HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-07-14-PBC-min.pdf TOWN OF LEXINGTON,MASSACHUSETTS
PERMANENT BUILDING COMMITTEE
Minutes of Wednesday July 14 1999 meeting in the Conference Room, School Administration
Building, as approved October 27 1999
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Kelley about 7:45 p.m with other PBC members
Bruckman, Cannalonga, Himmel and Poinelli present. Also attending: Director of School
Building Operations John Moynihan III, Project Manager/Owner's Representative Michael
Melnick and HMFH representatives Philip Lewis and Town Meeting member David Rudner.
Distributed materials included copy of a July 8 letter from Pip Lewis of HMFH to John
Moynihan regarding his conversations with the mother of twin hearing impaired students who
need special accommodations now at Hastings School but anticipated at Diamond and the high
school; Mike Melnick's list of upcoming events and pending issues; and a January 1999
compendium of guidelines for auditing reimbursement for school building projects (obtained by
Phil Poinelli). Moynihan noted that auditing of the long-ago-completed Hastings school
renovation,reimbursement installments having begun in the last fiscal year, is anticipated in
about two years.
Invoices from HMFH were approval VOTED with the proviso that in the future each payment
approval be put into a total bottom line report on the project budget. A copy of the invoices was
circulated during discussion.
HMFH Contract discussions continue, with Poinelli and Kelley to review "shared savings" data
from the architects. The contract draft that will be forwarded to Town Counsel when all are
agreed will not contain the words "shared savings"
Clarke Board of anneals forthcoming hearing and traffic issues plans were displayed showing
that the southwest corner of the proposed building addition wing would be only 31 feet, 9 '/z
inches setback in the worst case or 25 feet at minimum. This does not appear to be a problem
with the owners whose houses face Waltham Street, since it would impact only the very rear of
their lots, but the last house at#12 Stedman Road has a problem due to dropping-off parents'
turning around using his driveway The landscape architects have proposed a pavement berm to
emphasize the separation and privacy of the driveway These plans will be reviewed with the
owner prior to the sending out of the official Board of Appeals hearing notice. Additional
plantings could be done if necessary to further emphasize the public-private demarcation. The
official address of Clarke is 17 Stedman Road, actually a paved but quite narrow and not kept up
public way from the front Clarke circular driveway up to the obvious end of the fully paved
roadway leading to the school's uphill parking lot.
There are also plans to discourage parent drop-off from the uphill parking lot area by traffic and
grading changes at the school's other side to allow a one-way through traffic long-loop including
parent drop-off from the lower parking lot, better walkway access to the front and other entrance
PBC Minutes of July 14, 1999 meeting - page 2
on that side. These changes, that include a 6,000 to 7,000 square foot increase in impervious
surface, have been approved by the Conservation Commission and will appear on a plan
available at the PBC meeting in two weeks. There will be no drainage storage/detention area
beneath the upper parking lot, as shown on presently available plans. Possibility for an
alternative bus turn around was suggested by some PBC members.
Adaptations for hearing-impaired students have been made to several rooms at Hastings.
Moynihan noted that the parents of the particular twin students are apparently satisfied with these
changes. An alternative design to dampen reverberations in classrooms was suggested by
Poinelli from a study and project he did several years ago. The names of several area acoustic
experts were mentioned, at least one of them consulting for HMFH. In concluding discussion,
the PBC decided that after all the facts and information had been gathered, the issue should be
referred to the Superintendent of Schools and through her to the School Committee. That group's
earlier decision to install hard tile floors and not carpeting came in response to complaints from a
considerable number of families with children sensitive to mold, mites, dust, etc. coming from
rugs and carpets.
Meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m. to unanimously VOTED Executive Session to discuss
personnel.
The next meetings of the committee will be Wednesday, July 21, to discuss the Library project
and Wednesday July 28, to discuss the schools project.
Respectfully submiitttted,
end, r4/ U/h-P1lia< C .
Erna S. Greene, Secretary