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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE-2017 ATM
<br /> Spring 2016 Special Town Meetings and Follow-up
<br /> In a succession of special town meetings held before, and within the framework of last year's annual town
<br /> meeting, Town Meeting took a number of significant actions,particularly with respect to land acquisitions and
<br /> capital projects, which are important to an understanding of the issues now before this annual town meeting,
<br /> as well as the financial challenges the Town faces going forward.
<br /> At a special town meeting held on February 22, 2016 (STM 2016-1), Town Meeting approved an amended
<br /> regional agreement for the Minuteman Regional Vocational School District designed to resolve an impasse
<br /> among member towns which had delayed and jeopardized the progress of plans to replace the aging Minute-
<br /> man Regional High School facility with Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) support. Town
<br /> Meeting also approved an appropriation of$1,500,000 for preliminary design and planning work to support
<br /> the Town's application to the MSBA program for replacement of the Hastings School. As a result of that ef-
<br /> fort, the MSBA voted earlier this year, on February 15, 2017, to approve the Hastings project for its subsidy
<br /> program and will provide reimbursement now estimated at approximately 25% of the complete design and
<br /> construction costs,including the design funds already spent.
<br /> At a special town meeting held on March 21, 2016, the first day of the 2016 Annual Town Meeting (STM
<br /> 2016-3), Town Meeting approved an appropriation of$62,196,247 to fund renovations and additions to the
<br /> Clarke and Diamond Middle Schools. The purpose of this project is to increase school capacity system-wide
<br /> and help alleviate overcrowding resulting from a recent trend of significant enrollment growth. At a subse-
<br /> quent town-wide referendum election held on May 3, 2016, the Town voted, by a vote of 3,333 to 2,135, to
<br /> exclude the costs of servicing the resulting debt from the limits of Proposition 21/2. Much of the funds neces-
<br /> sary to proceed with the project were raised in a debt issuance by the Town on February 16, 2017. Both mid-
<br /> dle school expansion projects are currently under construction and planned to be completed for the beginning
<br /> of the next school year in September 2017.
<br /> At a special town meeting held on April 25, 2016 (STM2016-4), Town Meeting voted to approve the issue of
<br /> debt by the Minuteman Regional Vocational School District to fund the construction of a new vocational high
<br /> school building. The proposed project is anticipated to cost the District approximately $145,000,000 offset by
<br /> an estimated MSBA reimbursement of approximately $44 million. As will be discussed later in the section
<br /> regarding Article 4, the portion of the debt service cost to be borne by Lexington for this project is still mod-
<br /> est. However,it can be expected to rise to a peak of about $675,000 annually as planning, and ultimately con-
<br /> struction,progress. Opening of the new Minuteman High School is targeted for September of 2019.
<br /> Finally, at a special town meeting held on May 9, 2016, Town Meeting approved an appropriation of
<br /> $8,000,000 to acquire, by purchase or by eminent domain for school and/or municipal purposes, an approxi-
<br /> mately 8.4 acre parcel, formerly known as the Armenian Sisters Academy, located at 20 Pelham Road, adja-
<br /> cent to the Lexington Community Center. Negotiations for the purchase of the property have continued since
<br /> that time, and although not yet finalized, are believed to be near to fruition.
<br /> At a summit meeting among the major boards and committees held in August 2016, the School Committee
<br /> reported that it had decided on the property at 20 Pelham Road as its first-priority choice for relocation of the
<br /> Lexington Children's Place (LCP). The LCP currently occupies a portion of the "new Harrington" elemen-
<br /> tary school, as well as a portion of the "old Harrington" building now housing the School Department's cen-
<br /> tral administration. This is an interim arrangement necessitated by growth of the LCP program and the lack of
<br /> suitable space, but is considered by the School Department to be well less than ideal. At subsequent summit
<br /> meetings conducted during the fall of 2016, the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee tentatively
<br /> agreed, should the 20 Pelham Road property be acquired, to pursue the concept of a joint use of the facility.
<br /> Under this concept, the classroom portion of the building would be renovated to serve as a permanent home
<br /> for the LCP, and the gym and cafeteria, representing roughly half the space of the building, would be renovat-
<br /> ed for use by the neighboring Community Center.
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