2011-10-06-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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October 6, 2011 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee Meeting October 6, 2011 Time and Location: Town Office Building, Room 111, 7:3 0 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Joe Pato, Vice Chair; Mollie Garberg; Alan Levine; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Jonina Schonfeld; Rob Addelson (non- voting, ex officio) Not in Attendance: Robert Cohen Others in Attendance: Dawn McKenna, TMM The meeting was called to order at 7:3 8 p.m. Minutes. The 8/18/11 minutes were approved by a vote of 7 -0 -1. The minutes from 9/7/11 and 4/20/11 will be reviewed for the next meeting. There was a discussion regarding the protocol for specifying attendance at the meetings. Special Town Meeting. The Committee discussed the upcoming capital articles (fire radio communication system and Bridge and Bowman school renovation projects) and its report to the special town meeting. Since most of the articles are capital - related, a suggestion was made to issue a combined report with the Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC). The draft warrant was reviewed and discussed. Mr. Addelson and Mr. Valente are planning to make a presentation on proposed actions for the special town meeting to the Selectmen on 10/17, and to the Appropriation Committee at its meeting on 10/19. It was suggested that the AC's 10/19 meeting be coordinated with the CEC, and that School Committee representatives and that representatives of the Building Committee also be invited. In preparation for drafting the Committee's report, members would be interested to know more about the Bridge and Bowman School project, specifically the reconstruction debt service schedule, the current status of existing excluded debt, and a sketch of the project content. There was a discussion of the relationship between the Bridge and Bowman school renovation projects and the Estabrook school replacement project if both are included in a debt exclusion referendum. Mr. Michelson will develop a list of questions regarding this article for the 10/19 meeting. Mr. Parker inquired about the status of funds already spent on the school projects. Mr. Addelson said that $750K appropriated for design work for the Bridge and Bowman projects at the 2010 Annual Town Meeting, and an additional $280k appropriated at the 2011 ATM, has been spent, both financed through the issuance of short -term notes (not bonds). The notes are coming due after the upcoming referendum vote, and if the debt exclusion is approved these amounts will be rolled into the total excluded debt for the project. If the debt exclusion is not approved, they will remain as general fund debt within the levy limit.