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02/07/2019 AC Minutes DRAFT Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee(AC) February 7, 2019 Place and Time: Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson; Nick Nichols; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance(non-voting, ex officio) Members)Absent: Ellen Basch; Richard Neumeier; Lily Manhua Yan Other Attendees: None The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. Announcements and Liaison Reports Based on comments at the February 4, 2019 Board of Selectmen's meeting and input from those present, the following was discussed: • Crematorium at Westview Cemetery: It is unclear whether the unanswered questions can be resolved in time for it to be included in the 2019 ATM. Mr. Padaki noted that it is unlikely the Ad hoc Crematory Committee would recommend a separate building for a crematory; if a facility is to be built, it is preferred that it be located adjacent to the new cemetery building that is being proposed. He also noted that State regulations require a crematory to be located on cemetery property, the use must be coordinated through a funeral director, and the building would need a gas line, electricity and a sewer connection. In addition to the capital expenses there will be annual operational costs. Ms. Kosnoff noted that the Crematory Committee has collected a large amount of data related to the business and function of crematoriums. • The Town's Sustainability Policy: The BoS discussed efforts to update the policy. Jim Malloy, Town Manager, is working to combine two versions. It was generally agreed by this Committee that the policy should avoid specific guidelines. • Bonds and Bond Anticipation Notes (BANS): Ms. Kosnoff reported that the Town received 11 bids on bonds issued for $57.4 million. Factoring in a $3.4 million premium, the low bid offered a net effective interest rate of 3.21%. The Town's financial modeling had used 4.0%. The borrowing for excluded debt was for 30 years; the other bonds were for five to ten years. The interest rate for the $8.37 million in BANs was 1.77%,which is for one year. Town Website Support for Open Meeting Law Compliance Mr. Parker reported that he and Mr. Padaki now have accounts on the Town's official website that grant them access to publish documents under the web page for this Committee. There is a new link labeled"Committee Draft Documents" in the sidebar menu on the Committee page that leads to a page where documents are to be shared. In response to requirements in the Open Meeting Law, the Committee intends to use this facility to share documents with fellow Committee members and the public in advance of public meetings. Committee members are asked to send documents to Mr. Parker and Mr. Padaki, who will upload the documents and notify the Committee once they are available online. To avoid unintended deliberation outside a public meeting, comments, corrections and edits to those documents should only be shared during Committee meetings. 1