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01/17/2019 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) January 17, 2019 Place and Time: Hudson Room, Cary Memorial Building, 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; John Bartenstein; Ellen Basch; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Member(s)Absent: Nick Nichols; Lily Manhua Yan Other Attendees: None The meeting was called to order at 7:34 p.m. Announcements Mr. Parker and Mr. Bartenstein made the following comments: Another Town committee (in addition to this committee) is interested in a Town-supported website that would provide public access to documents produced by Town committees. Such a website would allow committee members to share documents in advance of a public meeting, even if the documents contained opinions from committee members. The committee's understanding is that providing simultaneous online access to the public would make such sharing conform with recent legal guidance on Open Meeting Law requirements. Ms. Kosnoff noted that there should be information about the availability of such a facility by the end of next week. The Board of Selectmen (BoS) had on its agenda for Monday, January 14 citizen articles and Community Preservation Committee (CPC) recommendations. Mr. Neumeier reported that the January 4, 2019 edition of the Lawyers' Weekly included an advertisement placed by the City of Lowell for a city solicitor. The salary was listed at $57,958.16 to $67,988.84. Mr. Levine reported on two recent School Master Planning Advisory Committee (SMPAC) meetings. During a discussion related to replacing Lexington High School (LHS), Mr. Levine reported having shared information on financial considerations that should be kept in mind during the planning process including exempt debt projections previously presented by Ms. Kosnoff at Summit II, noting that the financial ramifications of a new high school are considerable. It was also noted that no decision has yet been made in regard to total vs. partial replacement. A Statement of Interest is being prepared for submission to the Massachusetts School Building Authority(MSBA) in order to obtain MSBA participation in renovation or replacement of LHS. LHS overcrowding may be recognized by the MSBA as a priority issue, which could hasten MSBA consideration. A recommendation from the SMPC may be ready by fall 2019. It was noted that Arlington is seeking to replace its high school with an estimated cost of about $300 million. Mr. Bartenstein reported that the Residential Exemption Policy Study Committee (Ad Hoc) made an interesting presentation to the BoS on January 7, and will issue a report soon, but the consensus of the Selectmen was that this matter would not be ready for the 2019 Annual Town Meeting (ATM). As liaison to the Crematory Study Committee (Ad hoc), Mr. Padaki reported that he now understands that the operation of the cemetery is not revenue neutral; cemetery operations are 1