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02/02/2017 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) February 2, 2017 Place and time: Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members present: John Bartenstein, Chair; Alan Levine, Vice -Chair & Secretary; Eric Michelson; Sanjay Padaki; Andrei Radulescu -Banu; Lily Manhua Yan; Jian Helen Yang; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non- voting, ex officio) Members Absent: Richard Neumeier Membership Note: There is an opening for one more member. The meeting was called to order at 7:36 pm. 1. Announcements Mr. Bartenstein reported the following: • Carl Valente, Town Manager, is preparing to seek a replacement for Pat Goddard, Director, Department of Public Utilities, who will start before Mr. Goddard's August departure to ensure a smooth transition. • It is advisable to get legal guidance on appropriate parameters associated with discussing zoning bylaw changes, their financial ramifications and their effect on school enrollment. • There will be a warrant article addressing the appropriation of bond and note premiums. • Discussion of the Town's use of outside counsel versus hiring staff to handle some of the legal issues will be deferred to a later date due to Mr. Neumeier's absence, and might best be pursued after Town Meeting. Ms. Kosnoff added that she had provided Mr. Neumeier with Town expenditures under different categories of legal services so that he could prepare background data for further consideration by this Committee. 2. Liaison Reports Ms. Yang reported that she had attended two School Committee (SC) meetings, during which the school budget was reviewed. She found the discussion to be thorough and thoughtful and noted that there had been some discussion about gradually increasing the school bus fees to $350 annually and eliminating the special after - school bus program for elementary students. Mr. Michelson noted that this is complex because of Town Meeting's support for subsidizing school bus transportation in an effort to minimize traffic congestion around the schools. Mr. Radulescu -Banu reported that the Community Preservation Committee has taken positions on the Community Preservation Act funding requests for capital projects. It was noted that the Capital Expenditures Committee provides an in -depth report to Town Meeting on capital projects. This Committee does not need to duplicate this effort, but should look into projects about which there may be conflicting views. 3. Minutes A motion was made and seconded to approved the January 19, 2017 AC Minutes, with minor edits. The motion passed. VOTE: 7 -0 1