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9/23/14Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee September 23,2014 : ParkerRoom,Town OfficeBuilding,7:30p.m. : Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Alan Levine; Beth Masterman;Susan McLeish; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier;Andrei Radulescu-Banu; Rob Addelson (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent:Mollie Garberg Other attendees: Ada Wong, Vice-Chair, Chamber of Commerce; Pam Shadley, Secretary, Chamber of Commerce; Melisa Tintocalis, Economic Development Director; Dawn McKenna, Chair, Tourism Committee The meetingwas calledto order at 7:35p.m. Visitors’Center: 1.Mr. Addelson reported that,at lastMonday’s Board of Selectmen (BoS) meeting,the BoStookpositions on two proposals that will assist the Town in assumingresponsibility foroperatingthe Visitors’Center,starting immediately. The BoS approved arecommendation asking this Committeeto transfer $35,000 from the reserve fundinto the Economic Development Department’s budgetfor use inFiscal Year 2015 (FY15).The funds, half of which areintended for personalservices (i.e., personnel) and the balancefor expenses, tobe used primarilyfor purchasing gift shop merchandise, will serveas a bridge loan. The BoSapproved the establishment of a Visitors’Centerrevolving fund with aspending limit of $100,000in FY15. The creation of a new revolving fundalso requires the approval of this Committee Mr. Addelson said that the Chamber of Commerce has assisted the Town in analyzing the Visitors’ Center financial needs through June 2015, and the transition has been orderly.In response to questions, he, Ms. Tintocalis, Ms. Wong, and Ms.Shadleyexplained: The current Visitors’ Center staff (one fulltime; four part-time)will becomeTown employees with benefits, includingparticipation in the retirement system or a deferred compensation program under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990OBRA), ( depending on the number hours for which they are hired. The latter does not involveany Town obligations. AVisitors’ Center staff member with merchandising experience recently retired. Remaining is afull-timeemployee whoacts as the supervisor.Ms. Tintocalis will be overseeing the operation, and she is consulting withthe Tourism Committee. The unemployment issues, if the Town eventually decides to hire a contractor to operate the Visitors’Center, have not been fully identified, although the unemploymentinsurance for those employees is not significant. The value of the current inventory in the gift shop is beingassessed at wholesale. It has not yet been determined how the Chamber’s financial obligations to the Town, which are currently in arrears, will be handled. 1