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11/6/2018 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) November 6, 2018 Place and Time: Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members Present: John Bartenstein, Chair; Glenn Parker, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; Ellen Basch; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Nick Nichols; Lily Manhua Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex-officio) Member(s)Absent: Sanjay Padaki Other Attendees: None The meeting was called to order at 7:32 p.m. Announcements Mr. Bartenstein reported on the Board of Selectmen's (BoS)November 5, 2018 meeting: • The BoS made no changes to the funding sources previously identified for Article 3: Appropriate for Center Streetscape Design or Article 5: Appropriate for Hosmer House Reuse Study, which are being presented to the Special Town Meeting 2018-1. This information triggered a discussion by this Committee about issues associated with the personal property tax and the use of the Capital Stabilization Fund (CSF). Ms. Kosnoff noted that whatever may be decided about the use of the CSF, it must be transparent. • The BoS also discussed the preliminary tax classifications that were presented by the Board of Assessors. It appears that the percentage increases in residential and commercial taxes will be more balanced next year than has been the case in recent years. Mr. Bartenstein said that this Committee's November 13 meeting will be in the Ellen Stone Room in the Cary Memorial Building. The photographer for the Town Report will come at 7:00 p.m. to take a committee photo. Report to the Fall Special Town Meeting (STM 2018-1) Subsequent to this Committee's November 1, 2018 meeting, Mr. Levine, Mr. Bartenstein, and Mr. Parker had made edits to this Committee's draft report. The new draft was distributed, and the text associated with each article was reviewed. Edits were suggested and incorporated by Mr. Parker. The process resulted in discussion and votes, as follows: • Article 5: Appropriate for Hosmer House Reuse Study: It was noted that the Historic District Commission had supported the idea of moving the Hosmer House, located in close proximity to the Police Headquarters, to a different location on the current site. This would make it possible to expand the police headquarters to include the current Hosmer House location. The reuse study would help determine potential uses for the building, which could influence the best new location. Prior to this meeting, this Committee's vote to support an appropriation for the Hosmer House Reuse Study was 5-2-1. Mr. Parker added an affirmative vote for the project. 1