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01/29/15 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee January29, 2015 : Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. : John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Mollie Garberg; Alan Levine; Eric Michelson; Andrei Radulescu-Banu; Rob Addelson (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent:Glenn Parker, Chair;Beth Masterman;Susan McLeish;Richard Neumeier; Other attendees: Patty Moore, Budget Officer The meeting was called to order at 7:37p.m. Minutes: 1.A motion was made and seconded to approve the November20, 2014 Minutes, as previously distributed. The motion was approved. VOTE: 5-0 Announcements: 2.Mr. Bartenstein reported that the Board of Selectmen(BoS)had votedon Monday nightto support the smaller of two options presented by the Lexington Solar Task Force for installing solar panels on the Town’s landfill on Hartwell Avenuebut would be seeking input from the financial committees. The Task Force had projectedthat a larger array ofpanels couldsave the Townas much as$20.0 million over 20 yearsbut the Selectmen were reluctant to commit such a large proportion of the Hartwell landfill for this purpose.The smaller option could generate savings of approximately $11 million. It is anticipated that the solar panels currently on the school and Town buildings will yield $3.0 to $5.0 million over 20 years. Thesolar project mayrequire a reconfiguration of the composting windrows. Also the Town may need to purchase a windrow turner, bins may need to be removed, and piles of debris may need to be moved. The cost implications are being defined. Article 7 in the 2015 Annual Town Meeting(ATM)Warrant will likely include proposedfunding for the solarproject using theCompost Revolving Fund. If the funding is approved, the Town will enter into an agreement with a solar company. Itwas suggested that Mr. Parker invite Mark Sandeen, Chair, Sustainable Lexington Committee, Task Force member DanVoss, and/or a knowledgeable person from the Department of Public Worksto a future meeting to make a presentation. Funding for School Expansion Projects and Municipal BuildingReplacements: 3.Mr. Levine presented a preliminary analysisof, and a number of questionsabout, about the financial implications of pending proposalsfor a number oflarge capital projects, includingschool expansions, new Fire Headquarters, and new Police Headquarters.His comments included the following: This Committee needs to understand the financial implications associated with these projects. The Town doesn’t know if the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) will help fund a project to replace/rebuild the Hastings Elementary School(Hastings).Until this is known, financial models should assume Townfunding without State assistancefor Hastings. 1