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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1958-01-16-CEC-min-001.pdf i BrQ&f MEETING OF CAPITAL EXPENDITURES COMM. WITH SCHOOL BUILDING COMM. January 16, 1958 A meeting of the members of the Capital Expenditures Committee was held with members of the School Building Committee on Thursday, January 16, 1958 at 9:30 p.m. in the superintendent 's office. Those present for the C.E.Comm. were Sanborn C. Brown, chairman, Dan H. Fenn, Rosemary Fitzgerald, Irving H. Mabee and Norman Royle, with Mabelle Tucker acting as secretary. The chairman of the School Building Committee was absent. The acting chairman stated that the committee will come in with actual bids on the renovation xa1 as ausiax Nigh of the old Junior High before town meeting and, hopeto on the new Junior High, for which the figure is still $2,000,720. They now have an estimate from the architect and on the equipment for the renovation, and the total figure is now $567,610.97. They discovered just that evening that neither the architect or the equipment esti- mator included lockers, which could run as high as $20,000; they were expecting a call from Mr. Smith about this. Relative to financing, he said that the bonding bill had passed the House and had gone to the Senate. The authorized figure is $600,000 for not more than 10 years time; it was thought that the town ought to make more than an ordinary effort to pay it off quickly. $40,000 has already been appropriated. Mr. Brown asked if in its article in the warrant the Building Committee would recommend the method of bonding. The acting chairman said that the committee hadn 't discussed it - but that they have no objection to its going on the tax rate but feel that this will diminish its chances and that it would be better to bond it than not get it at all. Mr. Brown asked if they would bond half, put half on the tax rate. He replied that they had no preconceived notion regarding financing. Mr. Fenn asked why the renovation was costing more than last year 's. ae�er�KG had n estimateschair dfromtthenovations engineers,re andlthecult to architectice -had goneyasave far as he could, so they have figured it high. They have added only a folding door in the gym, for $5000. Plan I last year was $565,000, and this one is on the same order, although there are many differences. Last year they were relocating stairways - this year they are doing extensive heating and electrical work and are also doing over the superintendents suite. The present plans do not include renovation of the 3rd floor, since now they plan to use it only as long as necess- ary, until the new Junior High is built. Mr. Brown asked if the renovation of the Barnes Property came under this committee, and if the prospects of getting it were favorable. Chair replied that the selectmen haven't said whether they would turn the property over to the School committee, or lease it to them. Also there were varied opinions as to whether the fixing of the Barnes Property would be the sort of job a building committee would be appointed for; so far they had had nothing to do with it, although they had heard that its renovation would cost $10,000. (IMr. Brown slid it was to cost $15,000 for three years or $45,000.) Chair thoght the logical thing would be to have article in warrant turning Barnes Property over to the school department. Mrs. Fitzgerald asked if this committee planned to do more work on the basic wiring than was planned last year, when they were going to add to wiring only enough to have fluorecents. Chan. anwerd Page 2 MEETING OF CAPITAL EXPENDITURES COMM. WITH SCHOOL BUILDING COMM. cont. January 16, 1958 that it was his understanding that the wiring is more this time, al- thogh they are still using fluorescents. Mr. Brown asked how each school get turned over to this committee. Chair answered, by vote of the town meeting - there was nothing auto- matic about it. Mr. Brown said that the C.E.Comm. wanted to get their report to the printer early so that it could be distributed a couple of weeks before town meeting. It was the committee's custom to submit to each committee the figures which would go in the report before printing. Would this committee be willing to approve figures as best estimates before the bids are opened. Chair answered yes. Also, he thoght that the job ought to be done right or not at all; the committee would not offer any step alternates or half price jobs - they wanted a good job done so that the building would be usable for a number of years. Mr. Brown asked, if the town meeting turned down the renova- tion, would the plans still be good, say, in 1960? Chair answered yes; if the renovation were not voted the school committee would just buy new window shades and let it go at that. Mr. Fenn asked why the third floor was substandard. Chair answered that it is a 5 level school now, and it is hard to go from lowest to highest between periods. Also there are no toilets on the third floor, and there is a fire problem - and fire escapes are very expensive. The plans call for moving the principal into the superintendent's office. The library will go into the present principal's office, and will have an office and a conference room. A room in the basement will go into the boys locker room, the kitchen will be enlarged and improved, but not moved. The present home edonomics room will enlarge the cafeteria, and these will be a teachers dining room in the corner. The home ec rooms will move to where the old shop is now. The kitchen will be enlarged by the 20 by 20 foot area where the stairs come down. The airshaft by the auditorium will be used. All engineering is being donw by Cleverdon, Varney and Pike. It will go out to bid on Deb. 15, and they hope to have bids back in two weeks. Mr. Fenn asked if they would have a tour for town meeting members. Chair answered that they hadn't considered it but could do it. Mr. Smith phoned and the lockers will cost about $20,000. Mrs . Fitzgerald said that the town faced a long range problem, in that its debt ratio would be unfavorable if it built all the schools thought to be needed; a high debt ratio would make it more difficult to borrow money. What about more economical methods of building? Mr. Brown said that some people think that if you don't build up to the requirements for state aid, and don't take the state aid, you will save money even without the aid. Someone answered that you must weigh the cost of original construction against the cost of maintenance. Chair said that this question is relevant; he thought the committee would have to justify the cost of the new Junior High. There were two problems to consider: (1) Could you build economically in terms of maintenance; (2) Do people in Lexington wa^,nt this cheaper school. Mr. Brown said that it has been shown that educational policies change every 20 years; the school you build now may be completely inadequate 20 years from now for the then existing philosophy. Perhaps schools which would Page 3 MEETING OF CAPITAL EXPENDITURES COMM. WITH SCHOOL BUILDING COMM., cont. January 16, 1958 wear out in 20 years should be built; you could tear down the old school and build a new one to fit your educational needs at that time. Mr. Brown said that he was not decessarily defending or espousing this philopophy, but was merely bringing it up as a point of view which should be considered. Mrs. ? (Palmer ?) answered that the committee did not feel that the JuNior High was completely inadequate; it needed a great deal of plumbing and heating work. However she felt that it was reasonable to spend money on renovating the building, since you could not build a building of this size for anywhere near the amount which the renovation would cost. Another member said that the com- mittee felt that the School Building Assistance Committee had saved their committee money by their suggestions, Lather than adding to the cost. Mr. Fenn asked how much of the renovation is due to changed educational approach? How much to repairs? How much to growth? The chair answered that $181=000 of the total cost was for heating, plumbing, ventilating, and lighting, all of which were substandard. This would have to be done whether your educational policy had changed or not. (Mr. Smith feels that the building has been properly maintained through the years, but the heating probably never was adequate. Lighting stan- dards have changed in this period) . $169,000 is going for refur- bishing the classrooms, doing over floors, etc. Also, the building was not constructed as a Junior High - it was built in two phases, in 1908 and 1920, and was used as the High Schbol for many years. Classroom size today is different, but they aren't changing these much:' Mrs. Fitzgerald asked if the new Junior High building would have conduits for closed circuit TV. Chair answered that the conduits are not in the building, but can be put in very easily wibhott ripping everything apart. He said that Mr. Smith has been very anxious that the committee be aware of changes in educational practices and plan for them in the new school. Mrs. Fitzgerald asked if the walk between the gym and the main part of the school would make the cost higher. The chair answeredthat a swwer runs through the school site, which made it necessary to either (1) Construct the school up on the hill; or (2) Put the school on two sides of the sewer. If it were all put on one side of the sewer, the land best suited for playfields would be destroyed. He said that the architect says that the cost of the gym being separate from the rest of the school is not of great magnitude. The new sbhool will accomodate ideally 900, and up% to 1000 students. The old Junior High will hold 800. The ideal size for a $hree grade Junior High is 850 students. The chair asked what the latest date would be for giving the„C.E.Comm. the estimated figures; Mr. Brown answered, February 15th. ' he Schbol Building Comm. agreed to keep the C.E.Comm. informed of any changes in estimates. The meeting was adjourned at 10 15 p.m.