Questions and concerns regarding Article 7 and 8

[Lin Jensen]

I continue to be impressed and grateful for the town staff, committees and boards that have tirelessly worked on the new LHS building project. The following concerns should not in any way diminish my tremendous respect for their expertise, professionalism and service to our town. 

However, for a project valued closer to a billion dollars than not, I believe more scrutiny or guardrails may not be a bad idea. 

I work at LHS part-time, and I am in full agreement that more space and renovations are desperately needed and long overdue. 

Now for this important, desperate, and overdue need:

• We get a price tag of 648 million dollars, the most expensive new school building ever in the US history, and more expensive per student or per square foot than most if not all recent new school buildings we know of, even taking inflation into account. 
• We are told that this is the only way, and it has to be decided now, any other way or with any delay it would be even more expensive than the most expensive; and
• Many residents have supported tax increases for our schools in the past and for many years, and are likely willing to continue to do so;

Faced with the above, my questions and concerns are:

• Does it mean that the only option left for Lexington is "yes and now?" 
• $648 million is a lot for any town in any country around the world. The "act now otherwise it'd be even more expensive" claim is making it even scarier. Is it reasonable and prudent to pause, and ask for a second or even a third opinion?
• Does the town have the fiduciary responsibility to demand more creative alternatives for a project of this scale? What kind of leverage or negotiation powers does the town have?
• We are told that "If we do not decide to spend $648 million now we will lose the $100 million state rebate." $100 millions is not free money, it belongs to the state that we are all a part of. We have the responsibility to spend wisely for both the $548 million and $100 million. Will the state not support a cheaper alternative that would save it money?
  

I have attended some meetings on the project and visited the website. I am not convinced that we have exhausted our options.

Lin Jensen

Town Meeting Member Precinct 8

An adage well known in the architectural world: The most sustainable building is the one that already exists.