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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-11-02-CPC.min Community Preservation Committee Monday, November 2, 2009 Room G-15, Town Offices 3:30 pm Present: Betsey Weiss, Chair; Joel Adler, Norman Cohen, Marilyn Fenollosa, Jeanne Krieger, Wendy Manz, Leo McSweeney, Nathalie Rice, Admin. Asst; Sandy Shaw, and Dick Wolk. Mr. David Kanter of the Capital Expenditures Committee was in attendance as well as Ms. Karen Simmons, Director of Recreation, Mr. Stew Kennedy of the Conservation Commission and Ms. Peggy Enders. Ms. Weiss called the meeting to order at 3:35 pm. The purpose of the meeting was to listen to a presentation on three projects before the CPC, and to address an issue raised the previous week regarding use of contingency funds from a Cultural Resources Study approved in 2007. 1.Stormwater Mitigation on Marrett Road/the Old Res. – Mr. Dave Pinsonneault, Superintendent of Public Grounds, introduced this request for $190,047 and updated the Committee on the status of the work approved in FY 2009 and FY 2010. The gatehouse project from FY 2009 has been completed, but the work approved for FY 2010 has not yet been commenced. Mr. Pinsonneault explained that he and Ms. Simmons are awaiting word on the State grant which the Town has applied for through the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), funded by USEPA under the Clean Water Act, Section 319. Mr. Pinsonneault explained that when the decision on the grant comes through, Phase 1 from FY 2010 and Phase II proposed for FY 2011 would be commenced. Phase II would involve creating a stormwater detention basin in the southwest corner of the wooded area surrounding the Old Reservoir. This area of the watershed was unable to be tied into the four catch basins to the east, and necessitated its own detention basin. Since Phase I of the study had not yet been started, the Committee questioned whether the Reservoir had to be closed this past summer due to contamination. Ms. Simmons said the Reservoir had to be closed on seven different occasions but not because they found increased bacteria levels in the water. She explained that there is a precautionary procedure in place, where the Reservoir is closed for a day when there is ½ inch of rain or more in 24 hours. (This precaution is taken because runoff from Marrett Road and its watershed was determined to be the primary source of the bacterial contaminants entering the Reservoir.) Ms. Simmons added that they conduct bacterial testing of the water in the Reservoir once per week. There was a discussion of the timing of Phase I and II, and the delay caused by waiting to hear about the DEP grant. Mr. Pinsonneault said the project would get underway as soon as word came through about the grant. 1 2.Center Playfields Drainage – Implementation Phase – Mr. Pinsonneault next addressed the Center Playfields Project, (funding request of $875,173) stating that the engineering firm, The Louis Berger Group, Inc., had completed its report and had made recommendations about the types of drainage improvements needed. Mr. Pinsonneault had provided the Committee with additional support material in the form of a handout. He said the work proposed for the Center Playfields would be divided into three Phases, with Phase I taking place in FY 2011. The work would involve regrading the baseball/softball/multipurpose field and installing additional subsurface drainage. There was a discussion of the quality of the underlying drainage infrastructure, especially the culvert at Vine Brook, which appears to be undersized. There were questions from the CPC about whether the job as proposed was adequate, since so much of the area is underlain by peat. Mr. Wolk suggested that to address the issue on a permanent basis the underlying soils might have to be removed. Mr. Pinsonneault agreed, but said that a major earth removal and drainage project was just not feasible at this time. Mr. Pinsonneault said that the fields would be rotated out of service for approximately a year as each one was restored. 3.Minuteman Bikeway Preservation Project – Mr. Pinsonneault explained that this request for $320,000 would be used in conjunction with a $175,000 appropriation passed in 2007 by Town Meeting. He had given the Committee a handout which explained the project. He said that the Bikeway is in a state of disrepair in many locations due to root invasion, poor drainage, and erosion. The CPC funds will be used to install root barriers, conduct drainage repairs and restore swales. After all the restoration work has been completed, the appropriation from 2007 will be used to repave the restored sections. CPC dollars will not be used for repaving. Mr. Stew Kennedy of the Conservation Commission and Ms. Peggy Enders spoke in support of the Bikeway Restoration, stating that use of the Bikeway was increasing, and that a recent use survey noted 3,000 trips in one Saturday at the Depot. A tally taken during the commuting hours tallied 750 trips. The CPC received letters of support from three groups in addition to those submitted with the application. These included the Chamber of Commerce, the Town Recreation Committee, and the Lexington Center Committee. 4.Cultural Resources Request – Ms. Fenollosa, who had not been able to attend the previous CPC meeting when this item was on the agenda, 2 addressed a request from the Historical Commission to use $10,000 in contingency funds from the Cultural Resources Study approved for FY 2008. She said the Historical Commission was requesting the use of the funds in order to apply for a grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC). She explained that under the 2007 appropriation, the consultant for the Commission had augmented and updated a nine volume set of historic properties in Lexington. In Vol. 1 of this series, there are descriptions of neighborhoods, among them mid-century “modern” neighborhoods. Ms. Fenollosa explained that based upon the work completed in the study, the Massachusetts Historical Commission suggested that Lexington seek registration of certain of these mid-century neighborhoods on the National Register of Historic Places. She said that only those neighborhoods and homes that wished to be included in the National Register would be listed. Ms. Fenollosa said her Commission believes the request to use the contingency funds falls within the scope of the original project as approved by Town Meeting in 2007. The $10,000 in funds would make it possible to apply for a matching grant of $15,000 from the MHC. The application for the th grant must be received by November 15, hence the concern by the Commission to have CPC approval as quickly as possible. There was considerable discussion about registering homes in neighborhoods, and whether the Commission knew if residents wanted the work to be done. Ms. Fenollosa said the additional work would only focus on Peacock Hill, where the neighborhood association has requested inclusion in the study. Ms. Weiss brought up her concern that the work may be outside the original scope of the CPC appropriation. After further discussion, Ms. Manz made a motion to authorize the use of $10,000 of the appropriation to apply for a State matching grant to do further research on the Peacock Hill neighborhood, so that it may become a neighborhood on the National Historic Register. The Committee voted (7-1) to support this motion, with Ms. Weiss voting against it. The Committee later revisited this motion, and Ms. Manz amended her motion to include the words, “and to include a contextual study for the neighborhood and homes currently outside the Peacock Hill neighborhood if neighbors consent”. This motion was voted on and approved, (7-1) with Ms. Weiss again voting in the negative. 5.Request for Timely Appraisal Information – Ms. Weiss brought up the issue of the CPC’s review of appraisals for land acquisitions. She suggested a time period of 7-10 business days prior to a Town Meeting vote for CPC review of appraisals. She said this would eliminate the rush the Committee experienced last May, when the CPC received the appraisal for the Busa property the night before Town Meeting. This gave little time for the Committee to formalize their report and vote on the proposal. Similarly, the finance committees had to scramble to formally vote on the acquisition, and 3 were only able to do so just before the Town Meeting started. Mr. Cohen said he felt 7-10 days was a good recommendation, but should not be a binding time period. Ms. Krieger agreed, and said it could just be made clear to the applicants that an adequate period for review of the appraisal would be appreciated. It was suggested that the CPC could write the applicants proposing land acquisitions, and request a 7-10 day period for appraisal review. There was some discussion of the right of first refusal that accompanies an agricultural restriction, and how this played into the Busa time delay. Ms. Weiss will put this matter on the next agenda, since Mr. Wolk was not present for this discussion. The Meeting was adjourned at 4:55 pm. After the meeting was adjourned, Ms. Fenollosa requested that Ms. Weiss sign the letter from the Historical Commission so that the Commission could commence its grant application process. Ms. Weiss signed the letter, granting CPC approval of the use of $10,000 in contingency funds for the application for a State matching grant. Respectfully submitted, Nathalie Rice Administrative Assistant Community Preservation Committee 4