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February 1, 2010 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee February 1, 2010 Place and time: Town Office Building, Room 207, 7:30 p.m. Members present: Alan Levine (Chair), Glenn Parker (Vice - Chair), John Bartenstein (Vice Chair and Secretary), Susan McLeish, Eric Michelson, Joe Pato Also present: Dr. Edward A. Bouquillon, Superintendent - Director of Minuteman Career and Technical High School (Minuteman); Jim Laverty, Minuteman Assistant Superintendent and Principal; David Horton, Lexington representative to Minuteman School Committee The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. 1. Minuteman Budget Issues and Capital Program. For several years now, Minuteman has been engaged in a regional strategic planning process and facility assessment to determine the school's long -term facility needs. Dr. Bouquillon made a presentation to the Committee on the status of Minuteman's short and long -term plans for capital repairs and improvements. He also discussed briefly the FY 2011 operating budget. In the short term, Minuteman has recently completed $5 million of energy savings upgrades to its facilities through the state's Energy Saving Contract (ESCO) program. Partnering with Siemens Building Technologies, it conducted an energy conservation audit and identified energy- saving facility improvements, such as the replacement of boilers, chillers, lighting and electrical switching systems, that could be done without impact on future renovations. These improvements are expected to save $275,000 in energy costs a year, the investments will be financed exclusively out of the projected savings, and the savings will be guaranteed by Siemens. With respect to long -term improvements, Minuteman will be seeking approval from Lexington and other member towns at this year's Annual Town Meeting of a Feasibility Study to plan for a major facility renovation that will be submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (SBA). The anticipated cost of the Feasibility Study will be about $700,000. The SBA, which recently established a $100 million fund to invest in the improvement of the Commonwealth's vocational - technical schools, has committed to reimburse at least 40% of this amount, and Lexington's 16% share of the approximately $420,000 balance would be about $70,000. The current thinking is that the long -term facility improvement project will involve gutting and restoration of the Minuteman facilities but no rebuilding. Given recent economic conditions, the anticipated cost is now well under $100 million of which 40% would be reimbursed by the SBA. Consequently, Lexington's share of the capital costs, which would likely require a debt exclusion, would be something under $10 million. -1-