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Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee March 7, 2011 Place and Time: Town Office Building, Room 111, 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice-Chair and Secretary; Robert Cohen; Mollie Garberg; Alan Levine; Susan McLeish; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier The meeting was called to order at 7:38 p.m. Minutes. 1. Minutes of March 3, 2011 were discussed and approved as edited. Vote 8-0-0. Article Discussion and Votes. 2. The balance of the meeting was devoted to the discussionof and voting on those articles on which sufficient information was available to take a position. Article 12(a-c): School Capital Projects and Equipment. This includes technology, food service equipment and classroom furniture. $34k is requested for appropriation as $30k will be used from the School Food Service RevolvingFund, thus the total funds for this equipment and technology purchase is $64,000.There was a general discussion about the new school lunch program, how payments are managed by the students, and the appropriateness of using food charges to cover related capital costs. A motion was made to recommend approval of Article 12. Vote: Approved 8-0-0. Article 14: Street Acceptance -Frances Road. Mr. Neumeier provided a synopsis of his anticipatedwrite-up and emphasized that while the Town invests funds up frontwhen a street is accepted to bring it up to Town standards, there is no long-term impact on Town finances. The affected residents are assessed for thefull costs and must either pay them up front or over a period of years at a 5% interest rate. A question was raised whether this type of project could impact debt service and increase the Town's budget for street maintenance. Mr. Neumeier pointed outthat the Town already picks up trash and plowsunacceptedstreets. Aquestion was also raised as to how much buy-in is required of the residentson an unaccepted streetto proceed. Itwas noted that there is no general rule but support is typically around 100% and is so for Frances Road, though the Committee does not know the exact numberin this regard. A motion was made to recommend approval of Article 14. Vote: Approved 8-0-0. Article 16: Accept MGL Chapter 32 Supplemental Annual Allowance.As of now, only 4 widows are in this program and have not been given the option to obtain pension benefits from their deceased spouses. The Committee discussed how this allowance has been adjusted annually and grows with the COLA. There was also discussion whether, and to what extent,the number of persons receiving this benefit might increase.Subject to obtaining some additional information on these points for purposes of the write-up, amotion wasmade to recommend approval of Article 16. Vote: Approved 8-0-0. 1