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HomeMy WebLinkAboutReport on the Permanent Building Committee 1967-STG-rpt.pdf 194 fiTM .44 PERMANENT BUILDING COMMITTEE REPORT OF TBE STRUCTURE OF GOVERMENT COMMITTEE ARTICLE 73 (-) 1. MOTION ARTICLE 73 To see if the Town will provide for or authorize appointment of a permanent building committee to be available when authorized by the Town to retain architectural services, prepare plans and specifications, obtain bids, let contracts, and supervise the construction of school buildings and all other town buildings and recreational facilities and additions to the foregoing and the original equipping and fur- nishing of the same and also the making of alterations in and renovations to such buildings and facilities Such committee shall consist of five registered voters of the Town to be appointed by the moderator No regular member of the committee shall be an elected official or employee of the Town, except that Town Meeting members may be members of the committee On or before the first day of April of each year, the moderator shall appoint to the committee sufficient members to fill expiring terms. Each member so appointed to serve for a period of three years and until his successor is appointed and qualified, except that the original members shall be appointed for staggered terms, two members serving for three years, two for two years, and one for one year The board, committee or department for which a building is being planned or constructed shall appoint two non-voting representatives to the committee who shall be entitled to participate in the activities of the committee only with respect to the particular building of that board, committee or department and only for the period of time during which the committee is exercising its functions with respect to such building. The plans and specifications for all such construction and develop- ment in each instance shall be subject to the approval of the board, committee or department for which the construction is being planned or constructed. Any vacancy in the committee shall be filled by appointment by the moderator and the member so appointed shall serve for the unexpired term of his predecessor If any regular member of the committee shall cease to be a resident of the Town of Lexington or shall become an officer of the Town by election and qualify as such or shall become an employee of the Town, he shall forthwith cease to be a member of the committee. The committee shall choose its own officers 2. REASONS FOR ESTABLISHING COMMITTEE This committee is being requested to ensure a continuity of town building experience. If the committee is established, new members and non-voting representatives will be educated to the complicated procedure of building in company with more seasoned members Town building is no longer dominated by schools as it was in the 1950's. In the next 15 years we must build such things as a library addition, a town office building, a fire station and more recreational facilities A permanent town building committee, similar to the Standing School Building Committee would help greatly to see that these buildings are built well and for a reasonable cost. The experience of other townswith similar building committees, as well as the experience of the SSBC, has shown that a building committee can success- fully handle overlapping projects in different stages of development el 3 WHY NOT MAKE THIS A BY-LAW COMMIT'TEL? (-) Although we feel that this is properly a By-Law Committee, we recommend that at this time it be established by only a vote of the Town Meeting for two reasons 1. To amend the By-Law at this time might create confusion because of the pending action of the Town By-Laws Committee at the March Town Meeting. 2. We now feel it best to offer all the Structure of Government Committee proposals for By-Law amendment at one time in order to ensure an internal consistency of By-Law language and structure 4. TIMING OF THIS PROPOSAL We bring this recommendation to the Town Meeting at this time because of the imminence of two major construction projects . the Junior High School this March and the Town Office Building in the near future The Town Meeting should now have the option of deciding whether or not such a committee should be available to handle these projects We feel that the proposed committee can be successfully incorporated into any government structure we finally recommend. If this committee is not established now, the SSBC will build the new Junior High School, with a tentative completion date of 1971, and will find itself with a light work load the last year or so where, under such cir- cumstances, it will be difficult to attract a full operating committee. 5 APPOINTING AUTHORITY Joint appointing authorities have proved cumbersome and time-consuming in the past Also, the responsibility for poor appointments would be difficult to assign. Therefore, we recommend a single appointing authority, the Moderator, who is elected by the entire Town each year The Moderator is a nonpolitical appointing authority, since he is not directed by any Town Board nor does he administer a department or make policy 6. PROTECTION OF WISHES AND INTERESTS OF PRINCIPAL USER These are ensured by the appointment of two non-voting representatives by the using Board or Committee to the building committee who shall be entitled to participate in the committee activities with respect to the particular building of the using agency Also, in each instance, the preliminary and final plans and specifications shall be subject to the approval of the user. 7 WHY NOT ABOLISH THE STANDING SCHOOL BUILDING COMMITTEE? We cannot abolish the Standing School Building Committee because legally it must complete the projects previously assigned. It should be noted that there is nothing in this motion that prohibits a present member of the SSBC from being appointed to the Permanent Building Committee C