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9/12/13 Minutes Government (PEG) Access Fund, which is a revolving fund and currently has a balance of $542,000. The PEG Fund is able to support the $30,000 expenditure, but because of a ceiling on the total annual expenditures from this fund set at the Annual Town Meeting, supporting votes from the Board of Selectmen and Appropriation Committee are required to raise the ceiling in order to allow this project to be financed through this mechanism. There was a motion and second to approve raising the ceiling on the PEG Access Fund by approximately $30,000 to accommodate this expenditure. The motion passed. VOTE: 5 -0 During the discussion, Mr. Bartenstein and Mr. Neumeier urged the Town to explore options for beginning to put all of its overhead wires into underground conduits. This may require a long range study of telecommunication requirements for the town and residents to address the vulnerability of overhead lines and research on strategies for putting the lines underground. Conduit use would not only provide protection from inclement weather, it would be more aesthetically pleasing. 3. Tree Committee: Mr. Paul shared a handout describing the challenges the Tree Committee is experiencing. Despite passage of the Tree By -Law in 2001, over the past 14 years the Town has removed on average 130 trees annually while planting only 60 each year. There are two issues: funding and implementation. Tree planting is being done on a "best efforts" basis; there are no specific goals, and there are competing demands within the Public Grounds division of the Department of Public Works (DPW). The Tree Committee would like to transition away from its current practice of assisting with the details of each tree planting project. Ideally, the Tree Committee would make recommendations and support projects, while the Town would assume implementation responsibilities. This may require additional staff support or hiring contractors. Mr. Paul reported having talked to Carl Valente, Town Manager, and Chris Filadoro, Public Grounds Superintendent, about these issues. It was agreed by this Committee and Mr. Paul that additional conversations should be pursued with William Hadley, Director of Public Works, and David Pinsonneault, DPW Manager of Operations, to find a better strategy for the tree planting program. Committee members suggested documenting the problems with an analysis that shows the current approach isn't working adequately. The next steps are to identify the most appropriate strategies for moving forward, and then to determine costs for reaching a long term goal and the disaggregated costs to support annual goals. The traditional funding process involves a Town department, in this case DPW, submitting a request for additional funding. It was noted that unused operating funds are turned into the general fund at the end of a fiscal year while capital funds can be carried forward. Mr. Paul commented that trees are a Town asset, and planting trees might be considered a capital expenditure because doing so is an investment in the asset. Committee members expressed reservations about calling tree plantings a capital project, but agreed that in a particular situation that might be appropriate. 4. Funding of Minuteman Regional High School Capital Projects: Mr. Parker reported that a new agreement for funding capital projects at the regional high school is being developed, but it is premature for this Committee to spend time discussing it. 5. Fall 2013 Special Town Meeting: Four financial articles are anticipated for the November 4, 2013 Special Town Meeting: Funding for modular units for Lexington High School; funding for 2