Town of Medfield, MA Article IV Permanent Planning and Building Committee and School Building Committee

[Adopted 4-30-2018 ATM by Art. 37; amended in its entirety 5-9-2022 ATM by Art. 14]

§ 10-21 Committees established; operation.

There shall be a Permanent Planning and Building Committee (hereinafter "Committee") responsible for overseeing the planning, prioritizing, design, approvals, construction, reconstruction, alteration or enlargement of all buildings owned by the Town or constructed on land owned, leased, or operated by the Town, as well as a School Building Committee responsible for school projects, as provided in Subsections O through R.

A. The Committee shall consist of five members appointed by a majority vote of the Town of Medfield Board of Selectmen.

B. Each member of the Committee shall be a resident in the Town of Medfield. No member of the Committee shall be a paid employee of the Town.

C. Among the members, the Board of Selectmen should endeavor to appoint a member with expertise in architecture, building engineering, commercial or municipal construction, and/or construction law/contracts. If volunteers with this expertise are not available for appointment, the Board of Selectmen shall have the discretion to appoint instead any individual meeting the qualifications set forth in Subsection B.

D. The Town Administrator or his/her appointed designee, the Town Facility Manager and one member of the Town Warrant Committee each shall be appointed as ex-officio members in addition to the five-member Committee.

E. Committee members shall serve a term of three years.

F. If a Committee member chooses to resign his or her term, the Board of Selectmen shall appoint a replacement to complete the unexpired portion of that term. Expiring terms shall end on June 30 of each calendar year. A member may hold his or her seat after his or her term expires until a successor is qualified.

G. The Committee shall have supervisory authority and oversight for all projects (other than any School Project) that fall under MGL c. 149, MGL c. 149A, MGL c. 30, § 39M, and MGL c. 7C. The Committee may, with the consent of the Board of Selectmen, delegate its authority to another governing board, committee, commission, or Town official should the Committee's involvement be deemed unnecessary.

H. The Committee, in consultation with the Town Facility Manager, shall be responsible for assessing the current conditions of all Town facilities and projecting their useful life.

I. The Committee shall be responsible for projecting the need to replace and/or renovate existing facilities and maintain a Facilities Master Plan with a prioritized list of future needs.

J. The Committee, or the SBC (as hereinafter defined), as applicable, shall, subject to Town Meeting project authorization and appropriation, conduct feasibility studies and final designs, oversee construction of projects, procure project management (if required), procure design, architectural and engineering services as it deems necessary or as required by law.

K. Prior to commencement of a project or feasibility study, the relevant user department shall designate up to two people to serve as ex officio members to support the completion of the project or feasibility study and represent the needs of that department.

L. Any user department seeking to construct, reconstruct, alter or enlarge a building under its jurisdiction shall file a project application with the Board of Selectmen; if the Board of Selectmen determines that the project should proceed, it shall refer the application to the Committee, or in the case of a School Project, shall initiate the formation of the SBC in accordance with Subsection P hereof. The Committee, or the SBC, as applicable, shall meet with the applicant department and if the project is deemed viable by the Committee, or the SBC, as applicable, shall present its findings to the Board of Selectmen for approval to start a feasibility study.

M. If, after the completion of a feasibility study, it is deemed by the Board of Selectmen that the proposed construction project is necessary, the Committee, or the SBC, as applicable, shall conduct the final design process subject to Town Meeting approval of all funding and review of projected budgets with the Board of Selectmen and Warrant Committee.

N. The Permanent Planning and Building Committee shall hold periodic public hearings to solicit Town residents' feedback about a Town project, addressing Town project schedule, scope and estimated cost range, including, without limitation, one public hearing focused on site selection in any case where the Town Project is to be located on a new site, prior to finalizing the site selection decision.

[Amended 5-9-2022 ATM by Art. 20]

O. With respect to each School Project, the requirements of this § 10-20 shall be overseen by a School Building Committee (hereinafter "SBC") (in lieu of the Committee). The SBC shall be responsible for overseeing the planning, prioritizing, design, approvals, construction, reconstruction, addition or enlargement of any school building owned or to be owned by the Town (each a "School Project"). The SBC shall have supervisory authority and oversight for all School Projects that fall under MGL c. 149, MGL c. 149A, MGL c. 30, § 39M, and MGL c. 7C.

P. With respect to each School Project, the requirements of § 10-20A through F shall be superseded with the following:

(1) SBC Composition:

(a) The SBC shall consist of 12 voting members and at least three non-voting members.

(b) 

Voting Members: All voting members of the SBC (or any subcommittee established thereunder) shall be Medfield residents and shall not be full-time, compensated employees of the Town of Medfield. The voting members shall be appointed as follows:

(i) The School Committee shall appoint four voting members to the SBC. Two appointments will be current School Committee members whose terms are not coterminous. Two additional appointments will be Medfield residents with pertinent experience in education, if possible.

(ii) The Town Moderator shall appoint four voting members to the SBC. One appointment will be a current Warrant Committee member, selected by the Warrant Committee. One appointment will be a senior Medfield resident 65 years of age or over. Two appointments will be residents at large.

(iii) The Board of Selectmen shall appoint four voting members to the SBC. One appointment will be a current Planning Board member, selected by the Planning Board to represent the Planning Board's responsibilities and priorities, including the Town-Wide Master Plan. A minimum of one appointee will be a current member of the Permanent Planning and Building Committee, selected by the Permanent Planning and Building Committee. Of these four appointees, a minimum of two will endeavor to have expertise in pertinent areas such as architecture, building, engineering, commercial or municipal construction, and/or construction law/contracts, at least one of which appointees shall have expertise in energy/sustainability measures (including knowledge of Medfield's energy goals to meet Net Zero). No current member of the Board of Selectmen may be appointed to the SBC, except as provided in Subsection P(1)(c)(iv) below.

(c) 

Non-voting members: The following individuals will be ex-officio, non-voting members of the SBC:

(i) The Superintendent of Schools and/or his/her appointed designee.

(ii) The building Principal(s) directly affected by the School Project.

(iii) The Town Administrator, in consultation with the appropriate Town departments (other than the School Department) and/or his/her appointed designee.

(iv) Such additional member(s) to be appointed by the Board of Selectmen, including, without limitation, a current member of the Board of Selectmen, if and to the extent the same become required in order to obtain funding under MGL c. 70B.

(d) Except as provided in Subsection P(1)(e) below, the term of each member's appointment shall expire upon the completion or earlier termination of the applicable School Project.

(e) If an SBC member's term as an elected or appointed official expires or such member chooses to resign from their appointment, the appointing authority who initially selected such member will be responsible for selecting a member for the balance of the School Project.

(2) Procedural requirements:

(a) A majority of the voting members of the SBC shall be present at any meeting to constitute a quorum.

(b) All actions of the SBC shall require a vote of agreement by a minimum of two-thirds of the voting members of the SBC.

(c) All meetings (including subcommittee meetings) shall be subject to the Open Meeting Law, MGL c. 30A §§ 18 through 25, and minutes shall be taken. With the exclusion of subcommittee meetings (for which the subcommittee shall be responsible for taking minutes), the Town of Medfield shall provide a Clerk, if necessary to make minutes of the meeting and to endeavor to record (audio or video) the meeting. The minutes and recordings shall be available to the public on the School Department's and Town's websites throughout the duration of the School Project.

Q. The SBC shall hold periodic public hearings to solicit Town residents' feedback about the School Project, addressing the School Project schedule, scope and estimated cost range, including, without limitation, one public hearing focused on site selection in any case where the School Project is to be located on a new site, prior to finalizing the site selection decision.

R. The SBC shall report its progress on all School Projects, a minimum of once every six months during the duration of such project, to the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee.