HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-10-26-ETF-minEstabrook Task Force Meeting Minutes
October 26, 2011 at 6:00 p.m.
Meeting was called to order at 6:04 p.m.
Members and Ex- Officio in attendance: Judy Crocker, John Livsey, Bill Hadley, Sandy Trach,
Peter Johnson, Christian Boutwell, Jim Brown, Mark Corr, Ben Moroze, Ed LoTurco, Tom
Peterson, Deb Mauger, Michelle Ciccolo, Richard Larrabee, Pat Goddard, Mary Ann Stewart,
Harold Payson, Paul Ash, John Freck, Manuel Ferro. Consultants in attendance: Cassius Moore,
Jaklyn Centracchio, Tony Lionetta, Kien Ho, Leno Filippi, and Gary Ainslie
Minutes to be reviewed and approved:
A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of 8/31 /11 previously distributed to the
ETF. The motion passed unanimously.
The Task Force discussed the draft minutes of 9/19/11. Jim Brown expressed concern, which
was echoed by other members, that the motion regarding the future use of Robinson Road was
not properly depicted. A motion was made by Bill Hadley and seconded by Deb Mauger to edit
the minutes further and recirculate to the Task Force before finalizing them at a future meeting.
Members wanted the 9/19/11 minutes to reflect that primary access to school should remain as is
and to potentially use Robinson Road as a secondary access and remove the verbiage "for
emergency purposes ". Members also wanted the words "Option 4 and Option 2" deleted from
motion. The motion to table the minutes passed unanimously.
Gary Ainslie from the DiNisco design team presented options for the internal circulation during
construction and showed site plans for the new school for the Task Force to also consider access
for the permanent facility.
The options DiNisco presented ranged depending on whether the new school would be either a
two -story or three -story facility and each offered different scenarios.
Focusing on construction access, the following options were discussed in some detail with
power -point slides depicting the proposed layout:
Option 1 a would have cars entering from Grove Street with no modification to the existing
entrance. Option 1 b is the same principal with all cars coming off Grove Street, no modifications
to existing entry but with less on -site queuing.
Option 2a involves making modifications to the driveway off Grove but will provide on -site
queuing. Option 2b is the only option that addresses putting all queuing on -site that now
presently exists on Grove Street.
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Option 3a addresses parents entering via Grove Street and exiting (only) out Robinson Road.
This would reduce the necessary width of the Grove Street entrance as it would not require an
additional traffic line coming in and out of school property.
DiNisco generally feels Grove Street should be the sole entry and exit of the new school
although they are not taking a position on anything yet due to the fact that it has not yet been
determined if the new school will be a two -story or three -story facility.
DiNisco stated that although this is a large construction project, deliveries of materials will be
staggered and workers will park off site. Any delivery of construction equipment (crane, etc.)
will be done during school hours but they will have control over delivery time so as not to
interfere with drop off /pick up /recess, etc.
Permanent potential access once building is constructed was also discussed. These options also
depended on whether the new school would be either a two -story or three -story building.
Turning to the construction schedule, DiNisco described that the project is presently in the
feasibility phase. The new school is slated to open in September, 2014. Accordingly, DiNisco
has to submit to the MSBA the final selected or recommended option by December, 2011 but
needs a construction access decision from the Task Force prior to December. Space planning
specifications have been submitted for review and approval but as of now, both a two -story or
three -story building are still under consideration.
The ETF then reviewed the public safety concerns. Various public safety personnel have been
meeting to discuss what access would be required for emergency response. There are a number
of different standards recommended for emergency access roadway widths. At a minimum,
emergency access to the site coming from Robinson Road should allow for at least an 18 foot
road width.
Police Chief Mark Corr has traffic concerns before and after construction is completed.
Considering the current volume of traffic around the school and the potential future volume of
traffic, queuing should be removed from Grove Street. The school must have two entrances as
emergency vehicles need to have another access. Currently Robinson Road does not meet the
minimum requirements for a fire lane and must be changed to allow emergency access. It is
imperative queuing off public streets and onto the school property. This might require
expanding the Grove Street entrance to possibly four lanes.
ETF member Jim Brown noted that widening the school driveway will make his resident
driveway dangerous for his family and he is opposed to the widening of the Grove Street
driveway.
Interim Fire Chief Keith Hoyle stated that there presently is inadequate emergency access to the
school. If there was ever a three alarm call to that location, there could be upwards of 16 pieces
of apparatus called on site. In its current state, having that amount of equipment access the
school via Robinson Road would be highly problematic. If the Town is going forward with
constructing the new school, they have to look at options of improving Robinson Road and
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Grove Street. It is the recommendation of the Fire Department to make Robinson Road an 18
foot lane for the purpose of emergency access to the school property.
Five things recommended by public safety officials where summarized by Michelle Ciccolo.
They are the widening of Robinson Road to a minimum of 18 feet; increasing the turning radius
at Turning Mill Road, straightening the intersection of Grove Street and Robinson Road; adding
a cul de sac at the top of Robinson Road for emergency vehicles and occasional drop offs; the
engineering exploration of adding a traffic signals on Grove Street in conjunction with
improvements to the main school entrance.
Kien Ho from Beta Group updated the Task Force on new data and information. At the last ETF
meeting Beta left off discussing safety improvements at the main access of the school and
looking at Robinson Road for limited future access. Limited access has not yet been defined but
Robinson Road has to be improved for at least emergency access. They did an analysis on what
kind of pick up /drop off would be needed for 550 students and found that pick up and drop off
space required would be 250 feet and queuing space would need to be 1400 feet. Beta is
working with DiNisco on this. If the property can accommodate 1400 feet on site, there would
not be a major need for an alternative regular access to the school other than the existing main
entrance (provided a secondary access for public safety is provided). However, the steepness of
the main entrance does still pose some safety concerns so lowering the grade should be explored
along with reconfiguring the entrance with possible additional lanes. A traffic light should also
be examined to see if it improves safety in and out of the main access road intersection.
It was brought to Beta's attention if the grade to the entrance is lowered from 9% to 7 %, it will
make Mr. Brown's driveway even worse so they will need to look at alternatives to make sure
the residential driveway is not severely impacted.
Concerns brought up by residents in the audience included a worry about run off from a widened
access road potentially causing flooding issues on their property. Neighbors questioned whether
entrance grade change would worsen the problems and how it would affect drainage. Where to
put snow was also noted as a concern.
Alternatives to physical upgrades were also noted. If school busing is provided during
construction at a free or reduced cost, would this help reduce the congestion at the school?
Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Ash said it would cost the Town approximately $1.2 million for
eight buses to transport the population of Estabrook during the two year construction phase. As
such, there would still be some traffic on school property as the school department cannot
enforce families to take the bus. The data from parent surveys is mixed and it is not clear how
much free bussing would change the drop off /pick up behavior. There is also a related issue that
needs to be taken into consideration for the permanent facility. Could a different bus fee
structure result in lower vehicle drop -offs and allow the new school to have shorter queue lanes?
Judy Crocker noted that in past school construction projects, there were parameters set by the
Superintendant and School Committee with respect to parking and queing. She encourages the
School Committee and Superintendant to do the same with the Estabrook construction project.
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A request was made to the School Committee to determine if there will be free bussing during
the construction process. It was also requested of the School Committee to determine how many
parking spaces and how many feet the queuing line should be.
A suggestion was made to have the design team send Michelle Ciccolo the positives and
negatives of the Options discussed to distribute to the Task Force. The Task Force will review
and come back at the next meeting with a decision.
Updates from PBC and DPF regarding status and timeline was not discussed. Michelle will send
out an email or a Doodle Poll to schedule the next meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 8:43 p.m.; all in favor.
- -- -Final minutes approved by the Task Force at its meeting of 11/28/11
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