NEWTON MUNICIPAL COMPLEX
COMMITTEE MEETING (NMCC)
July 18, 2013
All in attendance are listed in item III.
- Call Meeting to Order: The meeting was called to order by Selectman Charles Melvin at 7:00 PM.
- Tour of the Facility with Chester Bearce and Police Chief Larry Streeter: The Committee took a tour of the property at 8 Merrimac Road and was able to view all aspects of the buildings.
- Member Introductions:
- Name & Street Addresses
- Occupation
- Professional & Educational Background
- Other Town Affiliation re: Elected Offices, Committees, Departments, Organizations, etc.
Charles Melvin – 81 South Main Street, Selectman, Businessman, Justice of the Peace, Notary, Real Estate Agent.
Jim White – 22 Bear Hill Road, retired, worked as an electro-mechanical engineer and senior technical trainer in the semi-conductor industry and currently works part-time at Home Depot as appliance specialist.
Leonard Beavauis – 29 Wenmark Road, carpenter by trade, works part-time at Home Depot and works as custodian/ maintenance for the Town of Newton.
Bradley Cardoso – 6 Twombly Drive, lived in Newton for 15 years, architect - designs hospitals, and has been on the Zoning Board for 13 years.
Roger Hamel – 17 Spruce Lane, retired chemist, degrees in chemistry business and is an alternate member of the Planning Board.
Larry Foote – 59 Smith Corner Road, Emergency Management Director, works for the
Lawrence Fire Dept. and was a prior Selectman.
Bill Landry – 15 Spruce Lane, Retired from Olan Chemical Corp. - logistics, distribution, customer service, safety security, hazardous materials, etc., a degree in business, other town affiliations – Cemetery Trustee, President of the Historical Society, Member of the Safety Committee and RADEF Officer for the Seabrook Nuclear Emergency Management Team.
Nancy Wrigley – 36 Maple Avenue, Town Administrator, has lived here since 1972 and has been on many committees.
Dale Putnam – 11 Brenner Drive, formerly on North Main Street, moved in to town in 1984, works at Lawrence General Hospital, 20 year Navy Veteran, 27 years Fire Dept. Veteran.
John Meserve – 17 Brenner Drive, works for the Merrimac Savings Bank, moved to Newton in 2005, BA in history from Tufts University, Masters in Banking and is on the Historical Society.
Mike Pivero – 6 Maple Avenue, moved to Newton in 1992, Marine Corp. for 27 years, owns a construction company for 30+ years, presently the Road Agent, and went to Northeastern and Wentworth for engineering.
NMCC Minutes July 18, 2013 Page 2
Mary Allen – 39 Pond Street, State Representative, and has served on every board in town.
Jim Ryan – 2 Laura Lane, moved into Newton in February 2013, has a construction company in Massachusetts, and manages a property management company, teaches fitness training at Choice Fitness and is a Navy Veteran.
Bill Ingalls – 1 Meadowview Drive, has lived in Newton all of his life, retired from Lucent 12 years ago, has been on the Fire Department for 49 years and is currently the Fire Chief, has been on several committees of the town, including the Safety Complex Committee.
Larry Streeter – 83 Amesbury Road, Newton Police Chief for 11 years, retired as Chief from Massachusetts. Very happy with what has happened with the new building and feels the town has been very supportive of the Police Dept.
Jim Doggett – 39 Pond Street, lived in town most of his life, Vice Chairman of the Planning Board, Trustee of Trust Funds, former Trustee of the Cemeteries, spent 25 years representing the Sanborn School Board, led the first successful building program for the school that came in well under budget.
Frank Gibbs – 87 Smith Corner Road, lived in Newton 58 years, runs S&H Company, has been on the Planning Board for 10+ years.
Chester Bearce – Retired, lived in Newton since 1938. He does not wish to be a member because he wants to be able to convey his thoughts.
- Appointments: (Volunteers Appreciated)
- Chairperson: Nancy Wrigley motioned to appoint Jim Doggett as Chairman. Seconded by Frank Gibbs. Unanimous.
- Vice Chairman: Mary Allen motioned to appoint Bill Landry as Vice Chairman, seconded by Roger Hamel. Unanimous.
- Secretary to post and take Minutes (Non-committee member recommended): Ms. Wrigley mentioned that there is some money in the Executive budget for part-time office staff, although she hasn’t spoken to the Board of Selectmen yet, it’s possible it could be used to pay a secretary. Mr. Doggett stated that the Planning Board is responsible for the Master Plan of the town and because this committee falls under the towns Capital Improvements, there may be some funding available. He said he would speak with the Planning Board at their next meeting about it and then speak with the Board of Selectmen.
- Create “Mission” Statement:
- Name of the Committee: With a show of hands, the committee agreed to use the name – “NEWTON MUNICIPAL COMPLEX COMMITTEE” (NMCC).
- Mission Statement: Mr. Doggett proposed the following - “It is the mission of the Newton Municipal Complex Committee to develop a Site Plan for the Town-owned property at 8 Merrimac Road to maximize its use to benefit the Town of Newton and to have this plan included in the Town’s Capital Improvement Plan”. Motion was made by Mary Allen to accept the wording as written, second by Bill Landry. Unanimous.
- Review of Property Documents:
- “Original” concept of Federal City Complex – Chief Streeter provided copies of the layout of the buildings on the 5.50 acre parcel and explained the concept of the drawings to give everyone a better understanding.
NMCC Minutes July 18, 2013 Page 3
- Any available maps, surveys, photos, etc. – Bill Ingalls said he still has the plans that were presented at town meeting for the old Safety Complex and will bring them in to the next meeting for everyone to view. Mr. Doggett stated since we already paid for those plans, it’s possible that we might be able to utilize some of the information on them. Mr. Doggett suggested we get a copy of the actual tax map as well. Mr. Melvin stated that Chet has a design for the reconstruction of the driveway coming in off Merrimac Road.
- What depts. / facilities should / could be in the complex. Mr. Doggett suggested that the Fire Dept., Emergency Management, Town Hall Offices, Library and Recreation should be included in the complex. Mr. Meserve suggested that each of the stakeholders should review their needs and see what they want for their department and then report back to this committee. The only two stakeholders not represented tonight are – Recreation and Library. Mr. Doggett said he would speak with the Recreation and Mr. Meserve said he would speak with the Library Trustees.
Mr. Meserve recommended speaking with someone at UNH, UMASS-Lowell or Northern Essex University’s to see if they can provide some students to help us with this project, including layouts, surveys, etc. It was also suggested that we contact the Local Government Center (LGC) for any help or advice that they can provide the committee. Mr. Meserve stated that they have other resources they could direct us to if needed.
- Assign / Create Sub-committees as defined by the Needs Assessment. Mr. Doggett suggested making sub-committees of 3 to work with each of the stakeholders and then bring the information back to the committee. No decision was made at this time.
The question was asked as to when the town takes ownership of the property. Mr. Bearce said although the agreement states another two years, it could happen sooner as long as he is in agreement with what is being proposed.
- Discuss / create timeline for certain objectives.
Mr. Doggett suggested we wait on this item until the next meeting.
- Capital Reserve Safety Complex Building Fund. Joe Simone submitted an email to everyone stating that as of the end of June 2013 there is $4,560.12 in a Capital Reserve Fund that was set up in a 2005 warrant article for engineering and building a new Safety Complex.
A new article could go in the 2014 warrant to:
a) dissolve this fund and transfer the monies and any accumulated interest into a new Capital Reserve Fund and
b) establish a new Capital Reserve Fund named the Newton Municipal Complex Fund with this money to be used for a feasibility study or related engineering cost and to ask for $25,000.
Next Schedule Meeting.
In an effort to make these meetings available to the public, the meetings will be held at on the 2nd Thursday of each month in the Town Hall. The next scheduled meeting will be on Thursday, August 8th at 7:00 PM. Chairman Doggett will follow-up to make sure the hall is
NMCC Minutes July 18, 2013 Page 4
available. He also asked that all members try to attend these meetings so that we can stay on course and continue the progression. He also warned everyone when emailing each other to be sure to follow the Right to Know Law.
Action Items.
1. Mr. Doggett will check on the Town Hall availability on Thursday nights
2. Mr. Doggett will speak with the Planning Board at their next meeting about the secretary funding.
3. Mr. Doggett will speak with the Recreation Commission about their needs assessment.
4. Mr. Meserve will speak with the Library Trustees about their needs assessment.
5. Bill Ingalls will bring in the plans for the old Safety Complex to the next meeting.
6. Ms. Wrigley will bring into the next meeting a copy of the tax map for 8 Merrimac Road and will provide copies of the agenda.
Before the meeting concluded, Chester Bearce asked to speak with the committee on some of his thoughts:
- This property was dedicated as “Federal City”. Chet stated if the committee decides to retire the Federal City name, he would like it back. He said it goes way back with his family and he doesn’t want anyone else to use it. He said he would use it on his new driveway for his new house if we don’t want to use it.
- The well on the property is 60 gallons per minute so he is pretty sure it will provide for everything we want to do on the property.
- The west building known as the old garage was never in his estimation to be a fire station. It would make a couple of good offices for Recreation, Highway, or storage for the Historical Society carriages, excess storage for the Police Dept.
- Chet said he never envisioned this property to be used for recreation fields. It has too much value and too many needs for town buildings to be used as rec fields. He suggested that we not wait too long to start building because there will be a lot of grass and trees to cut if it gets overgrown.
- Chet stated he has a number of agricultural pieces of equipment that may stay with this property. It came with the property and he would like to see it stay with the property. Chet will speak with the Historical Society about this equipment.
- Mr. Doggett asked Chet to also explain the history behind the name of “Federal City so the Historical Society can log it with their historical facts.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:43 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy J. Wrigley, Member
Newton Municipal Complex Committee
| 
