Planning Commission Minutes 04/23/2013 ADOPTED

Meeting date:

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
APRIL 23, 2013
REGULAR MEETING

I. CALL TO ORDER

Michael R. Paine, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Meeting Room of the Simsbury Town Offices. The following members were present: Ferg Jansen, Richard Cortes, Gary Lungarini, Robert Kulakowski and Mark Drake. Also in attendance was Hiram Peck, Director of Planning, Janis Prifti, Commission Clerk, and other interested parties.

Chairman Paine welcomed the attendees and thanked SCTV for filming the proceedings.

Commissioner Jansen made a motion to amend the Agenda to take up first Agenda item "IV.a. CGS 8-24 Referral: Capital Improvement Projects". Commissioner Kulakowski seconded the motion, and it was passed unanimously.

II. SEATING OF ALTERNATES AS NECESSARY

Chairman Paine seated Commissioners Kulakowski, Cortes and Lungarini for a quorum.

IV. DISCUSSION ITEMS

a. CGS 8-24 Referral: Capital Improvement Projects

Rich Sawitzke provided the Commissioners with a summary sheet regarding Capital Improvement Projects. He said the majority of these projects are for capital maintenance, roofs, and building maintenance critical to building integrity, as well as boiler replacement for Squadron Line School with a very energy efficient gas boiler. He said the largest project is for the Farmington River Stream Bank Stabilization at a cost of over $1Million which is paid for out of sewer use funds and is not being bonded. He said it is very important to protect the Farmington River Stream Bank where it protects the sewer and southwestern part of Simsbury and those costs will be shared with the Town of Avon. He said another large project is for the center area Charrette implementing the 1st phase to extend the streetscape: plantings, trees, lighting, sidewalks, brick veneers, widening Station Street to 2-way, and finishing missing sidewalks in the 3 block area of Mallway, Wilcox and Station. He said this would be coordinated carefully with improvements by the Water Pollution Control Authority as well as private development activities that may occur and with Eno Memorial Hall if the Board of Selectmen decides to place the Center in that area.

Mr. Sawitzke discussed the 2nd handout study recommendations for the Senior Community Center, including potential users, demographics, issues considered, and visits to other facilities by involved seniors. He is looking in year 1 for design development funding to do 60% design, refine the program, refine the space and do building design in order to prepare for bidding. He said the full study report is available both in his office and online at the Town website under Social Services Senior Center. He showed the Commissioners initial schematic boards illustrating the sites under consideration in the Center. He said for Eno a parking deck is proposed with access from Railroad Street at the lower level and Station Street where current parking exists; the deck would provide entry to the lower and main levels. He said there would be 2 additions in back and an outdoor patio seating activity area to the south. He said the extreme lower level would be dedicated to existing mechanicals and SCTV would move into a black box studio which they desire with direct access to their office area from the lower parking deck and stairs to other floors. He said the next floor up would have access from Station Street with an atrium setup and a glass wall you would see through to the existing brick wall. He said a key feature is to preserve public areas, e.g. the rotunda and restore elegant areas to use. He said the center area would be returned to dining with a kitchen, bathroom facilities, and a cafe feature which is important in all senior centers. He said Committee members and Staff visited senior centers in Glastonbury, Lebanon, Enfield, and Agawam, MA and decided the Agawam center was a good baseline facility model. He showed the auditorium level with entry area and connectivity to the front, access to elevators and the back, another group of bathrooms, elevator and stairs, fitness room, exercise and activity room, the DAR room preserved as is, the Blue Room would be restored and the offices removed, and the auditorium and historic space preserved. He said the upper level would be mostly unchanged with north and south conference rooms, the exercise room removed, and the balcony unchanged. He showed the view from Station Street with the open deck on the back; the deck is completely open from Railroad Street. He felt Eno has a lot of advantages and synergies with activities at the nearby Library; the parking deck addresses parking and opens up the currently very steep Iron Horse Boulevard.

Mr. Sawitzke said the Committee looked at 12 Town sites and 6 sites in detail with a criteria of not taking private tax paying property off the tax rolls. He said they also looked at a site at the corner of Bushy Hill and Stratton Brook Roads sitting on top of the hill. He said it involves a lot of land clearing; utilities are close by but would still have to be brought in. He said it is a 1-story building on top of the hill with parking on grade and drainage eastward and is close to the aquifer. Since it is not close to the Library, it would include a mini-library/reading room. He described the schematic with similar features to Eno; however, Eno is the most cost-effective excluding the parking deck. He said more formal presentations will be provided to the boards, Board of Selectmen, and the public to get a decision in July.

Mr. Sawitzke said a 3rd site considered was the Performing Arts Center site. He said it is a very interesting site with many pluses for multi-generational activities but it has a lot of people traffic and the space would need to be shared. He said Senior Center activities will be very active at the Arts Center with potential conflict for sharing space. He said the Arts Center is looking for permanent bathrooms, activity rooms, a green room, etc. and these could be shared with a Senior Center.

He said the estimated costs for the 3 sites are quite similar so they are asking for the design development funding to provide refinement to the space and cost estimates in order to build in a year and a half; the design development money is available. He said this is the formal 8-24 referral and the main purpose for tonight is to read wording for these projects into the record.

Anita Mielert from the Main Street Partnership spoke about the parking deck and provided a page printed from the Town website showing in the year 2013 $1.85 Million regarding the parking deck. She said it was the Partnership's understanding this was the condition of the Capital Improvement Program until it fell off the list approved by the Board of Selectmen. She said they have been working diligently through the public involvement process of the Charrette, the parking audit done by the EPA, working through the 1st Selectmen's office to go through the CIP process waiting your turn until a project comes up, and they applied for a Main Street Investment Fund grant for a half million dollars which would reduce the $1.85 million by that amount. She said they were ready for this and are upset at this point because the parking deck is only talked about is in conjunction with the Senior Center, but that is not why Main Street zeroed in on this project; it is completely justifiable through business needs, parking needs, downtown circulation needs, the park once policy talked about in the parking audit. She said they have a lot of information from businesses ringing the Eno area and their crying need for parking solutions. She said they don't want to be put off until a decision is made in a couple of years about the Senior Center. She made a last comment about the last paragraph on page 2 regarding where to locate the Senior Center that a decision should be made cautiously to approve planning funds.

Commissioner Cortes made a motion to introduce the following resolution, which was seconded by Commissioner Jansen.

Chairman Paine read the motion #1 into the record that: