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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-12-01-CPC-min Community Preservation Committee Monday, December 1, 2008 Legion Room 4:00 pm Present: Betsey Weiss, Chair; Marilyn Fenollosa, Vice Chair; Joel Adler, Norman Cohen, Jeanne Krieger, Wendy Manz, Leo McSweeney, Nathalie Rice, Admin. Asst.; Sandy Shaw and Dick Wolk. David Kanter, CEC liaison was also present. The meeting was called to order at 4:05 pm. The purpose of the meeting was to review three projects before the CPC for FY 2010. These included renovation and redesign work at the Fire Headquarters, renovations to the Stone Building, and the purchase of three properties by LexHAB. 1.Fire Headquarters Renovation and Redesign – Chief Middlemiss opened the discussion. He was joined by Pat Goddard and Mark Barrett of Facilities. The Chief explained that the planning consultants, the Maguire Group, had come up with three possible options; Option A, would include keeping the existing footprint, upgrading the existing building, and reconstructing four bays at the rear of the building , Option B would necessitate demolishing and completely rebuilding the building, and Option C, would include only minor upgrades to the interior of the existing building. These Options were anticipated to cost, 8 million, 10 million and 3 million respectively. Chief Middlemiss explained that Option A was the most feasible and reasonable option being considered. He said that it allowed for the station to remain in service during the renovations and allowed for the addition of greatly needed space for the fire trucks and for equipment storage. He said the Design and Engineering cost for this option was $568,254 of which he would be requesting approximately 29%. This would amount to approximately $168,154. (The percentage of 29% was determined by the square footage of the area in the existing building to be renovated compared to the square footage of the entire construction. The CPC can only fund work associated with renovating the existing structure, as opposed to new construction.) Similarly, the expected request for CPC funds for the construction phase of the project would be 29% of the total of $5,308,810, or approximately $1,539,554. The Chief showed the Committee the floor plan for Option A, and explained that under this option, the existing station would be salvaged, the construction of the bays could continue with fairly little interruption to operations, the façade of the building would remain intact, and there would be relatively little disturbance to the site. In response to a question from Ms. Fenollosa, he added that the upgraded Headquarters would be able to accommodate the East Lexington Station and its 1 operation if the East Lexington Station were closed. It was also noted that the HDC has jurisdiction over the Fire Headquarters building, and that they would be involved in the renovation. Mark Barrett said the final report from the Maguire Group would probably be available to the Committee in the upcoming week. 2.Stone Building Renovation – Connie Rawson, Director of the Library, and Pat Goddard from Facilities spoke to this request for $271,660 for FY 2010. Ms. Rawson explained that the study, which was approved by the CPC in 2006, had recommended two options for upgrades to the building. One option called for the renovation of the “ell”, while a second option suggested using the existing footprint of the building for the necessary upgrades. The upgrades included handicapped access on the first and second floors, the installation of an elevator, and the construction of public bathrooms. Ms. Rawson said that at their th November 24 meeting, the Trustees of the Library had voted to discontinue library services at the Stone Building, in favor of renovating the building for use as a “Heritage Center”. Ms. Rawson explained that initial concepts for the Center included meeting, performance and exhibition space. She said it would be more than an Historical Center, and that it would include archive storage. She said the Trustees were in favor of the reconstruction of the “ell” rather than trying to fit all the necessary upgrades in the existing footprint of the building. Ms. Weiss asked about the upgrades that were undertaken as part of the flood insurance work. Ms. Rawson replied that there was a $25,000 deductible on the policy, and that the work that was undertaken included replacing the ceilings, rugs and other materials that were damaged. Mr. Goddard added that the net cost of the work was $35,000. There were a number of questions regarding the use of the Stone Building as a “Heritage Center”. Ms. Shaw questioned whether more archive storage was needed, in light of the CPC funding of the Town Offices archive project. Ms. Fenollosa asked how the $271,660 would be expended, if the Library already had plans showing two concepts for construction. Mr. Goddard replied that the documents were not plans, and that more researched was needed into the issues of access and historical preservation of the building. The Library will need detailed design plans and specs before the work can go out to bid. There were a number of questions about whether the Library’s idea of a Heritage Center had received community exposure. Ms. Rawson said the meetings of the Library Board had been well attended, and that to date the Waldorf School and one of the area churches had expressed interest in using the Center for future meetings. Mr. Kanter suggested that an article in the paper would be very helpful and provide the Trustees with additional feedback before the process was too far along. He felt broad community use would benefit the project during the budgeting process. Mr. Wolk asked if the CPC would be better informed before the Committee had to vote on the project. Ms. Krieger responded that the Selectmen are represented on the Library Board of Trustees, and that the Board is 2 asking the CPC to preserve the building, which irrespective of its use, needs to be done. Ms. Weiss asked if there would be a Historic Structures report as part of the $271,660, to which Ms. Rawson replied that there would be. Mr. Adler questioned whether the renovation of the Stone Building for a Heritage Center would preclude the Town qualifying for any grant monies that would otherwise be available to the library. Ms. Rawson said that the Town does receive such funds, but only for the Carey Memorial Library. Mr. Goddard briefly updated the Committee on the status of the fire suppression work at the Monroe School (funded in 2008). He said the bid had been protested by the bidders for lack of clarity, and that new documents had to be prepared. The th. new documents have been sent out, and bids are expected back in by January 14 3.LexHab Purchase of Three Properties – Mr. Hays commenced his presentation by stating that the CPC had funded the purchase of three condominium units at Parker Manor. He said LexHAB would be seeking 80% of the funding price for an additional three units this year. He described each of the properties, which included a tear-down, a standard home, and a condominium unit. The first property was located at 300 Woburn Street, and is selling for $325,500. Mr. Hays explained that the home is in poor repair, and will be demolished and replaced with a standard LexHAB cape cod style home. He said the Rotary and Minuteman Vocational Tech, would be used to provide manpower for the reconstruction. The second property was at 104 Emerson Gardens, and was a straightforward purchase of a condominium unit. Mr. Hays said it was a single bedroom unit, and was located on the first floor, which was beneficial for the elderly or a handicapped individual. This unit has been purchased by LexHAB for $250,000. The third property was on Ross Road off Massachusetts Avenue, and was valued at $395,000. The house was lost to the bank, but not yet in foreclosure. Mr. Hays said he felt that LexHAB could wait out the foreclosure and hoped to purchase the home at a reasonable rate. He added that the house was structurally secure and on a desirable lot, which made it an attractive purchase. There was a general discussion of the applicability of the 40B process, and whether the CPC funded properties would qualify as low and moderate income properties. Mr. Hays told the Committee that LexHAB would make every effort to structure the agreements for the three FY 2010 purchases so that the units qualified as low and moderate housing under the provisions of 40B. Ms. Weiss affirmed that there will be restrictions on these upcoming properties that would prevent them from being sold out from under low and moderate income restrictions. Ms. Weiss added that she wanted to see if the Parker Manor units could be similarly restricted. In response to a question from Ms. Fenollosa, Mr. Hays gave the Committee a brief update on LexHAB’s potential purchase of units at Katahdin Woods for low and moderate housing. 3 4.Future Meeting Dates - Future meeting dates were set as follows: -December 15, 2008, 4-6pm Selectmen’s Meeting Room -January 12, 2009, 4-6pm Selectmen’s Meeting Room -January 15, 2009, 4-6pm Selectmen’s Meeting Room 5.Administrative Budget - There was a discussion of the administrative budget and the need to cover the salary of the Administrative Assistant. Ms. Weiss explained that she wanted to include all of the Administrative Assistant’s salary and associated costs, in case there were budget cuts to the position. She said she needed to get the exact figures for the position from the Finance Department. The Committee also discussed the inclusion of $50,000 for Conservation planning monies to enable the Conservation Commission to do the due diligence needed for potential land acquisitions. The meeting was adjourned at 5:55 pm. Respectfully submitted, Nathalie Rice Administrative Assistant Community Preservation Committee 4