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05/17/2018 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) May 17, 2018 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; Sanjay Padaki; Andrei Radulescu-Banu; Lily Manhua Yan; Jian Helen Yang; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex-officio) Member(s)Absent: Richard Neumeier Other Attendees: Kate Colburn, Vice-Chair, School Committee (SC); Deepika Sawhney, SC The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. 1. Announcements and Liaison Reports Mr. Bartenstein reported, as follows: • The next AC meeting is scheduled for June 7, 2018. • The impacts of the recent Open Meeting Law ruling related to the Boelter v. Board of Selectmen of Wayland lawsuit discussed by this Committee at its recent meetings have not yet been fully identified. • The Board of Selectmen (BoS) is requesting comments on the way property taxes are assessed against new construction in Lexington. This will be on this Committee's June 7 agenda. 2. Minutes A motion was made and seconded to approve the April 23, 2018 minutes. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0 3. Preparation for the June 14, 2018 Summit; School Department Issues Ms. Colburn reviewed the following items, which will be discussed at the Summit: • School Master Planning Effort: The last school master planning effort was in 2014. Building a 30-section Hastings Elementary School, adding classroom space at Fiske, Bridge, and Bowman Elementary Schools, adding/renovating space at Clarke and Diamond Middle Schools, and building a new Lexington Children's Center were all projects that were an outgrowth of that effort. Enrollments continue to increase, as shown on handouts, triggering the need for a new plan to address the next five to ten years. A new Superintendent of Schools, who has extensive experience with capital projects, is scheduled to begin on July 1, 2018, so will be available at the beginning of this process. DiNisco Design Inc. has past experience working on Lexington School issues, and there is adequate funding in a current contract with them for work to begin on this project without requesting additional funds. In response to requests to include Lexington High School(LHS) needs, Ms. Colburn said that everything must be on the table, including the shifting of some grades into different levels. The School Master Planning Committee will set the agenda with contractor guidance. She added that the School Department plans to file a Statement of Interest with 1