HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-02-27 Stevens Estate Long Term Advisory Committee Minutes STEVENS ESTATE LONGTERM ADVISORY COMMITTEE: FEBRUARY 27, 2020
In Attendance: Chair James Lafond; Members Kevin Driscoll,Jennifer Burns-Luz, and Kathleen Stagno;
Staff: Andrew Shapiro (Director of Community and Economic Development)
Absent: Members CJ Gangi,Joseph Pelich, and John Mabon
The meeting was called to order at 7:18PM by James Lafond.
Selection of Volunteer Recording Secretary:
Chair Lafond indicated that Andrew Shapiro volunteered to be the recording secretary for this meeting.
Acceptance of Minutesiir ' 27 20 satin continued from consideration at 2 10 2020 eein :
Chair Lafond noted that he had some corrections for these minutes, all on pages four and five. He asked
that a comment attributed to Diane Huster on page four be corrected to remove any mention of funding
for the Stevens Estate coming from the Town's general fund. On page five, he asked that a comment
attributed to himself be edited. Finally, he asked that several figures in a chart shown on the minutes be
edited to reflect corrected numbers.
MOTION: Jennifer Burns-Luz made a motion to approve the 1/27/20 minutes as amended, Kevin
Driscoll seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0.
Acceptance of Minutes from 2L10 20 meeting.
Andrew Shapiro noted that the date at the top of the draft needed to be corrected to 2/10/2020.
Ms. Burns-Luz asked that a comment attributed to her on page seven be stricken from the minutes
because she was unclear on what it was conveying that she had said. It was stricken.
Ms. Stagno asked that a reference attributed to her on page seven be altered to instead say that she
"suggested that another RFP be issued." That edit was made.
MOTION: Jennifer Burns-Luz made a motion to approve the 2/10/20 minutes as amended, Kevin
Driscoll seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0.
Old Business: Continued Discussion Regarding Community Outreach Process and results from the
Public Input For (taken out of order):
Chair Lafond said that comments continue to come in from the public. He encouraged the Committee
to read them in order to gauge the interests of the public during this process.
Update on FlashVote/Survey:
Andrew Shapiro updated the Committee on the development of a survey with "FlashVote," noting that
he had just before the meeting circulated a draft developed by the company based on a conversation
that they had had with him, Ms. Stagno,Town Manager Murphy-Rodrigues, and others; as well as based
upon the survey that the Committee had recently drafted. There is some editing that needs to be done
and some choices that need to be made. Chair Lafond asked that the discussion on this item be tabled
until a larger complement of Committee Members were present at a regular meeting, so as to get an
adequate amount of feedback and buy-in on the survey. Mr. Shapiro noted that the Town had recently
shared via Town News and social media, a link for the public to sign up for FlashVote. Everyone who
signed up, and those who sign up in the future will be the ones that receive these surveys, including the
one that will be issued about the Stevens Estate.
Ms. Burns-Luz asked whether the survey information and public input forms were being advertised at
Town polling stations during voting. Mr. Shapiro said they were not, however that public input forms
are available at the Senior Center, where early voting is currently ongoing.
Chair Lafond allowed public comment:
Ellen Mosier, 137 Kara Drive, commented that some of the language used on the public input form and
what she was seeing on the draft survey did not seem balanced to her in its wording, and could
encourage someone to answer questions in a certain way. It comes off"harsh."
Mr. Shapiro explained that the draft that FlashVote developed was done based on a conversation they
had with him,the Town Manager, and a Member of the Committee. Questions were drafted in order to
elicit a statistically relevant result.
Ms. Mosier then made a request that the Committee take time to meet with the Trustees of Osgood Hill
at some point in the near future. She noted that the Town Manager would be at their next meeting on
3/11/2020. She said that financials for the Estate would be discussed in great detail. Chair Lafond noted
that he planned to attend that meeting. He emphasized that he has no plans to call for a joint meeting
of the two bodies.
Ms. Stagno expressed that she was having difficulty understanding why there was such disagreement
between the Town and the Trustees of Osgood Hill in regards to the finances of the Estate. Mr. Shapiro
reminded the Committee that they reviewed financial documentation from both the Town and the
Estate Director,they were able to interview the Estate Director at a previous meeting, and they would
have another opportunity to interview her at a future meeting and to review additional financial
documentation. Chair Lafond noted that he has a better understanding of the Estate's finances than he
once had, including the indirect costs that are charged to each Town enterprise fund. He would like to
understand why the cell tower revenue does not go directly to the Estate. Issues like that and others
still need to be discussed further.
Ms. Burns-Luz expressed concern over not fully knowing the scope and cost for the needed facilities
upgrades. Mr. Shapiro explained that there had been a building study done in the past,which cited a
scope and cost figures, but it is from 2012 and now out of date. Chair Lafond said that he feels the cost
would likely be in the "tens of millions" of the dollars. Mr. Shapiro said that the only way to know for
sure would be to hire a professional cost estimator. Ms. Burns-Luz said that knowing the cost would
inform if and what types of funding sources could potentially be feasible to address the facility's needs.
Old Business: Discussion Regarding Review of Comparable Facilities:
Chair Lafond noted that he had circulated to the Committee a Google Doc that should be updated with
information that Members collect from interviews of people representing comparable facilities.
New: Discussion and Vote Regarding Chair's Proposed Correspondence to Board of Selectmen
Regarding Progress of Committee:
Chair Lafond asked the Committee to review the draft of a letter that he circulated that he intends to
send to the Board of Selectmen as an update on the Committee's progress. Mr. Shapiro circulated edits
that he suggested be made to the draft.
Ms. Stagno and Mr. Driscoll raised the issue of perhaps needing a good faith cost estimate on needed
facilities renovations and using that information to make a more informed set of recommendations to
the Board of Selectmen. Mr. Shapiro noted that one route the Committee could take would be to use
the information they have available to them, including the older building study,the newer information
provided by the Facilities Director, and coming to a broader conclusion about how much renovations
would cost and whether it would be feasible for the Estate to take those on, or if another operating
model would need to be sought in order to effectively carry out renovations. Ms. Stagno emphasized
that she understands that both the upfront capital costs and ongoing maintenance needs are
substantial. Ms. Burns-Luz noted that it could be a good idea to get a better sense from the Town
Accountant or others in Town Administration as to how substantial capital projects for the Estate could
be realistically funded.
Returning to the issue of the letter, Ms. Burns-Luz asked that a sentence in the last paragraph be altered
to remove mention of when the Committee might again update the Board of Selectmen—she noted
that they should emphasize that they would continue on in the process. The change was made.
Mr. Shapiro said that the letter should copy the Board of Selectmen,the Town Manager,the Long Term
Committee and himself. The change was made.
MOTION: Jennifer Burns-Luz made a motion to have the letter sent by the Chairman to the Board of
Selectmen as discussed and amended, Kathleen Stagno seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0.
"Working Session"to begin development of draft document outlining Committee's recommendations
to the Board of Selectmen, as per Committee's Mission Statement:
Mr. Shapiro ran through the draft working document that he had developed. He noted that the
Committee could continue to work on the document on a regular basis and that it could be a "living
document" until finalized at the end of the Committee's process. The Committee agreed to table
further discussion of the document until more Members were in attendance at future meetings.
Chair Lafond took an opportunity to run through the Mission Statement and assess where the
Committee was in terms of addressing stated mandates. Obviously community outreach has begun, but
until the FlashVote survey is released and input from that is received,that process will not be complete.
He encouraged the Committee to conduct more stakeholder interviews, perhaps with the Town
Accountant and with Rick Gorman to better understand how he operates a Town controlled entity in the
Youth and Rec. Center(and how that might relate to how the Town operates the Stevens Estate), and
perhaps even the Board of Selectmen.
Mr. Shapiro raised the issue of more thoroughly investigating all potential operating models. He noted
that he recently spoke with a representative of Elegant Banquets and that they indicated that they
remain interested in the Stevens Estate and would be amendable to coming before the Committee to
discuss their interest. He noted that the private for-profit operating model should be investigated as
thoroughly as the private non-profit model and the Town operated model.
Ms. Burns-Luz suggested that each Committee Member take on interviewing certain stakeholders so as
to collect information in an efficient manner. Others agreed and it was decided that standard questions
for interviews would need to be discussed and developed.
Discussion and vote on future meeting date(s):
MOTION: Jennifer Burns-Luz made a motion to hold the next meeting on Monday, March 9, 2020 at
7pm, Kevin Driscoll seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0.
Adjournment:
MOTION: Kevin Driscoll made a motion to adjourn, Kathleen Stagno seconded the motion. Vote: 4-0.
The meeting adjourned at 8:44PM