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02/26/15 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee February26,2015 : Town Office Building,Parker Room, 7:30 p.m. : 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: DeborahBrown, Town Moderator The meeting was called to order at 7:37p.m. Announcements: 1.Mr. Radulescu-Banunoted that a recent Lexington Minuteman article that discussed the plans for addressing current and projected school capacity needs did not appear to correctly characterize plans for Harrington Elementary School. Based on a situation arising from a recent School Committee meeting, Mr.Parker urged membersto distinguish clearly between personal viewsand positions of this Committee,and to be cognizant of the potential for the public to misunderstandwhat is saidwhen misreported or heard second-hand . Consent Agenda for Annual Town Meeting(ATM): 2.Ms. Brown discussed a proposalto presenta “consent agenda”tothe 2015 ATM.Itwould includepre-selected, non-controversial,and administrative articlesfor presentation asa single motion.She noted that this is done in other Towns, and that this year’slongwarrantprovides an opportunity to introduce the idea as a pilot program this spring. She identifiedarticles that might be includedandmade the followingcomments: The included articles would be identified and described well in advance of being presented. Only articles that are unanimously supported by the BoS, the Capital Expenditures Committee, and this Committeewould be included. Any article that becomes controversial would be removed; this is preferable to having extended discussion on the consent agenda itemas a whole. rds rds If anyof the included articles require a 2/3vote, the consent agenda wouldrequire a 2/3 vote. Committee member commentsincluded the following: There should be clearly identified parameters for determining inclusiononthe agenda. Town Meeting members need to understand the process for removing an articlefrom the agenda. There should be time allowed at Town Meeting for questionsregarding the included articles; discussion should not be curtailed. Articles that are going to be indefinitely postponed are obvious candidates for inclusion. Ms. Brown asked for additional feedback at a future meeting. She will be discussing the idea with other committees. 1