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Home My WebLink About2024-02-09-SBC-min (Site, Safety and Security Focus Group) MEETING NOTES d �Illv 1::Z1:.,,: ...iiii Wiii....ii"rTii1E.:..1:Z Meeting Date: February 9, 2024 Meeting Time: 1-3PM Project Name: Lexington High School Project Number: Click or tap here to enter text. Subject: Site, Safety and Security Focus Group Meeting Attendees: Present Name Affiliation Present Name Affiliation Kathleen Lenihan SBC Chair&SC Member ✓ Vincent Lerow AV Technician .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ SBC Vice-Chair&LPS Facilities Michael Cronin ✓ Marissa Liggiero Lexington Engineer .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ Julie Hackett Superintendent Jahn LivseyTown Engineer .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ ''.. Cynthia Arens ''.. Sustainable Lexington Committee Chair ✓ Ross Morrow Lexington Engineer .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ Suzanne Barry Select Board Vice ChairPatricia Moyer Tree Committee Co-Chair ✓ .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ''. Melissa Battite ''. Recreation Director ✓ Karen Mullins Conservation Commission .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Joanne Belanger Director of Public Health ✓ Glenn Parker Appropriation Committee Chair .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Chris Bouchard Project Engineer J Joe Pato Select Board Chair .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Christian Boutwell Recreation Committee Vice Chair David Pinnsonnault Director of Public Works .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Don Chilsholm Assistant Fire Chief ✓ Todd Rhodes Sustainable Lexington Committee Vice Chair .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... J Ralph Clifford Zoning Board of Appeals Chair ✓ MarkSandeen Select Board .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ ''. Mark Connor ''. Tree Committee Co-Chair ✓ Deepika Sawhney School Committee Vice Chair .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ Frederick DeAngelis Recreation Committee Chair Derek Sencabaugh Fire Chief .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ Carolyn Dooley Campus Monitor ✓ Tom Shiple Lexington Bicycle Advisory Committee .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ ''.. Lisa Giersbach ''. Permanent Building Committee ✓ Nancy Sofen Tree Committee .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ Philip Hamilton Conservation Commission Chair ✓ Nishanth Veeragandham Student .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ ' KrictenaHankine ' School Resource Officer ✓ Dan Voss Sustainable Lexington Committee .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... J Jon Himmel Permanent Building Committee Chair Lorraine Finnegan SMMA Project Manager .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... J Wendy Krum Permanent Building Committee ✓ Matt Rice SMMA Project Architect .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ Timothy Lee Design Advisory Committee Chair ✓ Michael Dowhan SMMA Landscape Architect .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ Erin Prestileo SMMA Civil Engineer .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... ✓ Mike Burton Dore+Whittier Christina Dell Angelo Dore+Whittier Agenda Description Item 1. Introduction: Refer to attendees list. 2. Please refer to attached presentation for meeting reference. New introductions that were not able to join the first meeting: Susan Barret-Transportation Manager David Pinsonnault-Public Works Director Verirneaint I Massacha.jsetts �AIVw M(.dc)reand/athiit....ierr,,cov a Suzie Barry-Select Board Member Topics&Priorities 1.Balancing Open Campus&Community Access with Safety Concerns •CPTED(Crime prevention through environmental design) o Using the natural environment to reduce crime and to enhance safety o Limiting access points to site o Making entries prominent o Make sure that the site stays clean,make it a place that shows that we have ownership o Allowing community to use space • Security Management Systems c Brains behind electronics of the school •Access Control Systems o Authorized users access to site o Door hardware •Lockdown and Duress alartns c Provide a clear way of communication •Lockdown Sequence c Partitioning school between public and private space •Intrusion Detection Alarm system o Barriers on exterior that alert if door is opened o Reach out to first responders • Video surveillance system c Lots of different camera types that allow for complete visibility of the campus • Security Communication System c Assistance stations for an open campus to reach first responders • Window Security Follow Up Questions: 1. How Does Lexington Define the Term Open Campus? •Typically means allowing students to leave campus during the school day •In Lexington it means that the building is disconnected,the distinction of buildings • Students leaving the building and being able to come back •Has an impact on how students enjoy the space •Wouldn't abandon the idea •Tension between the two definitions o Going outside to get to classroom doesn't necessarily mean the campus has to be open o Could be a courtyard o Access to the natural environment is important •The open campus experience had been embedded into the culture now o Sense of freedom balanced with security o Tradeoff between enclosing a building There isn't a common understanding of the term open campus The idea of permanence and materiality in design •Create a landscape/site that will last 50 years •Need to worry about climate conditions •Lean towards natural materials that have little to no maintenance •Make students feel safer and closer to nature 2.Encouraging Multimodal Transportation •Incorporate an area for bike access • More young adults are biking/walking/taking mass transit, less are driving •Incentivize bus use in designs •Disincentivize single occupancy car use in design Page 2 of 6 Public Comment: S.Barret: • Statistics aren't so true for Lexington •Increasing drivers and less walkersibikers •We have plans with goals to reducing emissions •Want to make sure to take everything into consideration Livsey: There will be instances where 600 cars will be in attendance for theatre shows Mike Dowhan: someone had mentioned an idea for offsite parking with shuttles Deepika Sawhney:what happens if electricity goes down for security? M.Allain: •we would never limit egress only ingress •If power is lost there is a backup • And then a battery backup •There is a fail-safe mode • Key override is always a possibility S.Barry:Do we have numbers for existing parking spots? •We'll get to it soon M.Rice:we would like to hear input about what peak demands would be for parking 3.Incorporating Green Infrastructure •Force pavement • Stormwater management E.Perileo: • Sites is a rating system for sustainability of landscapes •LEED and SITES can be used together • SITES takes it to the next level •Emphasis on planning and looking at the site in context •Operation maintenance •Low maintenance Questions: How do you decide what is truly sustainable and not a fad? Is there a sophistication of maintenance?How do you balance beauty with something that becomes difficult to maintain? • We look at what works best in nature and incorporate that into the design •Only use native plant materials that can survive in this environment •We never irrigate school landscapes How do you organize hardscape?Need to be guarded against approached that aren't yet established? •We keep maintenance in mind Nancy: encourage people who will manage not to outsource landscapers How do you deal with temporary irrigation? •Discourse between the design team and contractors Do we have areas for beautiful landscapes like those pictured? •Asyou're designing,design for circulation Page 3 of 6 50 years has been mentioned as a lifespan. Can we increase 50-year lifespan? •MSBA mandates design for 50 years •High likelihood is that 50-year design will last much longer Lessons learned from past: •Kids always looks from easiest path from A to B and will trample anything in their path •Be purposeful with site design 4.Attempting to Minimize Disturbance Footprint •Fstablished that off-limit zones stay safe,protected,and untouched •Native plants roots can sink deeper and have less water requirements •Value of large trees,oxygen •Mini stormwater management parks •450 parking spaces at the existing high school-4 acres of impervious areas Questions: Do we have a target parking space number based on similar projects? • Somerville high school had 12 parking spots o Lot of walking and biking and green line •Waltham had 650 •Very community specific to get to a number •A lot of parking has to do with sites and spaces we are afforded c Constrained by environment and other uses o Opportunity to design S.Barret:Will you assess other parking options near site?Would SMMA be looking at shared parking? •We can suggest it but its ultimately up to the town Lynn: Is structured underground parking being considered? •Too early to take anything off the table •Cost premium •Challenging to keep it dry Is graywater being considered for watering plants? •If it's appropriate we will consider it •A lot of maintenance D.Voss: Wants questions from these meetings answered? 3rd meeting is to get to that level of recommendations Some committees feed off these sessions and rely on them,it would be useful to get output from this session 5.Managing Parking,Traffic,&Circulation •Importance of separating drop off traffic from bus traffic separate from walking traffic etc. • Student safety is paramount •Lean towards a series of smaller parking areas o Safety o Storrnwater management •Ability to put parking where needed •Concord high school Page 4 of 6 o Classroom wing of building is not surrounded by •Common theme is separation of drop off Questions/Comments: Parking on the other side of the high school is currently very underutilized •Parking design should consider how parking is used during recreation and park use Need to take snow storage into account Maintenance component to porous materials •We will not present anything that can't be maintained S.Barret:be aware of tying up streets around the school •Have done a study and created recommendations about integrating? is there a minimum amount of parking that needs to be adjacent to the building? If we design parking to be more convenient more people are likely to use it •Would hate design of parking to be too convenient Mike Dowhan: we like to disincentivize driving Matt Rice: we need to provide accessible parking spaces •If we use electric buses,we need parking near buildings but how do we not create a feeling of a bus parking lot 6.Ecologically Valuable Communities on Site •We actively try to avoid sensitive areas of site with natural forest Have the Wetlands on Site been delineated yet? •have been flagged but we're in the middle of receiving the NRAD survey •NRAD—filing that confirms all types of wetlands Nancy: There are extensive invasive species,are we looking into mitigating that?Yes,it will be part of the conversation. 7.Ensuring Student Safety During Construction Phased Process •New building construction •Old building demolition • Safety during construction is very major •Not only about safety but also about accessibility •Involves general contractor/construction manager o We provide guidance based on the towns recommendations 8.Creating a Unique Sense of Place& Site Design Aesthetic that is Grounded in Our Community Wanting to create a campus that is very unique to Lexington •Create a unique sense of place o Continue to have conversations about design choices Questions: Is there a way of thinking beyond landscaping for the high school but functioning for recreational use as Page 5 of 6 well? •Try to create landscape infrastructure that engages site •Find something that everyone agrees with •How do you get to that point? o We're starting that process now o Design will evolve B.Black:Focus groups inform how we evaluate the schemes D. Sawhney: What is the cost differential between flat ground parking and tiered parking? • Structured parking is l Ox parking at grade,however,there are other considerations o There are benefits that offsets cost o MSBA doesn't reimburse Rough cost estimates for meeting 3 would be helpful S.Baret: Likes that you can see Lexington center from the quad Additional Topics to be Explored C.Arens: Considerations about the siting of the building, specifically for building orientation •We are actively working on this,and we'll have something in 3 weeks Is there any pushback from other groups on disincentivizing single occupancy vehicles Must look at structured parking costs holistically •Costs,rebates,incentives Pushback on disincentivizing parking • Students who have jobs that need to get there after school 3. Close The next site, safety and security focus group meeting will be held on Tuesday,March 5' 1-3pm at Estabrook Hall, Cary Memorial Building. Sincerely, IIS IIIUE °u..W1°Ill III"'1"TI11:.1:l1 Christina Dell Angelo Project Manager Cc:Attendees, File The above is my summation of our meeting. If you have any additions and/or corrections, please contact me for incorporation into these minutes. Page 6 of 6