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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-02-15-SMPAC-min Lexington Public Schools Master Planning Advisory Committee February 15, 2023 from io:oo a.m. - 11:3o a.m. In-Person&Remote Participation via Zoom Members: Melissa Battite, Sandy Beebee (Liaison), Dave Coelho,Michael Cronin, Rick DeAngelis,Julie Hackett, Maureen Kavanaugh, Kathleen Lenihan,Alan Levine (Liaison),Jess Quattrocchi, Mark Sandeen, Deepika Sawhney, Michael Schanbacher, Daniel Voss Other Staff Present: Avon Lewis, Lexington Education Association President The minutes were taken by Sara Jorge,Administrative Assistant for the Lexington Superintendent. Dr. Hackett discussed Mr. Daniel Abramson's resignation from the Master Planning Advisory Committee.We thank him for his really terrific contributions and his time on the Master Planning Advisory Committee over the last 5 years. The Committee reviewed the minutes from the November 15, 2022 meeting. Ms. Lenihan made a motion to approve the minutes from the November 15, 2022 Master Planning Advisory Committee Meeting. Mr. Cronin seconded the motion. Dr. Hackett reviewed where we are in the eligibility phase with the enrollment meeting that took place with the Massachusetts School Building Authority on December 9, 2022.We have received our design enrollment certification from the Massachusetts School Building Authority(MSBA) stating that the Lexington High School proposed project will be based on an enrollment of no more than 2,395 students in grades 9-12.We requested a significantly higher enrollment number during the enrollment meeting,however,the MSBA did take into consideration the work that is taking place in Town regarding the MBTA, and we ended up with roughly 300 additional students based on that conversation. Mr. Levine: I am not a member of the Master Planning Advisory Committee or the School Building Committee, I am a Liaison but should the School Building Committee be receiving what is being submitted or received from the MSBA? Dr. Hackett:Yes, all documents were linked to the School Building Committee agenda for yesterday's meeting. Sara Jorge will link them to the Master Planning Advisory Committee agenda now as well. Mr. Cronin explained that what is important is the way we do construction in Lexington is to always build for the future. So,when we build the building,we'll actually build it to have the opportunity for some kind of addition to be built easily and simply onto that building and it will feel like a natural extension of the building. Mr. Schanbacher: Does the enrollment number given by the MSBA take into consideration the potential MBTA Community theoretical increase? Dr. Hackett:Yes, essentially we received an extra 300 students for the possible rezoning. Once we are voted in at the MSBA Board Meeting on March 1, 2023,we will be moving forward with Owners' Project Managers, architects, and designers. Dr. Hackett updated the Committee on the new LHS School Building Project website and the FAQs that are now on the website. On Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 9 a.m., a few School Building Committee members and Dr. Hackett will be working on a clear timeline for the LHS building project, although,things are not very clear,because there are many variables such as labor shortages and supply chain issues.You cannot compare one project to the next,the timelines tend to have different ranges but we are going to try to nail that down as best we can. Mr. Sandeen: What is the total number of enrollment that was approved with the additional 300 students? Dr. Hackett: 2,395 is the final number.We were just under 2100 when MSBA first gave us our number but after further discussion,we are now just under 2400.The Massachusetts School Building Authority's job is to get the right size project and our job is to get all the square footage we need. Ms. Lewis: What if we exceed the enrollment number before we have broken ground-is there any flexibility in the enrollment of students or is that the number? Dr. Hackett: That is the number. Dr. Kavanaugh: Unless something massive happens,that is the number and we do not foresee anything massive happening.The cohorts behind the current cohorts are much smaller so we are expecting a decline. If we are building this building for 50 years but can only predict 5-10 years out,how do we do this?The answer is flexibility in the way we approach the build and how we design leaving ourselves options to build on in the future. Mr. Schanbacher: Is the number that was given for enrollment for the MBTA Communities based on the minimum that we are required by legislation or is that based on a higher number? Dr. Kavanaugh: The numbers were basically a blanket cushion to their numbers and ours as these are possible housing units,they are not guaranteed. Dr. Hackett: The conversation about what to do with Central Office is coming up because we are going to have a need for additional athletic fields for the municipal side and the school side. It will take about $16 million to bring the Central Office building up to standard. Our current Central Office building is 47,000 square feet and the options are to move Central Office to 173 Bedford Street which is 16,00o square feet temporarily or permanently or to build Central Office into the new high school. It would be tight to have Central Office at 173 Bedford Street but we could make it work with some reconfiguration and perhaps some possible remote work options. The big question is do we keep the current Central Office building, use it as swing space or demolish it for athletic fields?We do have a timeline issue so we will need to make a recommendation within the next month. Mr. Cronin: 173 Bedford Street does not need massive updates to use. The building, at a minimum, needs an HVAC system as it does not operate on the 2nd floor, a sprinkler system as we currently have a waiver to house the police and fire station there without one. Lastly, it does not have an elevator so we would need to put one in.We can figure out the interior to align with the program needs but that is a minimum requirement. Ms. Quattrocchi: What is the potential timeline for the Central Office to move? Mr. Cronin: Ideally,the Police Station would move out of 173 Bedford Street in the Spring of 2024.We would then start the work on 173 Bedford Street which would be about a year's worth of construction.We would then have Central Office moving in sometime in 2025 for allowable demolition of the current Central Office building at 146 Maple Street for fields created by the Recreation Department so that fields would be ready when the high school fields go offline around 2026. Mr. Sandeen: Mr. Cronin,you are estimating 16 million for retrofitting the current Central Office,what do you estimate for 173 Bedford Street? Mr. Cronin: The estimate for 173 Bedford Street is right around 6 million. Ms. Battite: The field costs of 6.1 million are currently in FY28 and depending on the direction of these recommendations and the MSBA timeline that would likely need to be moved to an earlier year. Ms. Quattrocchi: Which fields are we discussing? Mr. Levine: If a new high school is built,the new building will be built along a lot of the fields in the center at the high school. The proposal is to tear the current Central Office building down and build 2 big fields here. Ms. Battite: It would be too large multi-use rectangle fields,which are 11 by 11 and would have an overlay for Cricket.These fields would serve to reduce the deficit we have in rectangle fields in the Town right now separate from the potential loss of fields at the high school. So when you look at the recommendations,there was an A, B, and C. B is the project that the Recreation Committee chose to move forward with because it gave the largest number of hours.As of today, the Town as a community is just around 6,10o hours short of being able to support the existing programs in Town that are supported through Town, school district, and community-led programs. This current plan does not take into account the possible loss of fields at the high school. By adding fields at the Central Office location,we would be able to gain 4600 hours with those 2 large rectangle fields and accommodate cricket. For those of you who are not aware, the large rectangle fields lixii are the size of what's inside of the track,which is the 3 synthetic fields at Lincoln Park. Those fields right now are broken into 2 and 3-size fields for our youth programs for soccer and lacrosse, so they're using one field for 3 teams in essence,which is not ideal. In addition to the loss of the fields at the center,we also have the 3 synthetic fields at Lincoln Park that are up for replacement at the end of years 2024, 2025, and 2026. Even with the addition of the 4600 hours from Central Office and as other fields go offline,the Recreation Department will be increasing our deficit to being able to support the community's athletic program. Dr. Hackett: What will recreation do if this doesn't move forward? Ms. Battite: The field study gave a variety of different options that have fewer total hours gained, so those could be considered. This is all in the field study that we shared previously and it is online. I can send out the pages that are specific to the Central Office location if that is helpful. All of the options come with a compromise some of them will be near wetlands, some require tree removal, and some will have real infrastructure changes like introducing parking, etc. The Central Office option seemed like not only the best option to reduce our deficit,but also where it's situated behind the school in terms of the abutters,traffic, and existing parking. Mr. DeAngelis: This goes back to the field study that was done before the high school project was proposed.We have an acute need for more field space and we do not have it.The high school project is an important goal for the Town of Lexington, and for recreation. The recreation resources provide a tremendous benefit along with the brick-and-mortar building, and the proposed new high school that adds to the overall joy of living in Lexington. Sometimes timing is everything and sometimes timing is not our ally but maybe our enemy but we need field space. Ms. Battite: If the plan to build fields at the Central Office location does not happen,we would need to work with all the organizations that currently use the park and recreation infrastructure and come up with a compromise so that all organizations could still participate.That would mean that certain fields and certain sports during particular seasons would lose access to fields and lights.We would potentially lose some school district programs and only be able to provide a varsity-level experience so that the youth could use the fields and then the adults later. It would mean that there would be a large community compromise for access even in the way the programs are delivered including practices and games.This could also mean potentially cutting athletic programs' caps in half but this will drastically impact our outdoor programs. It will require some really good partnering between the programs that currently use the fields and understanding when we need to go out of Town to provide these services and possibly not having home games. It will change the entire culture of athletics and community programming for the duration of these projects. Dr. Hackett: There was mention of resurrecting the Minuteman Plan at the last School Committee meeting. Ms. Lenihan is our School Committee Liaison and she filled us in. Ms. Battite: We were made aware of the RFP submission 10 days prior to its opening for applicants who would partner with them to complete phase 2 of their athletic program,which would have been what the Town partnered with through the intergovernmental agreement back in 2018.The Minuteman was looking for a partner to come in and finish the remaining portions of the complex that has not been done, and that would also come along with a 10-year lease for the sole use of the athletic complex.We do not know what the results of that were but the deadline was at the beginning of February. So we need to find out what happened with that and what the implications are because if they're allowing outside groups like a university or elite sports programs to come in and invest,they will then use that for their programming but that may mean that the Minuteman fields are no longer an option for us to even rent, so we need to look into this more.Also, in talking with Jim Malloy,this would not be anything that we'd be able to look at until after Town Meeting of this year given the bandwidth for all of us on boards, committees, and staff as well as identifying if there were funds that we could actually have brought forward to invest in the capital. Ms. Lewis: The high school fields that are getting taken out during the project, all that is being taken offline is a football field and some baseball fields. How does this match with the two iixii fields that are being proposed for the Central Office location? Ms. Battite: The all-natural grass fields at the center will be offline permanently until new ones are built and/or for the laydown area.The football field is used exclusively in the Fall,but the football field is the outfield to the baseball diamond,which is then used all spring, and then the outfield is turned into a rectangle field for rectangle sports to practice and play. Dr. Hackett: Can you explain the laydown field for listeners? Mr. Cronin: Worst-case scenario from a field usage standpoint, the new facility would come off of Worthen Road kind of left to the big hill where the big mountain of trees is,in that general area is where a new building would sit as it is going to be a big building at 425,000 square feet. So the laydown area really has to do with the construction trailers that will be there to manage the project.The steel,the raw materials that will be there,the containers that will have some of the supply, as it is we are having trouble buying certain pieces of equipment to get the building ready on time, so we now have to pre-buy some of that equipment in order for us to have it sitting on site ready for the actual installation to meet deadlines. Dr. Lewis questioned how we will be replacing the baseball and softball fields elsewhere when they are taken offline as football fields can use any 11x11 field and make it work,but you can't do the same with the baseball fields. Ms. Battite: We have not started the conversations about how to replace a varsity-size baseball and softball field.The results of the field study were specific to the currently existing issues and what we need to address now. This will be a part of the conversations to understand how we're going to prioritize where we invest short-term and long-term. Mr. Cronin: At a Building Summit meeting a few weeks ago, a handful of buildings that have some struggles in Town were discussed.A Couple of years ago,we wound up doing a building assessment of all Town buildings associated with the school department, and some of the Town buildings and buildings were ranked F buildings.That was basically looking at all the building systems and they are assessing what to do and coming up with a replacement plan. Central Office did receive an F, as did the Town Office Building, and the Lexington Fire Station.We have these buildings that we have to figure out some kind of a long-term solution for. 173 Bedford needs significant investment. That building right now, as it currently is configured is ranked a D building,the Town Ofice building is going to need some kind of expansion or renovation based on the population that's in that building and the current systems. Currently,the building we are most concerned about is Central Office,where a significant investment needs to happen immediately.The HVAC system we cannot control,the electrical distribution is at its endpoint, the elevator needs to be replaced,the roof needs to be replaced,windows, etc. Mr. Sandeen: What is the actual square footage from a programmatic standpoint that you think your Central Office Team needs? Mr. Cronin: For all the programs that are run out of here,the space study is estimating between 17-20,000 square feet but probably closer to 20 given the conference-type spaces that this building will need, and then also the building at 173 Bedford Street is around 16,00o square feet. Dr. Hackett: Some departments provide direct services to students and probably would be better served in schools and we have some departments that could go remote to make the square footage work. Mr. Levine: I do not think this group should make a recommendation on what should be done with Central Office. I am not on board with tearing this building down and moving Central Office out because this building needs work. If the building needs work,we could fix it up. The recreation facilities will have a hard time with the high school project taking more fields offline and the Town has an obligation to do something about that. If moving Central Office out of this building is the best way to address that,then I think we should do it but that needs to be balanced against a possible Minuteman plan.Feas Dr. Hackett: People were not taking up the issue of Central Office and we were looking for a place to sort it out which is why we are here discussing it. Mr. Levine: We can go through more discussions to move Central Office out of 146 Maple Street and into 173 Bedford Street because there really is nowhere else to put Central Office right now, but I am not on board yet with building a place for Central Office at the high school.The is going to be highly constrained and even if you do fit the office in a space at the high school that is another 20,000 square feet, will another 6o parking spaces fit for Central Office staff? Mr. Sandeen: We are talking about Plan A and Plan B,but I thought we were looking at Plan C of looking at commercial space for Central Office. Mr. Cronin: I have looked at 8 commercial properties and it would be a very large investment for rental space. It would be throwaway money in the millions of dollars range. Ms. Sawhney:As Dr. Lewis said in the last meeting,the fields are here, and the kids are at the high school,how do they utilize the fields here for classes when they go offline? Mr. Cronin explained that the project will be allocated to include the transportation of students from the high school to a designated destination within city limits to hold Health and Wellness and PE classes. Ms. Battite: The high school Health and Wellness and PE will also be able to walk to Lincoln Park during construction if needed but it would not be able to absorb all the activities for Health and Wellness and PE. That is just another component of when the fields come offline including renovations at Lincoln. Dr. Hackett: LABBB students currently use Hayden Rec Center for their physical education classes. Ms. Lenihan: My concern is that we cannot leave the current Central Office Building without a permanent solution.We really need to know,if is it possible to add Central Office to the new high school because if there isn't, I am not really sure where that leaves us. Dr. Hackett: If Central Office was to remain at 173 Bedford Street permanently, operations like the Technology Department would go back into the high school. Mr. Schanbacher: When we are talking about the 173 Bedford space,is this being discussed as a temporary swing space for renovations or is this going to be a more permanent space for Central Office? If we are thinking about sustainability in the Town,we have a building right now where Central Office is currently and it needs some work with investments. Demolishing Central Office for fields certainly makes sense because we have nowhere else to put the fields but I want to make sure we are thinking of the long-term implications of demolishing a masonry building that could last forever if taken care of. Mr. Cronin: We are looking at 173 Bedford Street as a swing space and not a permanent location. If it would a permanent location,we would be looking at a completely different number for renovations. Mr. Sandeen: The Select Board has had a number of conversations on this, and there are a number of different ideas that the Select Board has for how that space could get used for the long haul including the Library, not just a Town Office Building, and then at the end of that there is a lot of interest in turning the property into something else that meets our Town goals like affordable housing. Dr. Hackett: It seems that the temporary solution is what we are talking about.The question I am hearing or thinking about is how we are going to be able to determine whether Central Office could be added to the high school when the feasibility study is a year out. Is there any way to figure this out by doing a rough study to see if it is physically possible to add 6o new parking spots for Central Office at the high school?Also,we need to think about what sort of obstacles might we encounter in terms of selling this project if we were to make it bigger and add on the costs of the Central Office being built into the new high school. Mr. Cronin: We would need to do an evaluation but I think we could do it. Dr. Hackett: Can we get a study done before feasibility? Mr. Cronin: I think we could have our architects take a look at that as soon as we have them on board as part of some pre-work. Mr. Sandeen: I would just request that we keep Plan C of the commercial plan as one of the options that we consider. Dr. Hackett: If Mr. Cronin's numbers are right for plan C,the amount would be 2.8 million for 4 years at a commercial building, is that worthwhile? Ms. Lenihan: It would be worthwhile but not from the Lexington Public Schools budget that would be something the Town would have to pay for. Ms. Beebee: Is the 6 million that you are estimating to get the 173 Bedford Street building in acceptable shape or to function for Central Office? Is that going to cover all occupants that use the building in the future as well like the Library or the Town Office Building, etc? Mr. Cronin: Each user group will be a little bit different based on their function needs so we will have to do a little reconfiguration for each user. Ms. Qu: Is it necessary to use 6 million to move into 173 Bedford Street? Mr. Cronin:Yes,they need an elevator, a sprinkler system, and HVAC on the second floor. Ms. Beebee: Using 173 Bedford as temporary swing space for Central Office is hard at this time until you know where the permanent Central Office is going to end up. It seems like 6 million is a lot for a few years for Central Office so I have some reservations. Mr. Cronin: The 6 million investment into 173 Bedford Street would not just be for Central Office but will allow the next series of temporary users to be in that building as well. Dr. Hackett: I think one of the exercises we can do internally is to identify what space is flexible in every school building, and just try to map out the existing staff in this building from our space utilization study and figure out whether or not we might be able to fit in the buildings that we have. I am sure we will be short on space but we can definitely figure that out. Dr. Hackett: We should address the question of whether or not this body feels it should make a recommendation on what to do with Central Office or not. Mr. Cronin: I do think it makes sense for this body to make a recommendation to the other bodies about the intention of the Central Office building. Dr. Kavanaugh: I think our function is to take in all the information on the whole field of projects that we have going on and try to synthesize points together and to make informed recommendations that other Committees may not have the time and space to dig into the details quite like we can. Ms. Sawhney: What I'd love to see is a pro and con list for each recommendation, so it is very clear what the data points were when taken into consideration. Ms. Quattrocchi: I think it makes sense to make a recommendation. Ms. Battite: I think the intent of these working groups is to overturn every stone and have all the data to make a recommendation to the Committees. Mr. Coelho: We know what we need in terms of services and the elements that are here in Central Office, and as long as we have a final destination,we should make a recommendation. Mr. Schanbacher: I think the charge of this group is to make the recommendation. Ms. Beebee: I think we can make the recommendation. I also think including the other options that we considered as pros and cons =should be part of the recommendation.There are so many different moving pieces out there,there are still so many unknowns that I would also hesitate to make a recommendation. Mr. Sandeen: I feel very comfortable with this Committee making a recommendation but do believe that we need to understand the final end state of what that recommendation would lead to. I agree with Dr. Hackett that we need to get clarity from the MSBA. Dr. Lewis: I am in support of making a recommendation. Dr. Hackett: I think we need to make a recommendation by March 15, 2023. Next,we need to get a PowerPoint together and track down a few more bits of information such as where could we fit in if we were just working within the school system,what would the MSBA say about Central Office being at the new high school site and if we can fit parking space for Central Office at the site as well. Mike Cronin, Maureen Kavanaugh, and Dr. Hackett will begin to work on the PowerPoint and identify existing space in the schools. The Master Planning Committee will meet again in the next month to review the new information and to time it up with a School Committee meeting in March. The meeting adjourned at 11:30 p.m.