Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-05-21-LCC-min (not approved).pdf // 1 0- LEXINGTON CENTER COMMITTEE MEETING May 21 , 1987 PRESENT Margery Battin, William Bowen, Edward Barsamian, Carla Fortmann, Mary Hastings, David Welles, Marian Powell , Norma Bogen Also in attendance was Angela Frick, representing MAPC Selectman McSweeney joined the meeting later BOB HUTCHINSON APPRECIATION PARTY Mrs Battin informed the committee of a party planned for June 17th in apprecia- tion of Town Manager Bob Hutchinson's ten years of service to the Town and that tickets to the function were available MINUTES The minutes of the meeting of the Lexington Center Committee on April 2, 1987, were approved as corrected JAYWALKING & CROSSWALK PUBLICITY Mary Hastings reported on the status of the Jaywalking & Crosswalk Publicity campaign Regarding a poster contest, the School Art Department does not have time/to do it this spring but will set up the contest in the fall It was felt that Oktoberfest would be a good time to publicize the contest and to announce prizes to be offered The Chamber of Commerce has officially approved prizes to a maximum of $500 A meeting of three L C C members, three Chamber members and representation from the School system will be held for discussion as the the most effective sign designs Marian Powell recommended that Mr Ciano, L H S Art Dept , be notified that we would like the project included in the Fall curriculum She will do so Since the Selectmen would not want to start work on enforcement of the crosswalk laws before the public education campaign is well underway, it was suggested that publicity be started now and continued throughout the summer, with a list of prizes to appear in the newspaper Marge Battin and Mary Hastings will work on publicity with the Crosswalk Observance Sub-committee, consisting of Marian Powell , Bob Ossman, Ed Barsamian, Leo McSweeney, Marge Battin and Paul Ciano Mary Hastings will chair the sub-committee DESIGN SUB COMMITTEE Norma Bogen reported that she had attended the May 20th organizational meeting of the Design Advisory Committee Selectman Eddison had informed the Committee of the areas in which the Selectmen would want recommendations i e parks, benches, conser- vation land, bikeway, and Lexington Center projects and Norma had outlined the needs of the LC C regarding input from the D A C stressing that the development of design guidelines regarding signage, street furniture and lights was of primary interest Although no specific work program was set out, the D A C had expressed M interest in working on the Center project, including the parking deck Regarding the gift Police Booth, it was noted that it would have been beneficial to have had Design Guidelines during the approval process Jere Frick, Marge Battin and Mary Hastings will be involved in encouraging the Lexington Minute-Man to publicize L C C projects -2- All agreed that Design Guidelines should be developed by the D A C as soon as possible Norma noted that she had encouraged the D A C to round up a graphic designer who could be of great help in the L C C uniform sign project PARKING DECK Bill Bowen reported on site reviews by the Parking Sub-committee (Bill Bowern, Dave Welles, Ed Barsamian) of decks in Maynard and the Burlington Mall The Mall deck was thought to be far superior to the Maynard deck because of siting, landscaping, lighting and generally softer surroundings He noted that the lighting fixtures in the Burlington structure were hidden, with only the lighting in evidence They had also seen a deck in Malden, which was surrounded by a hurricane fence to inhibit vandalism, but which detracted greatly from its appearance Mr Bowen had been told by State officials that if Lexington's deck project is shown to have merit, the Town would qualify for State funding Discussion followed on criteria for the Town to qualify for a CARD designation by the Office of Communities & Development Sources and methods of funding, with and without the CARD desig- nation, were reported on by Norma Bogen Possible locations of the parking deck were considered in the Meriam Street lot at either the Craft Cleansers or the Meriam Street end of the lot Bob Ossman pointed out the helpfulness of a layout of the lot, with overlays or moveable templates of the parking deck, in coming to a decision on the best location He offered to help in preparation of such a layout, with assistance from the Engineering Dept It will be ready for the July 9th meeting so we can determine where we might locate a deck Mrs Battin recapped procedures to be followed before requesting the Selectmen to send a letter to the E 0 C D requesting a CARD designation, such as establishing firm data on costs, aesthetics, location and other basic information Bob Ossman will confer with Bob Bowyer, Planning Director, to gather existing information on parking structures and will determine what additional data is needed MEETING SCHEDULE The next L C C meeting was scheduled for Thursday, July 9th, in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, at 12 00 Noon MUZZEY STREET ONE WAY SIGN Bill Bowen noted the absence of a "One Way" sign on Muzzey Street at Mass Avenue and asked Leo McSweeney if it was missing or had never been there Leo will check and will have one installed LIGHTING There was discussion on installation of amber street lights by Boston Edison Bill Bowen reported that the bulbs will be replaced by amber bulbs as needed, keeping the existing fixtures Edison wishes to change, at no charge, the existing sodium lights to amber -3- Bob Ossman spoke of lighting fixture design open light source (snake heads) which Lexington has vs hidden light source He asked if there was a Town employ- ee who is in touch with Edison regarding a lighting plan for Lexington Norma Bogen reported that the D A C had discussed lighting and felt that uniform- ity in fixtures and lighting should be explored Leo McSweeney will arrange for someone from D P W to meet with the Committee to discuss the issue A lighting report will be prepared for the meeting on July 9th with Don Olson, Chairman of the Design Advisory Committee, Manny Coscia and a Boston Edison repre- sentative Boston Edison will answer our questions first and then leave as we dis- cuss with Don and Manny Carla Fortmann will work on a diagram of Center street lights and who owns them it was agreed that the 12 existing lights on the CVS side of the Center are attractive LITTER IN THE CENTER Mrs Battin referred to the Selectmen's concern with litter in the Center and felt that a solution would have to be worked out by a joint effort of the Town and the Chamber Dave Welles suggested that the L C write food establishments and suggest installa- tion of signs and trash containers by them as well as cleaning sidewalks directly in front of them Bob Ossman felt that signs were 0 K. but that people will still litter He felt that Town help was needed to resolve the problem Marian Powell suggested that the Chamber help by hiring a summer young person for street clean up Carla Fortmann suggested street trash containers be cleaned out late in the day If left overnight for morning cleaning, racoons get into them and scatter contents Jere Frick pointed out that in the State funding process for a deck, an Environ- mental Impact Study would be required and saw litter as a potential problem there BURNED OUT BUILDINGS There was brief discussion of a possible change in plans for reconstruction of the burned out buildings in the Center The meeting was adjourned at 2 00 p m Marion Snow Ed Barsamian �4