HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-11-18-PBC-min.pdf TOWN OF LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS
PERMANENT BUILDING COMMITTEE
Minutes of Tuesday November 18 1997 Meeting at Harrington School , as
approved December 16, 1997
The meeting began at about 7 45 p m Present were committee members
Johnson, Kelley, and Poinelli as well as Director of School Buildings
Operation Moynihan, Project Manager Fay DeAvignon, citizens Dawn McKenna
and Michael Schroeder and HMFH representatives Dorthea Hayes , Philip
Lewis and Mario Torroella
Progress and schedule report by Hayes noted that high school drawings
were at the 50 percent stage and the other of the four schools are not
yet finalized However, cost estimates have already been requested from
Daedalus , and these will be presented to the PBC on December 16 Kelley
asked how the forthcoming estimates are related to the September
estimates Hayes told how the earlier estimates are used to check to
see if there are problems with the new estimates This will be done
during the week to ten days between arrival of the cost data at the
architects ' office and their presentation to the committee During the
following weeks when the design development drawings are brought from 50
to 100 percent , cost estimate refinement will continue in parallel
DeAvignon asked the architects if they would be able to incorporate
changes that are now being evolved through meetings she and Hayes are
now having with the schools ' staffs Concern was expressed about
obtaining adequate input from the schools before sign-off on the plans
However, Moynihan warned that changes must not slow down the schedule
He said that the four principals of the phase I schools will be meeting
with Superintendent Young before Thanksgiving Poinelli emphasized that
the changes should not affect the scope or footprint of the plans and
therefore should not affect cost and overall schedule An example of
programmatic change discussion that will alter current plans is the
proposed centralized guidance center (near the administration office) as
contrasted with the dispersed guidance offices in current plans
Kelley' s concern about input process at each school was so great that he
offered to be personally involved with checking school personnel comfort
with the plans
Design development for Phase II? Architects reported that work was
begun today toward completion of design development on the five remain-
ing
elementary schools Kelley questioned wisdom for this and requested
reconsideration at the next committee meeting, hopefully well attended
Moynihan pointed out that the contract now called for design development
completion for all nine schools , and any change would require renegotia-
tion, legal work, etc Kelley asked for an updating from the architects
of comparative cost data assembled a month ago to aid in his proposed
reconsideration
Feedback from schools was requested shortly before the nine schools '
project was split into two phases , but only six sheets of comments were
volunteered Reports of concerns from the Clarke and Harrington schools
were distributed and discussed while the committee looked at current
school plans (one set to go to DeAvignon and a second set to go to
Moynihan - and be available for between-meeting committee inspection -
at the school administration building
PBC Minutes of 11/18/97 - Page 2
Harrington School site plan now shows complete separation of bus (from
Maple Street) and parents ' ( from Lowell Street) drop-off areas Both
entrance drives would be two-way The early education/Kindergar-
ten/receiving drop-off/pickup area would be an extension but on a
different level from the parent drop-off Because the requested
Harrington change in relationship between health and school administra-
tion offices , committee opposed recommending it because it differs from
the arrangement at all other elementary schools and would require
checking with Superintendent Young In response to Harrington staff
input , it may be possible to relocate a stairway in the new wing and add
a bathroom facility Current plans do meet code The number of planned
bathrooms in the cafeteria may be an issue, since kitchen staff may not
be all female If an advance written sian-off of this aspect of the
plans is not obtained from the local building inspector, two toilets
should be built Requested soundproofing of the music room floor will
be added to the plans Ways to provide additional storage for the
gymnasium was discussed and will be worked on Storage of voting
machines may hold the key, noted that gym storage of the same size was
Ok'd by the other elementary schools
Clarke Middle School science labs appears to be a non-issue; committee
ruled that furniture should be specified for 24 pupils as this best
implements School Committee policy on class size (and would fit better
into planned rooms ) School staff asked for 30 computer stations in the
computer labs , and this could be accommodated A requested window
enlargement was deemed too costly to incorporate Committee's response
to questions raise for girls ' privacy needs in gym locker room was that
dressing stalls were being provided by the showers Objection to net
gym partition at Clarke was addressed by decision to provide for a solid
partition (i e repair of present dividing doors) as an alternate if the
extra money could be found Committee agreed to provide that the
existing auditorium partition could be repaired rather than removed,
since school staff said they would use them it they worked
Security considerations entered into discussions on request for a
separate (use of existing) entrance from the outside for SPED program
school -wide headquarters , as well as location of the principal 's office
for better view of the staircase inside the front lobby The committee
noted that the staircase activity would be changed drastically by having
the new wing just beyond it However, they did instruct the architects
to sketch and check cost of this requested change
Diamond Middle School sketches of alternate entrance designs were
displayed and two of the three committee members liked the proposal
showing a glass curtain-walled tower topped by a thin shallow arched
roof resting on masonry side walls Kelley did not like it Johnson
asked if it was within budget Approval to await viewing by more
committee members All three northwest-facing entrances would be
unified by colored canopies, with the main entrance one extending over
the administration offices windows, with the school 's name atop
Meeting adjourned at 11 20 p m after setting the next two Tuesday night
committee meetings for November 25 and December 2
Respectfully submitted, a j � p� _� Secretary