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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-04-05 Middle School Fields Improvement Committee Minutes (2) 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 1 St to April 1 St 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 1 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 2 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 3 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. 4