===OCR macOS Vision===
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Board of Selectmen: Jamie Toale, Chairman; Robert Ebersole, Vice Chairman; Damon McQuaid,
Clerk; Phyllis Luck, Member; Katey Adams, Member
Also Present: Heather Lemieux, Town Manager; Adam Costa, Town Counsel, Land Use Director
Adam Burney
The meeting opened at 7:00 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mr. Toale asked for a moment of silence and reflection in recognition of the events of September 11,
2001.
Mr. Toale stated in accordance with the requirements of Open Meeting Law, the meeting was being
recorded and broadcast over the Lunenburg Public Access channel.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Ms. Adams stated a resident had inquired if people could submit other photos for the new town website.
Ms. Luck thanked everyone who attended the Stillman Country Fair as well as the volunteers who made
it a success. The Town booth sold thirteen kitchen compost buckets that day as well as educated about
stormwater and volunteering for the Town.
Senator Dean Tran gave an update on the earmarks that were submitted through the state legislature.
Formal sessions ended in July. Under the Fiscal Year "19 Budget, we were able to secure the Turkey
Hill Elementary School asbestos removal funding in the amount of $130,000. Senator Tran stated he is
going to work on getting that funding awarded before the end of this calendar year.
Under the Capital Facility Bond Bill we were able to secure the following projects; $25,000 for HVAC
repairs at Eagle House Senior Community Center; $27,000 for the handicapped ramp at Town Hall;
$65,000 for the Public Works building renovations; $40,000 for the Public Library LED lighting and
$40,000 for the Feasibility/Cost Estimation Study to demolish the Old Primary School building and
design for future use.
Under the Economic Development Bond Bill, $450,000 to revitalize the facades and streetscapes
thorough downtown, $300,000 to redevelop the abandoned gas station at 925 Massachusetts Avenue and
$250,000 for developing a community service kitchen for business owners to use.
Ms. Luck asked Senator Tran if we decide not to spend the money on one of them, can we use it
elsewhere? Senator Tran stated no, the criteria are specific and stringent for each of these financial bills.
He noted whan the Town advocates for funds to be released you have to have a plan in place.
Mr. McQuaid thanked Senator Tran for working for the funding for the Town adding it is a huge help
and a weight off our shoulders. Senator Tran stated it was a privilege for him to work for the Town and
with Ms. Lemieux. The Board thanked Senator Tran.
Brian Rossi, 715 Northfield Road, spoke about illegal dumping at the donation box area at the
Lunenburg Crossing shopping plaza located off of Mass. Ave. He reached out to the company who owns
the donation boxes and they agreed to pick up more often but the dumping has since increased. He also
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Mr. Toale announced the Eagle House Supporters are holding an Old fashioned Han and Bean supper
on Saturday, October 20# from 4 - 7 p.m. The cost is $8.00 for adults and $5.00 for children. Proceeds
will benefit programs at the Eagle House Senior Community Center.
Presentation of Initial Conceptual Design for Consolidated Municipal Offices at the TC Passios Building
Paul Lieneck of Haynes, Leneck & Smith reported lappe Associates had previously done a town
building assessment and space needs study. One of the buildings was the T.C. Passios and one option
presented was to demolish part of the building. Since then we were given an expanded program from
13,000 to 19,000 square feet that could be used in the building. We were trying to see if that size change
fit and if we could use the whole building so the town could retain it as an asset. He presented a
conceptual plan with the west wing consisting of ten classrooms for municipal offices. The rooms are
each about 975 square feet. Each classroom has an exterior door that he recommended be removed and
either a window or solid panel would be put in. Currently the interior classroom doors aren't
handicapped-accessible, but that can be remedied fairly easy. The front section of the building would be
a community area. The former cafeteria would become a hearing room and the former gymnasium
would be for multi-purpose community use. The kitchen would be retained for a commercial kitchen; it
is in good condition and is an asset that is hard to come by. The wing in the back of the community
space has six unassigned classrooms off to the right. Doors can be placed to separate that area from the
rest of the building.
The remaining space has cable access space, information technology offices and school district office
space. This still leaves about 5,000 - 6,000 square feet of extra space. This has the potential to become
income generating space.
Regarding the site, there is a driveway that comes off Massachusetts Avenue and goes back to the
schools on the right side of the building. There is some existing parking that has 31 spaces. There is
another parking lot off the access drive that is for overflow parking and is approximately the same size
as the other one. We propose to put a loop road around the building that starts off the access road on the
right and rejoins it on the road that connects it to the front of the building. We could extend some
parking areas off the loop road for different access points to the building. This plan proposes 107 spaces
for a total of 138. If you had a large hearing, you would probably be using the Library for overflow
parking depending on the time of day. No costs estimates have been determined yet. Discussion ensued
about the plan, future municipal needs and possibly demolishing part of the building. Ms. Lemieux
moved on to her report as it relates to tonight's agenda items.
Requests for Use of Space at the TC Passios Building:
We have received requests from different organizations to use space at the T C Passios Building.
Shapiro Educational and Behavioral Consultants (https://sebc.vpweb.com/), a consulting group that
offers support to children and young adults with autism, has inquired about renting up to 15 classrooms
at the T C Passios Building for a two-year period. We have also been approached by the Director of the
Revolving Museum (http://therevolvingmuseum.org) about using space at the TC Passios for a two-year
period for artistic community programs that would provide in-kind art projects in exchange for use of
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Museum would theoretically be a community based venture that would promote the arts in Lunenburg,
provide a supplementary art program that school age children could participate in with professional
artists and create an attraction in Lunenburg that will draw in visitors, if it were similar to the World's
Largest Paper Airplane done in Fitchburg by the Revolving Museum this year.
I have met with School Superintendent Burnham and School Facilities Director John Londa to address
any logistics or concerns with the potential users of space at the T C Passios and Superintendent
Burnham has provided a list of items that users of the space would need to comply with such as all
affiliated parties passing a CORI check, compliance with all fire code and a log of all visitors. I will
continue to collaborate with the Superintendent and the School Facilities Director on any additional use
of space at the T C Passios as we share space at that building and both Town and school concerns need
to be addressed.
Ms. Lemieux introduced Jerry Beck of The Revolving Museum to provide a brief overview of what they
had in mind. Mr. Beck stated they were founded in 1984 with 12 abandoned railroad cars in Boston.
We transformed those sites and it brought in a lot of new development. For about 15 years we were the
largest presenters of youth art and artists' art in Boston. We were recruited by Lowell and we created a
renaissance there. A lot of our work is just inviting everyone to participate creatively in the
redevelopment of the city. We then went to Fitchburg and over the last three years we have worked with
5000 kids, over 1000 artists and 3,000+ community members. We continually work with all surrounding
towns in New England. We are interested in looking for new space in this community. We encourage
ownership of the projects. We thought this might be a great opportunity.
Town Facilities Workshop
Ms. Lemieux presented the following:
Discussion Topics
• Summary of Town Facilities Discussion to date
• Overall effect of maintenance/repair of old Primary School, TC Passios, Brooks
House, Town Hall and Ritter Memorial Building on operating budget and Capital Plan
• Maintenance/Repairs in FY19 Operating Budget and other Grant Funds for Maintenance/Repairs
• Annual Operating Costs of Five Buildings
• TC Passios Building: Town, School, Community Uses
• Next Steps to continue moving forward on Town Offices at the TC Passios Building
• Long Term Plan for re-use of the old Primary School, Brooks House, Town Hall, and Ritter Memorial
Building?
Timeline of Discussion on Town Facilities
• After the Building Reuse Committee disbanded, the Board of Selectmen made it one of their goals to
look at use and re-use of the five town buildings and have held various workshops, public forums, and
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o December 1, 201/ Public Forum on lown racilities at Mis/Hs
o February 5, 2018 Public Forum on Town Facilities at Eagle House
o February 13, 2018 Presentation by Vertex on the Property Condition Assessments for
Town Hall, Ritter, Passios and old Primary
o Various meetings in March and April discussed 2018 ATM warrant articles related to
facilities
o May 1, 2018 Workshop on Town Facilities
o May 5, 2018 Annual Town Meeting: Article 20 (Brooks) and Article 24 (old Primary) defeated
Five Year Costs for Five Buildings
Maintenance/Repairs Identified in Vertex Property Condition Assessments
Immediate
FY 20
FY21
FY22
FY23
FY24
Town Hall
$40,159
$6,448
$125,442
Ritter
$166,148
$6,448
$6,448
$0
$132,377
$58,118
$0
$72,177
$2,895
Brooks
$209,641
$137,990
$0
Old Primary $1,100,801
$0
$4,332
$0
$0
$0
$24,340
$770,855
$3,963
TC Passios $793,086
$1,515,995
$656,881
$2,309,835 $2,563,665
$389,614$151,002
$154,886
$840,441 $400,394 $229,627
$186,084
Totals
$184,945
$431,715
$376,303
$1,875,619
$3,661,464
$6,530,046
Ms. Lemieux pointed out that out of the $184,945 for Town Hall, $32,575 is currently budgeted in the
Fiscal 19 budget either through the operating budget or an earmark in the Capital Facilities Bond Bill.
$34,710 will be paid out of the Green Communities grant to replace condensing boilers in the Ritter
Building. So that is a reduction of the above costs.
Other items earmarked in the budget or through grant funding:
Maintenance/Repairs in Budget/Grants
• Town Hall Chimney Repair (Article 14, 2013 ATM) $5,575
• Town Hall 2nd floor restroom in FY19 budget - $9,000
• Town Hall Handicap Ramp in Capital Facilities Bond Bill - $27,000
• Old Primary School Asbestos Abatement Test and Feasibility Study for Re-use in Capital
Facilities Bond Bill- $40,000
• Turkey Hill Asbestos Abatement Earmark -$130,000 to be re-appropriated to other capital
projects (in the state budget)
• Ritter Memorial Condensing Boilers-$34,710 received in Green Communities Funding to be
down in FY19
~ Town Facilities-additional $40,000 in FY19 operating budget to address deferred maintenance
projects in Town buildings
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Town Hall
Ritter
Brooks
Old Primary
TC Passios
$50,863.25
$25,957.87
$4,778.30
$1,348.97
$65,500.57
$37,209.66
$0.00
$4,750.00
$0.00
$86,435.56
$13,653.59
$25,957.87
$28.30
$1,348.97
-$20,934.99
Uses for the TC Passios
• Town Offices: Consolidate all offices currently in the Town Hall, Ritter Memorial, PACC, and
Veterans Office currently at Eagle House and records storage
• School Central Offices: Superintendent's offices, IT offices, Food Service, Special Services, Facilities
Director, School Linked Services, and ACE Program, records storage
• Community Use: Gymnasium used by various community groups and Kitchen could be rented/leased
for commercial purposes to subsidize operating expenses
• Extra Rooms: Possible expansion in the future of needed office space or rental to a complimentary
municipal/school purpose such as Boys and Girls Club, educational support services agency, etc.
Next Steps for Consolidating Town Offices, School Central Offices & Community Space
1. Finalize conceptual design
2. Ask voters at STM for funding to do complete design/specifications for offices at T C Passios
3. Select Designer
4. Form Building Committee
5. Building Committee work with designer to come up with final designs, create specifications, and
ultimately detailed construction cost estimate
6. Present plans to multiple focus groups
7. Ask voters at a town meeting to fund construction costs
Long Term Plan
• Old Primary School
• Brooks House
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we fund the demolition of Passios we have 8t acres of land for future school use.
Mr. McQuaid stated the Building Reuse Committee and the Board of Selectmen has talked with the
School Committee and the School Facilities Director; neither has concern about the future use of Turkey
Hill Elementary or their space needs. Through our studies and working with Tappe, who designed our
current high school, if you have to build a new school building, you build the school on the fields and
demolish the old building and put the fields there. It's been addressed, we asked the questions of the
people who are capable of giving us an analysis and the reason why we don't keep bringing it up is
because they have said unequivocally they are not worried about the space for their use.
Mr. Ebersole stated we talked about giving the new Superintendent some time in her position before we
talked about the school budget as well as their capital needs. We talked about Turkey Hill being
renovated in about ten years. We have been doing a lot of the work every year with the asbestos
abatement, so the renovation at that time won't be as expensive because we will have already spent a lot
of that money. The fact that it is not on the list doesn't mean it is not considered, but it is not an
immediate concern with the understanding that we are looking at a conceptual plan of a reuse. I believe
we still need to continue working on the rest of the buildings. The fact that we've talked about the initial
proposal to sell all the properties is not off the table because the Town could still vote to sell some of the
properties. The realistic part is that we are looking at continually controlling them either through a lease
or the ownership process of those properties.
Mr. Toale noted the Five Year Costs for Five Buildings chart that we are looking at is the Vertex
study/assessment of what it would cost if nothing was done to keep them up and running. We have
already discussed that many of them are underutilized. Our plan currently is to consolidate into one
building which would change from maintaining what exists now to constructing a new use and those
costs would be built into the construction of the new use. We would be looking for other opportunities
like the art project, the Boys and Girls Club and going out to bid for other uses and we would assess
each of them against their own financial model. You would not need to put out the cost projected by
Vertex unless you were going to use it for the same use. Mr. Ebersole asked what is the action item that
we need to move forward for continued work on the conceptual plan so we have something to bring to
Town Meeting so they can provide feedback.
Mr. Lemieux stated you can accept Haynes, Leineck & Smith's proposal tonight and the architect can go
forward and design the space within those spaces. Mr. Ebersole stated he was prepared to make a motion
to get to that part with the understanding of various comments that people made concerning not
necessarily staying in line with the walls if a department does not need that space; to look at options of
off-site record storage so there is the option of possible demolition of a wing if we don't really need it.
Also, discussion with the school about whether students should be in the school; I'm concerned if we
have public meetings in the school we are going to have CORI issues. He was concerned with mixing
uses and with the Town becoming a landlord on a long term basis.
Mr. Toale added we need to discuss short term cost versus long term usage, understanding that we have
to put it out to bid for competitive bidders. We have three entities that have expressed interest in the
space at T C Passios and two are looking for two year commitments or longer. That could inhibit our
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are going to build the lown Hall, we should bulld it with all due speed and not to just do it rough shod.
Ms. Luck felt the Town would be safe to rent to someone for two years when you consider all of the
steps that we have to go through before we are able to start construction. It would be nice if they could
present one design leaving the unassigned space and another removing it. Mr. Ebersole suggested adding
a third design that would get rid of record storage and the entire back wing.
Motion: K. Adams
2nd: P. Luck
That we offer more than one conceptual Town Hall plan for the Town to consider and take a more
bifurcated approach
Discussion: Mr. McQuaid believed this would set them back another year in order to get more funding
for more designs. Ms. Adams stated some components of this popped up at previous town meetings and
was voted down, she would be willing to give it a year. If we bring these things forward and they are
voted no, we are wasting that same year. Mr. Ebersole was not in favor of this motion. Mr. Toale
believed they have investigated this and brought several concepts forward and been asked with support
to get more data. He believed we have gotten enough data at this point for this particular concept. He
stated he would not support the motion.
Vote: 1 in Favor (Adams), 4 Against
Mr. Toale stated what we are looking for is a design plan that we can share to get public feedback.
Motion: R. Ebersole
2nd: D. McQuaid
To approve the conceptual plan and request added options of eliminating the unallocated space
and the record storage space and moving areas to eliminate the space behind it
Discussion: Ms. Adams expressed concern about student safety/security and the traffic flow with the
proposal at T C Passios. She did not feel there was enough research into the impact of using this
building 10- 15 years in the future. Ms. Luck noted the old Primary School is not on this campus; we do
not have to put a school on this property. Ms. Adams stated there are a lot of costs associated with
putting a school in a different location.
Vote: 4 in favor, 1 against (Adams)
Ms. Lemieux reported she has spoken with the Police Chief in the past about security and her
recollection of his comment was that it would be addressed in the design. There are other public spaces
in that area including the Library, the playground and the Senior Center. People can come and watch
games, they don't have to be parents. They are visitors to the campus. She added we have discussed
Turkey Hill Elementary at our Capital Planning meetings to a large extent; the School Facilities Director
has presented a capital plan for all the school buildings and that has been included in all the Capital
Planning meetings as well as Finance Committee meetings.
Mr. Leineck will return with the requested designs at a later date.
6. Minutes/ Warrants/ Action File Issues
Minutes of August 21, 2018 were accepted with a correction ("more" added) on the second to last page
under the Quarterly Financial Report. The Board signed an accounts payable warrant in the amount of
$229,231.94.
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approve them this evening.
7. Committee Reports
Ms. Adams reported the Planning Board continued and then closed their hearing for Settlers Solar.
They will vote on it at their next meeting. They began discussion of marijuana regulations.
Ms. Adams added she attended a Montachusett Regional Planning Commission meeting.
Ms. Luck reported the School Committee held their first meeting with new Superintendent Burnham.
Several residents attended the meeting and were discussing the athletic field user fees. They requested
the Board of Selectmen work with the School Committee and the Parks Commissioners to figure out a
more equitable way to charge user fees for the school fields. School Committee Chair Sroka will contact
Mr. Toale to arrange a meeting time. The Storm Water Task Force is going to meet Thursday to do the
final pass on the Notice of Intent for the MS4 permit. The Steering Committee for the Central Mass
Regional Stormwater Coalition met in Lunenburg last week. They want to know what kind of help do
communities need? Ms. Luck did not feel she was in position to know what the Town needs and
suggested the Lunenburg consultant attend one of their meetings. Their next meeting is October 2° in
Northborough. Their annual meeting will be held November 14t*
Mr. Ebersole reported the Charter Review Committee is continuing to meet and will be reporting at the
Special Town Meeting (STM), but not calling for any votes. We did hear feedback during the public
hearing and we are pulling back on that information. We are simplifying what is going to be asked, so
there will be additional information at that STM with the understanding that we will be going for a vote
at the Annual Town Meeting in May 2019.
Mr. Toale attended the Personnel Committee meeting and requested their professional help as Human
Resource experts on our Goal #3: Increase Alignment with Committees Appointed by the Board of
Selectmen. They want one more meeting to think about it but they were favorably inclined and even
wanted to use the vacancy on their committee as a model to do the recruiting and outreach etc. and
document and learn from it.
Mr. Toale reviewed their upcoming meeting schedule: September 18 and October 2, 9, 16, 23. The
workshop will be the second meeting of October and will address polishing up the policies and working
on the liquor license policy. The Special Town Meeting is November 13th,
PUBLIC COMMENT
Dave Rodgers, 82 Highland Street, stated it was very important the Town residents have a feeling of
what it is going to cost to solve our facilities problem. He asked the Board to keep their focus on the
end result.
Dave MacDonald, Island Road, stated he works in retail construction. Our school cost $72 million but
the state paid for half so it only cost the Town around $35 million. As he understood it, when the schools
do their plans, it is all done by the schools, not the Board of Selectmen. On his tours of other towns,
Sharon and Taunton, they both went through the same process that this Board is going through. Taunton
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are going over the next few years. He believed the Revolving Museum would fit into the timeframe the
Board had and believed Mr. Beck would be flexible with the time and space parameters. He asked about
the RFP process. He offered to help from the business side. Is there a mechanism for him to use the
space in the short term during the RFP process?
Mr. Toale stated any short term use would be up to the Town Manager; long term it gets built into our
planning process. He was pleased that there was interest in some of our buildings. Mr. Ebersole
explained the Passios was under the jurisdiction of the Board of Selectmen and according to the Charter,
Town Manager would be the point person.
Helen Obermeyer Simmons, 323 Northfield Road, stated Jerry Beck is a visionary and it would be great
if he came to Lunenburg. If The Revolving Museum moved to Passios, it would attract other artists.
She encouraged them to consider this seriously.
Ms. Adams stated she wanted to understand what the future use of the municipal buildings would be if
the Town offices were moved to T C Passios.
Ms. Lemieux following up on the previous public comment, stated photos for the Town website have to
be a certain size. Ms. Adams asked if there could be a place on the website to submit their photos. Ms.
Lemieux will look into that. She added photos taken around the community would be welcomed.
Motion: R.Ebersole
To adjourn the meeting
2nd: D.McQuaid
Vote: All in Favor
The meeting adjourned at 9:18 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
ElaiieM. Peteron
Elaine M. Peterson
Executive Assistant to the Town Manager