HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-09-18-REC-att-copy °�� `"°p" Town of • RECREATION COMMITTEE
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September 18, 2024
To: Select Board
Cc: Jim Malloy,To�m Manaber; Kelly AYtell, Interim Town Manager
Melissa Battite, Director of Recreation and Cornmunity Programs
Capital Expenditures Committee;Appropriation Committee; School Committee
RE: Recreation Committee Opinion on Proposed Field House and Indoor Pool Projects
The Recreation Committee discussed the field house and indoor pool projects that have been proposed as
part of the overall high school building project at its public meeting on September 4, 2024.As a means of
framing our discussion,the Committee relied on the set of criteria that we seek to apply when considering
capital projects to include on the Recreation 5-year Capital Plan and to ultimately bring to Town Meeting
for appropriation. The Committee considers the core criteria for such evaluations to include:
• fulfilling the Recreation Commzttee char�e of "...administering, expanding, and promoting
recreation, leisure activities,play, sports and physical education.";
• maintaining the current level of facilities and services as provided to the commlinity;
• protecting and slistaining the fiscal health of the Recreation Enterprise Fund;
• responding to community needs including as identified in the Recreation Facilities and ADA
Compliance Study�2017�, the 2020 Community Needs Assessment, the recently completed
Com�rehensive Studv of�.thletic and Outdoor Recreation Facilities (2021-2022�, and by direct
resident communication;
• enhancing the facilities and services provided to the community;
� aligning with the goals and priorities of other To�vn boards and committees including but not
limited to the Select Board, the Conservation Commission, and the Lincoln Park Subcommittee;
• and honoring Town bylaws and Town Meeting resolutions.
Additionally, the Committee recognized that the vast majority of the recreation-related capital projects
brolight forward to appropriation rec�uests recently represent "level-service" projects, that is, projects
necessary to maintain the recreation facilities and/or offerings at their current state. Although there are
many projects and ideas to enhance recreation in Lexington, the Committee is well aware of, and
supportive of, the long-standing "want vs. need" ethos of Town Meeting, and that phrase is frequently
invoked during our capital discussions and decision making.
In light of these considerations, the Recreation Committee voted tmanimously (4-0; 2 absent) as follows:
• The F�ecreation Committee does not support the construction of an indoor pool facility as part of
the LHS project;
• The Recreation Committee supports either the renovation or renovation/addition of the existing
field house, but the Committee does not support the construction of a new, free-standing field
house.
Sincerely,
Rick DeAngelis, Recreation Committee Chair