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Home My WebLink About2002-11-27-PWSC-min Minutes of the DPW Facility/Senior Center Re-Evaluation Advisory Committee November 27, 2002 Members in Attendance Chairman Paul Lapointe, Donald Chisholm, Michelle Ciccolo, Marshall Derby, David Eagle, Donald Graham, Steve Hurley, Peter Kelley, Bill Kennedy, Jeanne Kreger, Barbara Lucas, John McWeeney Liaisons John Rosenberg, Sheldon Spector Staff: Mary Jo Bohart, Bill Hadley,Heather Hartshorn Sweeney, Kelly McKay Zeoli Visitors Harnett Cohen (Fair Housing and Human Relations Committee) Minutes Regarding the November 13 minutes, David Eagle corrected that he would check the times, not that he had already checked the times, as was wntten under the Discussion over Meeting with CDM section. Don Graham made a motion to accept the revised November 13 minutes. The motion was seconded. The motion passed unanimously Decision Making Criteria for 201 Bedford Street Peter Kelley said that the committee should first consider what the site is currently used for and what is the main objective of the DPW He believes that 201 Bedford St. is the best site for the DPW,but that a public process should make that decision. Paul Lapointe asked if we were interested in the highest economic benefit? Peter responded saying if so, that could be the highest pnority and that it really depends on what the overall objective is He said that the committee could look at it as money or land. He believes though, that land is almost impossible to acquire, so he wouldn't give up the land. With this in mind,Donald Chisholm asked if the RFI should then be for lease purposes? Marshall Derby responded that he thinks the committee would be criticized if it made that decision,but that the committee could recommend leasing to Town Meeting. Sheldon Spector said that the other two committees showed that there is a very limited list of open parcels in town, and Paul followed up by saying that the committee should think of the Town's core values when deciding the cntena. Kelly Zeoli then offered to distribute a list of the Vision 2020 Committee's goals and objectives to help with the core values Michelle Ciccolo said that they should include selling the parcel as an option,because like Marshall said,the committee would be criticized for making that decision. She also believes that some of the 2020 information could be attached to the RFI. Paul,Peter, and Sheldon spoke about considenng fiscal considerations and their timelines, for example a debt exclusion, voter referendum, when the next school building votes will be etc. Donald Graham said that we should think about how the functions and range of activities of the DPW and Senior Center can be performed most effectively Paul asked if the committee should discuss land use policy and the best possible use of the land? Marshall responded that that would be hard to do, because of zoning and John McWeeney said that highest and best use depends on who is saying it and what his/her views are. He said that the money value 1 depends on the density Michelle said that the public hearing process would help flush this out. She also said that the committee could attempt to rank all the proposals received based on its criteria and then pass that along. Mary Jo Bohart warned that if the committee puts too many limitations on the proposals, that it won't get the big ideas from submitters. Barbara said that she would like to see visualizations included in the RFI, for example, conceptual drawings, renderings,pictures of a similar project etc John Rosenberg said that the committee should look at operating costs for the senior center, like it is doing for the DPW Acquisition and constructions costs should be examined along with operating and financing costs. RFI Paul wanted to discuss the RFI timetable and Michelle the process that it would go through. Michelle thought the quality of proposals would improve if the developers know what to expect. She said that the RFI work group would have a final draft for next week's meeting and hopes to get it out next Friday She will publish it in trade, construction and real estate journals John said that the proposals should be due about thirty days after the site visit, and Marshall commented that the site visit should be in the middle of the process. Dates—The site visit will be on January 8th at 9 30, after the committee meeting. The proposals will be due on February 10th The dates of public hearings have not been set,but they will be prior to the report to the BOS Zoning—Mary Jo said that the entire property is zoned CN or Neighborhood Commercial. She thought incorporating the definition of CN into the RFI would be helpful. Environmental Issues— Steve asked if there were any environmental issues other than the oil tanks? Peter responded that there is a stream, so there are set backs. John suggested checking with Conservation. Michelle said that there is a Rivers' Protection Act,which states setbacks. She said that she would note in the RFI that the developer would have to speak with Conservation. Traffic—Steve asked if the committee or developer should do a traffic study? John said there are numbers from a Dunkm Donuts study a while ago Bill Hadley said that he would look into getting the results of the traffic study Senior Center—Marshall would like the RFI to include information that 201 Bedford St. was the recommended location for the new senior center by the Senior Center Siting Committee. Affordable Housing—Marshall suggested adding information stating that if a developer is planning a housing project,then the Town's policy is that 10% of it be affordable Harriett also encouraged the committee to consider fair housing. Criteria Ranking—Michelle asked if the RFI should show the committee's ranking of the criteria? Barbara also said the RFI could have two levels of criteria. For example, 3 of the 2 criteria would be the highest priorities and 3 would be secondary The criteria will be brainstormed and ranked at Dec 4th meeting. Wording Changes - Several committee members had small wording suggestions Pg. 3 -take out the word"exclusively" in the fourth paragraph, Pg. 5 -take out "1 or 2 best" and the word "negotiations" in the first paragraph. Also call the proposals "submissions" instead, Pg. 7 - change "will" to "may" in the first sentence. Under Selection Cnteria, change "value" to "impact" and take out "degree of traffic impact" Michelle asked if the committee should also go through an RFI process with the Hartwell Avenue property? Bill Kennedy said that if the committee decides to do this, it should request permission from the BOS, as it is not in the current scope of the committee. Barbara suggested that Paul raise that issue in his December presentation to the Selectmen. Committee members should e-mail Michelle any further comments on the RFI. She would like more comments on the steps on page 5 CDM Follow-Up Proposal Bill Hadley passed out a follow-up proposal he received from CDM. He said there is still money in the article to do this. If the committee agreed to go ahead with this today, he could get the final report in January Paul thought this would be helpful, and he would like a profile of the surveyed communities Sheldon agreed that this is a good idea for a small amount of money Senior Center Work Group Paul said that the group met with an architect, John Caitlin, who Don Graham and Heather had met at a conference Paul said that he would get a report outline to the group shortly Next Steps The next meeting will be at 7 45 a.m. in the Senior Center on Wednesday, December 4 Meetings through January have been scheduled for the following dates December 18, 2002, January 8,2003, and January 22, 2003 3