2019-03-27-CEC-ATM-rpt (Spoken Report to TM under Article 2)

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Capital Expenditures Committee Spoken Report to the 2019 Annual Town Meeting Under Article 2 members every year. Our collective and consistent endorsements of the Community Preservation Committee's recommendations validate the Town's choice to participate at the current surcharge level. As you will see in our report, our Committee would have strongly opposed any surcharge reduction both now and in the near future. Next, Article 20(g), the Westview Cemetery Facility Construction money. I'll be brief: it is high time to get this project done. Related to this is Article 6, design funding for a crematory. It is premature to appropriate money until the ad hoc committee has completed its report. We'll have more to say about these Articles when they come to the floor. Article 16(e), the Center Streetscape, is another project that has been at Town Meeting for many years. This Committee believes that despite the many views about design choices, this project needs to get done. The Town Center, its users, and its merchants deserve the safety enhancements and upgrades to be undertaken by this project. One capital project you did not find in this Town Meeting's Warrant, but you will find in your Brown Books, is the construction money for the Lexington Police Headquarters. Recall that you approved design money for this facility at a previous Town Meeting and this work is proceeding as planned and on schedule. You can expect to see a request for construction money at a Special Town Meeting later this calendar year. We are also anxious for you to hear a future request for design funds for a new Police firing range. We owe it to our police to provide them with the proper training needed for modern weapons and contemporary threats. From this bully pulpit we have long called attention to the 800-pound gorilla in the room: the Lexington High School renovation, rebuild, or replacement. The Town's debt modeling now includes projections of the fiscal impact of that project. While we believe the numbers used in those projections are still too low, and while of course there will be a significant taxpayer impact, we are nevertheless gratified that there are now some projections for all of us to discuss. We invite you to find more information on any of the Articles or topics I just mentioned in our report. Our Committee's charter is to advise you, Town Meeting, and we take that charter seriously. If you need help finding something in our report, or have a question, we are here to help. Thank you Madam Moderator. Presented, 27 Mar 2019,by Charles W. Lamb, Chair Page 2 of 2