HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-04-05 Middle School Fields Improvement Committee Minutes Meeting No. 16 Minutes April 5, 2018
Middle School Fields Improvement Committee
Meeting No. 16 Minutes
Date: April 5, 2018
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: North Andover School Administration Building, 566 Main Street (In Conference
Room) North Andover, MA
Attendees: Committee Members: Amy Mabley, Terry Holland, Rick Green, Rosemary
Smedile and Derek Wessel
School Committee: Amy Mabley, Holly Vietzke-Lynch, Helen Pickard, Andrew
McDevitt, David Torrisi, Assistant Superintendents Jim Mealey, Greg Gilligan and
Donna Straight
Public: Kim Reardon, Steve Faucher
Minutes Recorded By: Rick Green
Copies To: Andrew Maylor, Rick Gorman, Joyce Bradshaw
Item No. 1 Public Input
• Kim Reardon, a resident of Parker Street addressed the School Committee and
commented that Parker Street is frequently used as a cut through to Mass Ave
and was concerned about additional traffic. She indicated that the gate from the
driveway of the Middle School to Parker Street is open Monday through Friday
6:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and she would like that continue with the proposed
redevelopment of the Middle School fields. She also noted that the gate is left
open from November 1St to April 1St for snow removal. She asked if the operation
of the gate would still be controlled by the School custodians with the property for
the fields being maintained by the Town.
• Kim Reardon also expressed concern with the amount of parking on Parker
Street by non-residents. She would like to see parking on the side streets
addressed.
• Steve Faucher of 50 Parker Street indicated that he had the same concerns that
were expressed by Ms. Reardon. He commented that he thought the walking
paths that are proposed in the redevelopment of the fields complex were a waste
of time and would result in people walking their dogs and not picking up the
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Meeting No. 16 Minutes April 5, 2018
waste. He also expressed concern with noise from the amphitheater and asked
if it would be used for concerts and how late they would go.
Item No. 2 Presentation to the School Committee on Final Conceptual Layout for
Recreation Complex, Chickering Road
• This meeting was a regularly scheduled meeting of the North Andover School
Committee with attendance by members of the Middle School Fields
Improvement Committee to present the Final Conceptual Layout of the
redevelopment of the Middle School Fields Complex. Rick Green presented the
details of the revisions that were made since Conceptual Layout No. 3 which was
the plan developed for last year's Town Meeting. Additional details of the project
were provided by Rosemary Smedile and Terry Holland.
• Details of the presentation by Rick Green were as follows:
o Three (3) plans were presented to the School Committee, including the
existing conditions plan of the Middle School fields complex, Conceptual
Layout No. 3 and the Conceptual layout dated April 2, 2018.
o It was noted that the project has been rebranded to eliminate the words
"Middle School" from the project name based on input from a member of the
Community Preservation Committee. The project is currently referred to as
"Recreation Complex" as reflected on the conceptual plan dated April 2,
2018.
o Revisions in the latest conceptual plan dated April 2, 2018 were described to
the School Committee and included features listed below.
o The location of the 2-5 age playground was moved closer to the proposed
kindergarten school by swapping it with the parking area containing 33
parking spots. Also, the parking area by Beacon Hill Road was revised to
have unstriped parking spaces (25 total) and a basketball post and goal to
provide for a hard surface for students of the Atkinson School. These
changes came out of a meeting at the Atkinson School in late March 2018.
o The size of the proposed Atkinson School playground was addressed and it
was noted that the size of the playground is approximately 150' Long x 95'
Wide which is comparable in size to other school playgrounds.
o The location of amphitheater was moved to the northeast side of the
playground so that it is closer to the Middle School and will be built into the
side of the natural landscape. This comment came from the meeting with the
School Committee and School Administrators.
o The existing basketball court by the cafeteria of the Middle School was
previously shown to be reconstructed. This proposed construction was
eliminated due to the future planned expansion of th Middle School in this
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Meeting No. 16 Minutes April 5, 2018
area. A half-court basketball court was initially moved to the location
proposed for the outdoor classroom. The outdoor classroom was repurposed
based on comments of school administrators and members of the Middle
School Fields redevelopment Committee as the existing one at the Middle
School is underutilized. The half-court basketball court was relocated next to
the playgrounds on the Rte 125 side of the recreation complex to allow easier
patrol by the NA Police and move it away from the abutters. The bocce court
was moved to the location of the proposed outdoor classroom which seemed
to be more appropriate adjacent to the picnic area and would be less likely to
be used at night.
o Abutters on the south end of the parcel in the area of the proposed softball
field are concerned with foul balls being hit into their property. A safety ball
netting system is to be added behind the backstop and along the first base
line (similar to what we have proposed for McEvoy Field).
o The construction of the project in a single phase was discussed with the
benefits of eliminating additional phases with respect to reduced costs for
preparation of construction bids and contracts, less disturbance to the
schools and abutters, as well as the less change orders due to
overlapping/adjacent construction contracts.
• Terry Holland discussed the security features that will be included in the facility
including a gate that can be opened and closed by remote by the police.
Cameras will also be installed. Terry indicated that there would be a hard
surface for the police and fire departments to drive on for car patrols and
emergency purposes.
• Rosemary described the benefits the project would provide to all age groups and
how this was truly a community project that would benefit the town.
• Questions and comments from the School Committee included:
o Questions were asked about the safety in the facility including the gate at
Beacon Hill Road.
o A comment was raised about the timing of the construction of the new
Atkinson playground.
o A comment was raised about having age appropriate equipment in the 2-
5 and 5-12 age group playgrounds.
• Rick Green asked the School Committee for a vote of support for the project
which he noted he understood was not the standard protocol for the School
Committee which requires 2 readings before a vote is taken. He explained that
he was not asking for a vote of approval, but only a vote of support. A motion
was made by David Torrisi to make an exception to this protocol and the motion
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Meeting No. 16 Minutes April 5, 2018
was seconded. The School Committee returned a unanimous vote of support for
the project.
Item No. 2 Next Meeting
• The next meeting will be scheduled through email.
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