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09/14/2017 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) September 14, 2017 Place and Time: Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members Present: John Bartenstein, Chair; Alan Levine, Vice-Chair & Secretary; Ellen Basch; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Sanjay Padaki; Andrei Radulescu-Banu; Jian Helen Yang; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex-officio) Member(s) Absent: Lily Manhua Yan Other Attendees: None The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. 1. Minutes A motion was made and seconded to approve minutes for August 31, 2017. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0 2. Announcements and Liaison Reports Mr. Bartenstein reported the following: As noted by Mr. Neumeier at the last meeting, the Supreme Judicial Court of MA agreed to hear an appeal of a Superior Court ruling against the Board of Selectmen (BoS) of the Town of Wayland for violation of the Open Meeting Law (OML) premised on the advance circulation employee evaluations by email. Town citizens initially filed a complaint with the Attorney determined that actions taken were not in violation of the OML. In a subsequent court action, the Superior Court determined otherwise. A decision by the Supreme Judicial Court is likely in the winter. The Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) would be the most effective entity to file an amicus brief on behalf of Massachusetts towns. Mr. Bartenstein will contact the MMA to see if it has any plans or interest in this regard. The Association of Town Finance Committees, of which Lexington is a member, will hold its annual meeting on Saturday, October 21, in Franklin. The topics to be addressed include the use of electronic communication methods as they relate to the OML and Public Records Law. Mr. Bartenstein may attend; he will circulate the notice, and any other members interested in attending should contact Mr. Bartenstein and Ms. Kosnoff. The September 11 BoS meeting included an initial staff presentation on FY2018 water/sewer rates. A rate increase of approximately 1.4% is currently proposed on a combined basis. Because FY2018 irrigation use is expected to be substantially lower wet summer, a 3.5% water rate increase is proposed even though water fund costs are down slightly. Evaluation of Section One meter readings, which are currently underway for the past summer, could result in further downward revision of the FY2018 irrigation usage estimate and a slightly higher water rate increase. 1