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03/26/2018 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee(AC) March 26, 2018 Place and Time: Ellen Stone Room, Cary Memorial Building, 6:30 p.m. Members Present: John Bartenstein, Chair; Alan Levine, Vice-Chair & Secretary; Ellen Basch, Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Sanjay Padaki; Andrei Radulescu-Banu; Lily Manhua Yan; Jian Helen Yang; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance(non-voting, ex-officio) Member(s)Absent: None Other Attendees: Dawn McKenna, Chair, Tourism Committee The meeting was called to order at 6:37 p.m. 1. FY2019 Budget issues and Report to 2018 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) on Financially- Related Warrant Articles Mr. Neumeier reported that he planned to present a motion to this Committee to reduce the amount in the Operating Budget Line Item 8120 for legal expenses from $410,000 to $150,000, for the Town Manager to spend as he sees fit. He noted that not all of the costs for legal services are included in this line item, and he is not suggesting a reduction in those other lines. He also noted that School Department legal expenses have been reduced in recent years. Mr. Neumeier reviewed his position that the Town could save money by hiring in-house counsel and noted that he had encouraged a review of this alternative both through this Committee to the Board of Selectmen (BoS) and directly with Carl Valente, Town Manager. He reported having met with Mr. Valente and acknowledged their differing opinions. Mr. Valente values the accessibility outside counsel has to other lawyers in a law firm. Mr. Neumeier said that in- house counsel could have such resources by belonging to the Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association. To date, the Town Manager and the Board of Selectmen (BoS) had not taken any steps to do so. Mr. Bartenstein expressed his position that,being the eve of the Annual Town Meeting (ATM), the timing did not allow this Committee to have the discussion and review necessary for making this kind of decision. He suggested further discussion after ATM or in the summer. Mr. Levine was uncomfortable with forcing this on the Town Manager; such a change, he said, should not be adversarial. A motion was made and seconded as reported above. The motion failed. VOTE: 3-5-1 Mr. Neumeier added his vote in support of Article 200, Appropriate for Public Facilities Capital Projects: Community Center Expansion Mr. Padaki changed his abstention to a vote in support of Article 10(b), Appropriate the FY2019 Community Preservation Committee (CPC) Operating Budget and Community Preservation Act (CPA) Projects: Community Center Sidewalk Mr. Michelson added his votes in support of the following articles: • Article 4, Appropriate FY2019 Operating Budget • Article 22: Visitors' Center Funding 1