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02/12/15 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee February 12,2015 Place and time: Parker Room, Town Office Building, 8:00 p.m. Members present. Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Mollie Garberg; Alan Levine; Beth Masterman; Susan McLeish; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Andrei Radulescu-Banu; Rob Addelson (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent: None Other attendees: Paul Ash, Superintendent of Schools; Margaret Coppe, Chair, School Committee; Joe Pato, Chair, Board of Selectmen (BoS); Kate Colburn, Lexington Parents Advocacy Group, Fiske Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization The meeting was called to order at 8:06 p.m. 1. Reserve Fund Transfer: Dr. Ash reported on a School Department request for a$150,000 Reserve Fund transfer to help cover the costs for the Lexington High School (LHS)Phase 2 prefabricated units capital project. A first set of units was installed during Phase l; Phase 2 involves the installation of a second smaller set of units for the intensive learning program. The low bid for Phase 2 came in $500,000 over the amount that was previously appropriated for the project. The bid has a one month acceptance window, which ends in two weeks. Rebidding would result in missing the fall 2015 deadline for accommodating students who are now in the middle schools and ready to move to LHS. An expensive alternative is sending these students to out-of-district programs. Dr. Ash added that the School Department anticipates taking $350,000, the balance of the $500,000 shortfall, from the Fiscal Year(FY) 2015 funds that are currently allocated for technical equipment and furniture. Those expenditures can be postponed until FY2016. The School Department plans to request $350,000 for technical equipment and furniture in FY2016 and withdraw a current FY2016 request for $350,000 for Diamond Middle School (Diamond) "Space Mining". Using $350,000 from the technical equipment and furniture appropriation plus the $150,000 from the Reserve Fund would allow the Town to sign a contract within two weeks for Phase 2 construction. Responses to questions included the following: • There were two bids for Phase 2; the low bidder happens to be the contractor that did Phase 1. • The design work for Phase 2 was not available when the Town went out to bid for Phase 1. • The FY2015 appropriation into the Reserve Fund was $900,000. • There is currently $784,380 in the Reserve Fund. • The Reserve Fund will be one of the primary resources for addressing the deficit that is building from recent snow and ice removal operations. A motion was made and seconded to make a Reserve Fund transfer of$150,000 for Phase 2 of the LHS prefabricated units. The motion was approved. VOTE: 9-0 1