2010-05-05-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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May 5, 2010 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee May 5, 2010 Place and time: Room 207, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members present: Alan Levine (Chair), Glenn Parker (Vice - Chair), John Bartenstein (Vice Chair and Secretary), Rick Eurich, Mollie Garberg, Susan McLeish, Eric Michelson, Joe Pato, Rob Addelson (ex officio, non - voting) Also present: Charles Hornig, Dawn McKenna, Joyce Miller, Charles Wyman, Todd Cataldo, Peter Kelley The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. 1. Reconsideration of CPA Budget (Article 8). Rob Addelson reviewed with the Committee proposed amendments to the motion previously passed under Article 8 (FY2011 CPA budget), on reconsideration, to reflect Town Meeting's vote on April 28 to reduce the amount of CPA funds appropriated for the Town Office Building restoration project from $1,500,000 to $1,185,000. The amendments would reduce the amount originally appropriated to the historic resources reserve by $315,000 and shift those funds to the unbudgeted reserve, bringing the total unbudgeted reserve appropriation to $431,551. From the unbudgeted reserve, $160,000 would then be applied to the Minuteman Bikeway preservation project and $271,551 to the Center Playfields Preservation Drainage project. Administrative expenses of $150,000 would be appropriated from the CP Fund's undesignated fund balance (the equivalent of free cash) instead of from the unbudgeted reserve. The Committee voted to support these amendments by a vote of 8 -0. There was a consensus that the procedure that has been followed to date of voting to appropriate CPA revenues into various reserve "buckets" (open space, historical preservation, community housing, and unbudgeted reserve) in anticipation of subsequent favorable action on proposed CPA expenditures from those reserves should be revisited before next year to avoid similar difficulties in the future. 2. Cotton Farm Purchase (Article 9). Charles Wyman and Joyce Miller of the Conservation Commission, Selectman Peter Kelley, and Town Meeting member Todd Cataldo made an extensive presentation to the Committee on the history of the negotiations that had led up to the proposal currently before Town Meeting for the acquisition, using CPA funds, of the Cotton Farm property on Marrett Road and certain other property owned by Todd's parents, Robert and Edith Cataldo, for $3.8 million; the results of two appraisals of the property that the Town had obtained; and reasons they believed the purchase should go forward. Dawn McKenna also spoke in favor of the acquisition. Charles Hornig, speaking on his own behalf and not as a member of the Planning Board, made a presentation on a proposed alternative acquisition involving the purchase of a smaller amount of land and certain easements and restrictions that he believed would represent better value for the Town. -1-