2017-10-03-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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10/3/17 AC Minutes 3. Planning for the AC report on Special Town Meetings No. 2 and No. 3. By close of business Friday Oct 6, Mr. Bartenstein would like to circulate the first complete draft of the AC report. Edits on that draft from other committee members are requested until midday Sunday Oct 8. A second draft of the AC report is expected to be ready by the night of Sunday Oct 8. The AC will meet Monday Oct 9, at 7:30 PM, for final approval of the AC report. Mr. Bartenstein presented a rough outline for the AC report introduction he is writing. Mr. Michelson suggested the report should have an Appendix with definition terms of the various phases of capital projects. He offered to write that Appendix. 4. Discussion of STM -3 Warrant Articles A discussion of STM3 warrant articles followed. Article 3.8, Design Funds for the Visitor Center was taken first. Dawn McKenna, Tourism Committee Chair, made a verbal presentation. She reported that the total project cost is $4.5M, but adjustments are being made to reduce that cost. Ms. McKenna reported that the BoS voted 4-1 to recommend $150,000 for Design Development for the Visitor Center under this Article, with source of funds being additional FY2018 revenue over the original estimates. She reported that the CEC has not taken a vote yet on this Article. Ms. McKenna stated that the Tourism Committee will discuss, at a future meeting, whether to ask for $200,000 additional funds under this Article for Construction Documents. Ms. McKenna reported that $38,000 remains from the previous appropriations for the Visitor Center, but part of that amount may be already encumbered to pay for already -completed schematic design work. Assistant Town Manager Carolyn Kosnoff indicated that the construction costs for this project, if ultimately approved, would be funded with 20 -year debt, within the levy. For projects of smaller size, it is preferable to use 20 -year or even 10 or 5 -year debt instead of the 30 -year debt used for very large capital projects. Ms. McKenna noted that hotel tax collections over the past six years totaled $5.7M, of which $700,000 represents new growth. She commented that the new growth portion derives mostly from week -end occupancy, which is more likely associated with tourism rather than business visits. Some elements of the project, Ms. McKenna reported, will be eligible for Community Preservation funding. Ms. McKenna is pursuing the possibility of seeking additional Visitor Center funds from the Federal Government and from the Mass Cultural Council. Motion to appropriate $150,000 in Design Development funds for the Visitor Center was approved 8-0-1, with Lily Yan abstaining. 4