The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

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Studies on community center, school renovations are underway

blueprintsBy Alice Waugh

Two design firms are now working in parallel on potential town construction projects—a community center and Lincoln School renovations—and both will be discussed at the State of the Town meeting on November 15.

After interviewing four candidate firms earlier this month, the new School Building Advisory Committee (SBAC) selected Dore & Whittier Architects to develop repair and renovation options for the Lincoln School. The firm’s work will build on previous studies commissioned by the town, as well as the work of the first SBAC to identify individual repair and renovation projects and get updated specific cost estimates for each. Voters approved spending up to $250,000 for the study (see the Lincoln Squirrel, April 3, 2014).

Meanwhile, following the recommendation of the Community Center Study Committee (CCSC), the Board of Selectmen has hired Abacus Architects and Planners to do a detailed study of several possible sites for a community center and offer estimates on the scope and cost for each. After being appointed by the Board of Selectmen in June, the CCSC received proposals from seven architectural firms and interviewed five.

Abacus will look at several sites identified in the 2012 report of the Community Center Feasibility Committee as well as any others that may come up. That report was a first step in identifying alternative sites for the Council on Aging, which has outgrown Bemis Hall, and the Parks and Recreation Department. While Park and Rec is happy with its location in the Hartwell pods, those buildings are due for renovation or replacement.

On the radar of both consultants will the Hartwell area, which could be repurposed as a community center and also serve as swing space for the Lincoln School to use during major renovations. The two firms are working independently, but if the town chooses to go ahead with both a school building project and a community center, the Hartwell site will certainly come into play somehow, “and we want to have an answer to how that’s going to work,” Fredriksen said.

Both committees will schedule public discussions before the State of the Town meeting. After a comprehensive $49 million school project failed to win enough support at a special Town Meeting in 2012, some residents said it was because of insufficient communication and public input beforehand.

“The primary reasons for choosing Dore & Whittier Architects were their emphasis on listening to the community—their desire to conduct separate meetings with stakeholder groups as well as their overall understanding of the importance of developing choices and providing accurate cost estimates,” the SBAC said in a statement distributed by co-chair Becky McFall, superintendent of schools. “The SBAC is striving to focus their efforts on process and community engagement, as opposed to the specifics of a particular option. Community input to the consultants will be vital and community members will be encouraged to contribute at several key points along the way.”

The CCSC will hold a town-wide charette in the fall, and while dollar figures will not be discussed, “we want see what those [community center] scenarios would look like and see what direction residents are inclined to go in,” Fredriksen said. “We’re taking it one step at a time.”

The CCSC meets every other week; its next meeting is Thursday, Aug. 7 at 8 a.m. in the Town Office Building. Agendas, minutes, documents and additional information are available on the CCSC’s web page. The SBAC will start its work with Dore and Whittier on Wednesday, Aug. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Hartwell Multipurpose Room.

SBAC working on hiring a design consultant

schoolA subgroup of the reconstituted School Building Advisory Committee (SBAC) is in the process of selecting a school design consultant, and the School Committee is tentatively scheduled to award a contract on July 23.

At Town Meeting in March, Lincoln voters approved spending up to $250,000 to hire a consultant who would define renovation solutions for the Lincoln School and prepare cost estimates for a range of possible projects. Residents asked to see these estimates for “Lincoln only” repair and renovation options before deciding whether to reapply to the state for partial funding for a comprehensive school project (see the Lincoln Squirrel, April 3, 2014).

The SBAC meets every Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Hartwell Multipurpose Room. All meetings are open to the public. Community attendance is especially encouraged at the following upcoming meetings:

  • June 23 — Designer selection committee will select designer finalists
  • June 25 — Designer selection committee recommends designer finalists to the SBAC for approval
  • July 14-16 — Designer finalist interviews
  • July 23 — School Committee meeting to award contract (date and time of this meeting to be confirmed)

New School Building Advisory Committee convenes tonight

schoolThe new School Building Advisory Committee (SBAC) will hold its first meeting tonight at 7 p.m. in the Hartwell multipurpose room, when they will begin preparations for hiring a consultant, choose a co-chair and confirm the schedule for upcoming meetings.

The roster for the new SBAC is almost identical to the first version of the committee, which was dissolved after presenting its report to the School Committee in November 2013. Members are Doug Adams, Ken Bassett, Owen Beenhouwer, Vincent Cannistraro, Tim Christenfeld, Steven Perlmutter, Maggy Pietropaolo, Hathaway Russell, Peter Sugar, Gary Taylor, Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall, and Buck Creel, administrator for business and finance for the Lincoln school district.

As per the School Committee’s charge, McFall will be one of two co-chairs; the other will be elected tonight in a vote by all members except McFall and Creel.

 

 

Residents approve up to $250,000 for another school study

moneybagBy Alice Waugh

At Town Meeting on March 29, residents approved spending up to $250,000 to come up with options and cost estimates for school renovation projects, but not without considerable discussion and a number of dissenting votes—though not enough to derail the measure, which required a two-thirds majority vote.

[Read more…] about Residents approve up to $250,000 for another school study

Letter to the editor: Glass on school funding

letter

Editor’s note: The author of this letter, Jennifer Glass, is chair of the School Committee. She is running unopposed for reelection on March 31.

To the editor:

At the March 29 Annual Town Meeting, one of the warrant articles citizens will be asked to consider is whether or not they will approve funds to study a range of Lincoln School renovation choices. Following is some information about the warrant article.

Article 11: The School Committee is requesting that up to $250,000 be withdrawn from the Stabilization Fund to be used for commissioning cost estimates for a range of potential Lincoln School renovation projects.  

Up to $200,000 would be used to contract design and cost-estimating services. $50,000 would be held in reserve in case unexpected study services are required. The funding for the warrant would come from money already put aside by the town, and would not increase property taxes.

Q:  Why is the School Committee asking for this money?

A:  The last major renovation of the school was in 1994. At that time, the library link and kindergarten classrooms were built, and some renovations were made to the Smith building. However, Brooks was not renovated, and the entire Lincoln School has reached a point where the basic infrastructure of the building needs renovation: 

  • The “Univent” heating system is inefficient, distracting, and difficult to regulate.
  • The Smith boiler room is below ground and prone to flooding; the four boilers are 20-40 years old.
  • The Brooks smoke stack is deteriorating and needs replacement.
  • The roof is at the end of its useful life. It has been patched and re-seamed, but will need replacement.
  • Windows/window walls: About half of the windows are still single-pane glass and/or in uninsulated wood framing.
  • Reed Gym exterior wall panels are porous and need replacement.
  • Plumbing/drinking water: Some plumbing fixtures require high water usage and some new piping is required to deliver potable water if drinking fountains are to be reinstalled (currently the school uses bottled water). When fixtures are replaced, walls must be opened as new fixtures require a different interface with piping.

There are additional renovations that would improve the educational environment:

  • Cafeteria/kitchen—Currently students use half of each gym for lunch, making them unavailable for physical education classes for about three hours a day. The size of the kitchen facilities makes it challenging to prepare fresh foods; all meals must be served using disposable dishes, utensils and trays.
  • Original Smith Building (1948) and second-grade classrooms (1955)—the second-grade classrooms are inadequately sized, and the 1948 building is not constructed in a way that is today considered adequate for a public building.
  • Special education and support spaces—spaces have been carved out of hallways or closets, are inadequately sized and sometimes not ventilated. Also, there are students who specifically require environments that are temperature controlled (for heat and cold) and have good acoustics and lighting. It would be helpful to have at least one classroom at each elementary grade level that meets all those requirements.
  • Spaces for differentiated learning—It is important to have smaller spaces where groups of students can work together while remaining under the supervision of teachers. Currently, unsupervised hallways are frequently used for this purpose. 

Q:  How will the money be spent?

A:  The money will be used to get cost estimates for a number of renovation concepts, ranging in scope from the most urgent repairs to a comprehensive renovation (including limited new construction) that would address both infrastructure and educational needs. All solutions will keep the building in its current, “L-shaped” configuration.

For each of the concepts, we must consider the following:

  • Swing space—where will students learn while work is being done? For how long and at what cost? Should we collaborate with the proposed Community Center Study to look at solutions that might serve both purposes?
  • Code compliance—concepts must address code issues such as fire suppression/safety, accessibility, snow load, and seismic stability.
  • What is the life span of the proposed work? What is the value for what we are spending?

Q:  What about state funding? Is the $21 million from the state still available?

A:  After the failed 2012 school project vote, the town forfeited the $21 million. Lincoln reapplied for state funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) in April 2013, but was not invited back into the funding pipeline.

  • The School Committee decided not to reapply to the MSBA in 2014 in order to take time to determine if that is the direction the town wishes to go. Demonstrated town support is important to an application’s success.
  • In February, the School Committee, Finance Committee, Capital Planning Committee, and Board of Selectmen held a joint public meeting. The School Committee noted that only a renovation that addresses all of the infrastructure and educational needs would be eligible for MSBA funding. 
  • The boards received feedback from the community that it wanted to be given a range of renovation options before deciding whether or not to reapply to the MSBA.

Q:  What happens next?

A:  If the warrant article passes at Town Meeting, the Lincoln Public Schools will hire a firm capable of refining the five concepts and providing cost estimates. The School Committee is committed to community participation, and will seek public input throughout the process. When the study is complete, the committee will ask the town to vote on which concept it would like to develop into a renovation project, and, if relevant, whether or not the town would like to reapply for state funding.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Glass
11 Stonehedge

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published. Letters may be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor.

Joint meeting on school renovations set for Feb. 12

Four town-government groups will get together on Wednesday, Feb. 12 to discuss a timeline for planning a renovation project for the Lincoln School. The meeting will begin at 7:3o p.m. in the Smith gym.

Members of the the School Committee, Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, and  Capital Planning Committee will discuss topics including:

This is an open meeting, and the community is encouraged to attend. 

Town may have to resubmit school building document

As reported earlier today in the Squirrel, Lincoln’s statement of interest (SOI)—the first step in the process for getting state funding for a school building project from the Massachusetts School Building Authority—is still under review. The next MSBA board meeting at which it could make a decision is on January 29, 2014, but MSBA press secretary tells the Squirrel that the authority expects that letters will go out in early December notifying school districts whose SOIs will not be acted on this year.

“If our staff decides not to invite a district in, the district would then have to resubmit its SOI for consideration in 2014. The submission period for 2014 SOIs runs from January 10 to April 11, 2014,” Collins said. Resubmitting an SOI online is not labor-intensive, but districts would still have to get local approval from school and/or town officials, he said.