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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993-07-13-DAC-min.pdf I MEETING NOTES DATE. July 13, 1993 PROJECT Design Advisory Committee PRESENT John Frey, Steve Hurley, Rick Bechtel, Judy Ozuransky Barbara Hulsizer John Vinton NOTES BY John Vinton f 1 Minutes of 6/8/93 meeting were approved with corrections. Minutes will be redistributed as revised. 2. Charles River Wheelmen/ Al Lester Memorial. John Tobin of CRW and CRW members presented plans of the proposed memorial to Al Lester to be installed on the Minuteman Bikeway adjacent to the entrance to the Parker Meadow conservation area. The memorial will consist of a stone bench and a stone memorial with an inset bronze plaque. The installation will involve relocation of 2 stones and 2 trees and the installation of a paved walkway access to the bench. Members felt that the memorial was tasteful and appropriate. Relocating the stones may actually help. The stones have metal bar inserts which are supposed to be bike racks, but which is also somewhat hazardous to riders since they are so near the path. A more functional bike rack would be a desirable addition in the future. Angela Frick of the Conservation Commission and Jerry Van Hook of the Bikeway Coordinating Committee, in attendance for the presentation and discussion, indicated on behalf of their committees that the design was acceptable. The DAC voted to approve the design as well. John Frey will discuss implementation with Rick White to expedite opportunity for CRW to present to the Selectmen. John will also contact Dan Busa who is the Board of Selectmen bikeway coordinator The bikeway is under authority of the state until completion. CRW plans to install the work with their own funds either by their own contractor or via a change order to the present contractor which they would fund. The fabricator of the memorial will do the actual memorial installation. 3 Visitor's Center Cad Bikewav• Wendy Reasenberg of the Friends of Minuteman Bikeway requested a bench location at the rear of the visitor's center in memory of Jane Poole of the Nashoba Valley Peddlers. Several locations were discussed. The DAC felt that two locations were desirable: one each in front of the two windows. Planting would also be desirable since the rear of the center is rather stark. Location of ramp for future handicapped access to rear door also needs to be considered. Other bench opportunities have been looked at along the bikeway in Lexington, 10 areas in all, including picnic table clusters and bike racks at the center 4 Lexington Visitors Collaborative/ Visitor Signage: Jan Spielman of the Visitors Collaborative presented options for improvements to visitor direction signs in Lexington historic areas. Jan was assisted by a signage specialist from the National Park Service who presented the park service approach and graphic standards for location and directional signage. Lexington would adopt the parks' white letters on brown field standard which has become nationally recognized as designating historic sites. A map was distributed that shows sign locations recommended by the park service to get visitors conveniently and efficiently from one site to the next. a major effort is to standardize the signs. Presently there is a lot of diversity which may be visually charming but can make it confusing for first time visitors. Also standardization will increase recognition and allow the signs to be smaller The goal is to get visitors to the Green, and then to the Visitors Center The Visitor center sign is an example of a charming but ineffective sign. The park service recommends that it be replaced. The DAC generally was supportive of the concept with some reservations expressed about specific signs. It was recommended that the LVC come back to the DAC with specific sign sizes and locations for further review prior to presenting to the Selectmen so that the DAC could offer their recommendation. Also that the LVC approach groups who may be sensitive to signage changes in order to elicit their input into the process. The DAC also felt that the LVC could meet informally with the Historic District Commission to explore options and issues prior to making a presentation for HDC approval. The DAC voted unanimously to endorse the concept as presented with the understanding that there would be further review of sizes and locations. 5 Benches: John Frey presented several options for benches in Hastings Park, illustrated on a site plan with measured locations for existing trees courtesy of JF Benches along Mass Av are high and have good views of the park. Several members felt that having your back to the road was a drawback. Another option is to emphasize the old road alignment through the park by having benches along it. Some felt that was linear and not responsive to the parks free flowing contours. Is a concrete pad required under each bench or are point footings sufficient with stone dust under the bench? JF noted that the stone dust treatment requires maintenance, or depressions and puddles will result. Benches will be discussed further next time. 6. Emery Park Steve Hurley reported that the parking issue at Depositors Trust has been worked out and that the coordinating committee has the go ahead from the Board of Selectmen to proceed with the work per the present design, minus the drive up teller which will be treated as a separate issue. Steve anticipates that grading and paving will be done this fall for the bus drive through and drop off in order to comply with ADA requirements. Planting will follow next spring. The design will be finalized with town committees in a collaborative process over the next two months so that construction of the first phase can be completed before winter 7 Committee Replacements: A replacement will be needed for Kerry Brandin who is resigning in order to become president of the Lexington Education Foundation. Members are to consider candidates for discussion next time.