2007-03-08-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 8, 2007 copies of a School Department spreadsheet (“FY08 Budget Summary updated March 6, 2007”) with the supporting numbers. Eric Michelson reported that Minuteman Tech had submitted a revised assessment of $1,200,500, slightly lower than the previous figure of $1,236,000. Muzzey Architectural Study. 2. Eric Michelson gave a brief presentation on an analysis he had made of the financial circumstances of the owners of units at the Muzzey condominiums. His study was done in an effort to evaluate the appropriateness of directing affordable housing funds under Community Preservation Act (CPA) to support the proposed architectural study, and the potential future renovations (fund source not specified), in view of income restrictions and resale price limitations contained in the deeds for the units. All of these units are considered affordable housing units. They were sold at sub-market prices and resale prices have been limited to a 5% annual increase from the original sale price. There are also restrictions, based on a formula contained in the deeds, on the maximum income of new buyers if the units are resold. It would appear that some of the current residents may fairly be described as financially needy and others may not. John Bartenstein suggested that if the goal is to target relief to the neediest families, one approach might be to see whether CPA funds can be used to create a cash fund and allow residents to apply based on financial need. School Energy-Saving Capital Projects. 3. The committee engaged in an extended discussion, lasting most of the remainder of the meeting, on proposals to supplement the School Department’s original capital spending budget with energy-saving projects for which the debt service could potentially be funded from anticipated savings. Tom Griffiths provided the current thinking of the School Committee on this issue and handed out a spreadsheet he had prepared analyzing the payoff prospects for various proposed projects. He said that he was prepared to recommend to the School Committee “self-funding” from the School Department budget of four of the more promising energy- saving projects, as outlined on the second page of his handout. He was not, however, prepared to recommend funding replacement of the mechanical systems at Clarke Middle School on this basis because he feels that project primarily addresses an end-of-life situation and that its ability to deliver significant energy savings, if any, is dubious. Alan Levine outlined a proposal that would permit the funding of the full $3.695M in capital projects being considered by the school, as follows: $2,040,000 Town Manager’s original recommended budget 490,000 Self-fund 4 energy-saving projects 665,000 Self-fund parts of LHS and Clarke projects 500,000 Reduce proposed addition to stabilization fund by $500,000 $3,695,000 Because the hour was late, further discussion of Alan’s proposal was deferred to the next meeting. - 2 -