower area
as is) Net partitions at the Clarke gym would be the only ad-on the
list , since existing movable walls would have to be removed before
installing the new net partitions Net partitions were also requested,
as the present walls will not continue working for 30 years , according
to Moynihan Also at the high school , canopies will be eliminated or
shortened to save money Among other cuts were the minimizing of
replacements of tack and marking boards and reduction of high school
field house renovations , except for replacement of lights and sound
system VOTED to confirm cost cuts as reviewed Still deferred were
decisions regarding replacement of oil heating with gas burners , pending
cost information from the gas company However, this decision would not
provide a significant change in cost
Meeting adjourned at 9 50 a m until 7 30 p m this evening
Respectfully submitted,
Erna S Greene, Secretary