The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2018-06-06-CEC-min 0��g NgbT MPy�,Ake A Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting June 6, 2018 APRIL 1911 ��IIV 4I47t�r Location and Time: Town Office Building, Reed Room; 7:45 A.M. Members Present: Charles Lamb, Chair (remote participation); David Kanter, Vice-Chair & Clerk; Sandy Beebee; Rod Cole; and Wendy Manz; Member Absent: Frank Smith Others Present: Kate Colburn, Vice-Chair, School Committee (SC); Kathleen Lenihan, SC; Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Documents Presented: • Notice of CEC Meeting, June 6, 2018 • Draft #3 Minutes of the CEC Meeting, May 16, 2018 • Amendment to Draft #3 Minutes for 16 May 2018 CEC Meeting, prepared by Mr. Kanter, June 6, 2018 • CEC Input to the Board of Selectmen's (BoS's) Goals Setting for Fiscal Years (FYs) 2019 & 2020, May 28, 2018 Call to Order: Because Mr. Lamb was unable to attend the meeting in person, Mr. Kanter served as Chair and called the meeting to order at 7:45 A.M. Mr. Kanter announced he had authorized Mr. Lamb to participate remotely as Mr. Lamb was recovering at home. Therefore, all votes would be by roll call. All the members in attendance, including Mr. Lamb on the speaker phone, identified themselves. Approval of Minutes: Mr. Kanter presented the Draft #3 Minutes of the CEC meeting, May 16, 2018, and distributed a proposed amendment to those draft Minutes. A Motion was made and seconded to approve those Minutes, as amended. Roll-Call Vote: 5-0. Member Concerns and Liaison Reports: • Ms. Beebee and Mr. Smith plan to attend the initial, June 12'", meeting of the Town Manager Screening Committee. • Mr. Kanter reported that the BoS has selected Municipal Resources, Inc., to spearhead the process for selecting a new Town Manager. The selection process is on a very-fast track. • Mr. Kanter advised that Mike Cronin, Director, Department of Public Facilities, is working on a document which will layout a typical plan for the phases of the design/engineering process for a capital project that will include the percentages of funding for each phase during that process. Mr. Kanter has invited Mr. Cronin to present that plan to this Committee when it is ready for feedback from this Committee. • Mr. Kanter distributed what had been this Committee's final input to the BoS's goals setting for FY2019 and FY2020—which had been concurrently distributed at that time to this Committee—and, as requested by the BoS, also included this Committee's projects and goals. His purpose was so there could be a direct discussion of the latter. There was agreement that those Committee projects and Page 1 of 3 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting June 6, 2018 goals accurately reflected what had been elements of previous discussions by this Committee. • Ms. Manz reported on the recent Comprehensive Plan kick-off meeting, noting the wide variance in comments and positions expressed by the 50-60 residents who attended. She also shared her opinion that the Town seems to be moving forward on exploring ideas for increasing business activity on Hartwell Avenue before fully addressing traffic implications. During discussion by this Committee, it was confirmed that this Committee's previously stated position that traffic mitigation for Bedford Street and Hartwell Avenue, including their intersection, was especially challenging and mitigation needed to be understood before proceeding further with the initiative. This Committee recognizes that residents may need to make decisions between yet-to-be-quantified potential residential tax relief and traffic increases. Ms. Manz also expressed concern about the complexities associated with connecting Lexington's Pelham Road property with the property used for the Lexington Community Center (LexCC). Summit Meeting of the BoS, the SC, the Appropriation Committee (AC), and this Committee: Ms. Colburn reported on the school-related agenda items that are scheduled for discussion at the June 141h Summit: • School Master Planning: The last School Master Plan was completed in 2014 and the projects identified at that time for meeting near-term projected enrollments have been completed or are in process. (It was noted that groundbreaking for the Maria Hastings Elementary School is scheduled for June 131h.) School enrollments continue to increase at all levels, and a new master plan is needed. The scope for the new plan includes looking at Kindergarten through Grade 12 needs over the next five-to-ten years. A steering committee is meeting to identify some specific goals, and DiNisco Design, Inc., which is already under contract with the Town on behalf of the School Department (SD), can adjust the scope of that contract to include this effort; has the bandwidth to address that effort; and would be facilitating the process with the recently created School Master Planning Committee. Ms. Colburn reported that the study will only look at Lexington High School (LHS) in broad terms because if an LHS renovation/replacement project is accepted by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) for partial funding, the MSBA would be involved in the development of the project. It is anticipated that the SD will, if approved to do so by the SC and the BoS, submit a Statement of Interest to the MSBA regarding LHS in April 2019. Ms. Colburn explained that the SC and SD had originally understood that the $106,000 needed for this planning effort could come from a previous appropriation, but Bond Counsel recently reported that the Motion for that appropriation anticipated a project that required bonding, making the use of the funds for this master planning inappropriate. Funding alternatives include asking the AC for a Reserve Fund transfer. Page 2 of 3 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting June 6, 2018 During discussion, members of this Committee expressed support for a Reserve Fund transfer if the AC feels that is appropriate, and it was agreed that those attending the Junel4'" Summit could express this sentiment, but it was also stressed that such funding is an AC decision. A Motion was made and seconded to endorse the SC beginning now a new Master Planning process and to support the identification of funding as soon as possible. Roll-Call Vote: 5-0 • Science Laboratory Space in LHS: It is expected that 615-630 freshmen will be entering LHS in September 2018, the largest freshman class in recent history. Looking at the sizes of the grades following this class, this is now the norm. When these students begin taking the laboratory sciences (biology and chemistry) in 2019, there will not be enough laboratory space without reducing the number of laboratory sessions for advance placement classes or creating extremely awkward scheduling adjustments. Ms. Colburn explained that various options for having two additional classrooms with laboratory facilities, such as moving modulars that are no longer needed at the middle schools or relocating the Information Technology Department, were determined to be more expensive than in-house renovations. She anticipates requesting design funds at a fall Special Town Meeting (STM) and construction funds at the 2019 Annual Town Meeting. Construction funds are estimated at about $1.1 million. Mr. Kanter suggested that design funds for that size project might be approximately $200,000. There was discussion about enrollment projections and the implications of changing the approach to providing the laboratory sciences. Ms. Lenihan and Ms. Colburn noted that for the latter, there are staffing and curriculum impacts, and it would take several years to implement such changes. Mr. Kanter urged the SC to clearly justify the Capital needs, versus all possible administrative adjustments, before the STM. Ms. Colburn reported that the need for a swimming pool for the High School Swim Teams will not be discussed at the Summit. Because a pool was not included in the Minuteman Technical High School replacement facility and the current pool at that school will be demolished, the LHS swim teams would no longer practice there. Although finding alternative locations has been a challenge, it appears that there will be an arrangement with Hanscom Air Force Base to use its pool at least during the coming school year. It was noted that approximately 50 students, in total, are on the teams, and that MSBA does not help funding of swimming pools in new school facilities. Adjourn: A Motion was made and seconded at 8:56 A.M. to adjourn. Roll-Call Vote: 5-0. These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its meeting on June 25, 2018. Page 3 of 3