Lee — If all goes according to plan, the Lee Youth Association will have a new home in a few years.
Lee Youth Association President Ali Zabian approached the Select Board on October 1 regarding the group’s search for town-owned land that would serve as its new home. After much investigation, he said the organization found such a property by the Maple Street ballfield, a partially cleared site that had once been proposed to house a middle school. Having received the blessing of the Lee Middle School/High School Facilities Committee, whose members voted to support the project since the tract isn’t being used by the education department, Zabian asked the Select Board on how to proceed with the land donation. “So, we are looking to move forward with this,” he said.
The Lee Youth Association is a nonprofit organization that offers educational and recreational programs, including childcare, for infants and youth from Lee, Becket, Lenox, Otis, Pittsfield, Sandisfield, Stockbridge, and Tyringham.
A public Open House focused on the project is scheduled for October 21, at 5:30 p.m., at the Lee Youth Association, 480 Pleasant Street.
Steven Mack, president and principal engineer at Foresight Land Services, presented the concept plan for the site to the Select Board and was already familiar with a previously proposed project on the property from a few years back that resulted in a portion of the property being cleared. Those prior clearing efforts on the tract correspond with the new outlines of the parking lots and building structure, he said.
That concept plan can be found here.
According to Mack, the parcel to be used for the project is about three acres. The new facility is planned to encompass 12,000 square feet, including a 6,150-square-foot, regulation-sized gymnasium and outdoor playing spaces adjacent to classrooms. The plan appropriates about 50 to 54 parking spaces to be shared with the ballfields for their overflow and boasts a drop-off/pick-up circle in the center. A new driveway on Maple Street will be created for the project.
The plan for the sewer system has not been decided yet as the town system runs short of the project site.
“It’s a level site,” Mack said. “It’s actually a really nice site for a project like this. There’s not a lot of topography, retaining walls [needed].”
No decision has been made whether the project involves a purchase or lease agreement for the site. Lee Middle School/High School Principal Gregg Brighenti said the department is unclear as to how much of the property was originally turned over by the town for their use. There was a plan in the 1970s to build a middle school on the tract, but that didn’t come to fruition, he said.
Town Administrator Christopher Brittain said procurement laws would apply to the acquisition and that research is needed to determine the best process to move forward, including possibly a long-term lease of 100 years.
“We need to find out our procedures and go forward from there,” Select Board Chair Gordon Bailey said, adding that the group would be checking with legal counsel as to the process and timelines for transmitting the property. Brittain responded that the issue would likely go to a Town Meeting vote in May unless a special session is called earlier.
“These are some of the steps we may have to go through,” Bailey said. The current LYA lease runs for four years, and the agency is hoping to move to the new site in conjunction with that timeline, Lee Youth Association Executive Director Sharon Terry said.
Bailey said the item will be on the group’s next agenda set for October 15. “Once we check with town counsel, I think we’ll be in a much better position to discuss timelines and what our process is,” he said.
According to Terry, the group has investigated funding, but before starting a capital campaign, they “need to have a starting point and the starting point is a piece of land that we would [use to] further these plans.” “This is our number one, this is our place to start,” she told the dais.
Phase one of the project would include all of the plans except for the gym that would be constructed in its second phase, Terry said.
At the meeting, the Select Board also:
- Discharged a regional housing rehabilitation lien at 28 Mill Hill Road, Cheshire, based on a program run by the town of Lee;
- Approved a change of hours at the One-Eyed Cat, doing business as Locker Room Sports Pub, 232 Main Street, from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. for breakfast service, including National Football Games broadcast early in the day from other countries;
- Approved a Common Victualler License for JRK Pizza LLC, doing business as Domino’s Pizza, 50 West Center Street, conditioned on receipt of licensing fee, with hours to be 10 a.m. to midnight, Sunday through Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 1 a.m., Friday and Saturday;
- Appointed Kathy DeVarennes and Lillian Reynolds as election workers;
- Signed the 2024 State Warrant for November 5, with voting on that day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 21 Crossway Village;
- Approved early vote-in-person dates, with October 26 as the last day to register to vote in person for the November 5 election; and
- Approved gas service at 60 Housatonic Street.
