HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-11-13-PWSC-minMinutes of the DPW Facility /Senior Center
Re- Evaluation Advisory Committee
November 13, 2002
Members in Attendance
Chairman Paul Lapointe, Donald Chisholm, Michelle Ciccolo, Marshall Derby, David Eagle,
Donald Graham, Steve Hurley, Peter Kelley, Bill Kennedy, Jeanne Krieger, John McWeeney
Liaisons: John Rosenberg, Sheldon Spector
Staff. Bill Hadley, Kelly McKay Zeoli
Minutes
Don Graham made a motion to accept the October 30 minutes. Don Chisholm seconded the
motion. The motion passed unanimously.
Discussion over meeting with Camp, Dresser, and McKee (CDM)
David Eagle said that he would check the times it takes to go from Bedford St. to many points
in town and believes that the travel times in actuality are much longer than what CDM stated,
which would affect operating costs. Bill Hadley said that CDM would draft a "scope of
services" with additional analysis of travel times, the facilities etc. This will be a proposal to
do extra work. He hopes to receive it within a month.
Sheldon Spector asked if the DPW working group looked at low level details, like return trips
to the operations facility for lunch or parts. David said that CDM estimated the DPW
employees take an average of 6 one -way trips total per day, including returns for a morning
coffee break and lunch. Bill Kennedy said that it's not just the cost of those trips but also the
perception. Paul Lapointe asked if the DPW staff work team looked at the efficiencies of
moving versus not moving locations. Bill Hadley replied that they had, while keeping in
mind the collective bargaining contract.
Landfill
Bill Hadley said that he received notification from the Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) yesterday, that the Town can cap the landfill as requested. He explained
that the landfill site could then be used for commercial or industrial use only. They would
clean up the "hot spots" and then leave the rest of the solid waste site as it is. Sheldon
believes the Town should act quickly as the State political climate could be changing.
Senior Center Working Group Update
Don Graham relayed the working group's belief that it is time to hire a professional architect
to help them. They would like a report similar to the one prepared by CDM for the senior
center. They are also updating their prepared statement from a couple of years ago and still
have some questions in their own minds, which they are discussing. They will have material
to present at the next meeting. Paul also said that since they would like to spend some of the
$50,000 appropriated for them, they would circulate a memo to the necessary boards and
committees saying they have done as much as they can as amateurs. They are looking for a
report with conceptual designs that are not site specific. Peter Kelley asked who decides
when to spend the money? Paul replied that that was a good question, and the group will need
to review the Town Meeting charge. Peter said that he thought a site had to be chosen before
the money could be spent. Jeanne Krieger responded that she thinks it would be okay to
spend the money with a narrow list of sites, because otherwise the committee would just be in
an endless loop and would never move ahead. Don Graham said that since the 201 Bedford
St. site was recommended, they could look at that site with another site as a backup. Paul is
not sure that the report would be complete by Town Meeting, but the committee needs more
solid numbers, like building costs, even if the site is not finalized.
Request for Information Working Group Update
Michelle Ciccolo said that she and Jeanne are trying to get a handle on what is feasible for the
site versus what is desirable for it. They would like some feedback and consensus from the
committee before moving forward with the RFI. They are also trying to learn the value of the
land and the potential tax revenue if it were sold, and figure out what uses are compatible with
the neighborhood. Michelle also said that they could send out an RFI immediately, but the
response would be meaningless if there are no parameters or scope set by the committee, for
example, how much of the land is included, would it be in conjunction with a senior center,
what would the zoning be, would the town lease or sell the land etc. John McWeeney
believes that the only way to go about this is to tell developers that they have a blank sheet of
paper to work with. Marshall Derby thinks that since 201 Bedford St. was chosen as the
preferred site for the senior center should the DPW leave, it would be disingenuous to not
disclose the possibility that the senior could also be located there to the developers. John then
suggested that we tell the developers what we know: the lot size, current zoning, height
limitations etc. Bill Kennedy was concerned that developers would not actually respond to an
RFI such as this, but John assured him that they would, because at this point, everybody has a
chance. Paul asked Michelle and Jeanne to have at least an outline to show the committee in
two weeks.
Format of Reports
Paul suggested using the following format for reports: problem statement, facts bearing on the
problem, assumptions, decision - malting criteria, recommendations. He would like the
committee members to start thinking about whether they would like separate reports from the
working groups or an overall committee report that references the working groups.
Suggested Deadlines
Paul proposed the following deadlines:
Nov. 27 — Subcommittees present report outlines to full committee
Dec. 4 — Committee reviews draft RFI to potential developers
Dec. 9 — Chair reports to BOS
Dec. 11— Town publishes notices that RFI is available
Dec. 18 — Subcommittees share draft reports with full committee
Working Groups Review
1. Define architectural program and optimal operating characteristics of a new DPW facility -
Bill Kennedy, Marshall Derby, Steven Hurley, David Eagle, and John McWeeney
2. Define architectural program and optimal operating characteristics of a new Senior Center -
Don Chisholm, Don Graham, Paul Lapointe, and Steven Hurley
3. Research and issue a Request for Interest to potential developers of 201 Bedford St. -
Michelle Ciccolo, Jeanne Krieger, and Barbara Lucas
4. Determine decision - making criteria: How do we define "best" in "best possible reuse ?" -
Michelle Ciccolo, Jeanne Krieger, and Peter Kelley
Next Steps
The next meeting will be at 7:45 a.m. in Town Hall in room 111 on Wednesday, November
27. The committee will discuss decision - making criteria.
Meetings through January have been scheduled for the following dates: December 4, 2002,
December 18, 2002, January 8, 2003, and January 22, 2003. All the meetings will be held at
7:45 a.m. in room G -15 of Town Hall.