2010-06-07-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

June 7, 2010 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee June 7, 2010 Place and time: Town Office Building, Room 111, 8:00 p.m. Members present: Alan Levine (Chair), Glenn Parker (Vice - Chair), John Bartenstein (Vice Chair and Secretary), Rick Eurich, Mollie Garberg, Susan McLeish, Joe Pato, Rob Addelson (ex officio, non - voting) The meeting was called to order at 8:05 p.m. 1. Staff Reports. Rob Addelson reported that the finance staff is working on year -end transfers from the Reserve Fund, from the salary adjustment account and under the "3% rule." The proposed transfers will be presented to the Board of Selectmen on a preliminary basis on June 21 and for final approval on July 12. They will be presented to this committee at its next meeting on June 30. Rob also advised that Town Manager Carl Valente was planning to come to the June 30 meeting to update the committee on the coalition bargaining negotiations with respect to health benefits. The Town Manager hopes that the negotiations will have been concluded by then. Rob reported briefly on the fire department's request for approximately $60,000 to upgrade a recently installed communications system to address coverage gaps in a few locations in East Lexington. The expenditure is required for safety reasons and may be covered by the transfer of surplus funds in the health insurance budget under the 3% rule. 2. Input for BoS Goal- Setting. Al Levine advised that the Board of Selectmen had requested the committee's input for its upcoming goal- setting process, to commence on June 29. The committee discussed a number of topics that might be included in a letter from Al to the Board of Selectmen, including continued efforts to reduce health insurance costs, continued progress on determining the disposition of the Munroe School, review of the use of CPA funds for the restoration and maintenance of town facilities, exploration of opportunities for regional cooperation and cost - sharing, the need for an analysis of how a number of upcoming major capital needs will be financed, and the committee's interest in performing an analysis of snow and ice removal costs. Al said that he would circulate a draft letter to the committee for further input before finalizing it and sending it on to the Board of Selectmen by the June 18 deadline. 3. Committee Work Plans. There was a brief discussion of matters the committee might work on during the coming fiscal year. Among the topics discussed were analyzing recent trends in snow and ice removal costs, which have been a continuing source of cost overruns (JCB); arranging for a meeting with the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) to discuss policy issues, including the use of CPC funds for town projects and the use of debt to finance land acquisitions and other projects (EM); -1-