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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-02-10-CEC-min RECEIVED 2022 2 ipir 1 00 pule Minutes of the I°" I°" TOWN CLERK s \ Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting LEXINGTON MA xx February 10, 2022 APRIL 19" Location and Time: Remote Meeting; 8:00 A.M. CEC Members Present (remote participation): Charles Lamb, Chair; David Kanter, Vice-Chair & Clerk; Sandy Beebee; Mike Boudett; Rod Cole; and Frank Smith CEC Members Absent: None Others Present (remote participation): Other Lexington Committees: Glenn Parker, Chair, Appropriation Committee (AC) liaison; Scott Bokun and Sara Cuthbertson, School Committee liaisons; Suzie Barry, Select Board (SB) & liaison to the Recreation Committee; Lisah Rhodes, Vice-Chair Recreation Committee; Proponents of Article 25: Appropriate for Worthen Road Recreation and Education District Land Use Concept Plan (Citizen Petition): Jon Himmel, Chair of the Permanent Building Committee (PBC); Fred Merrill, PBC; Bridger McGaw, EDAC and Town Meeting member; Staff: Melissa Battite, Director of Recreation and Community Programs; Finance Department. Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager for Finance; Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Documents Presented: • Notice of Public Meeting/Agenda CEC Meeting, February 10, 2022 • Draft CEC Officers, Subject Areas & Liaison Assignments, 10 Feb 2022 • Draft Minutes for the 2022 CEC Meeting on January 11 • Draft Minutes for the 2022 CEC Meeting on January 13 (Financial Summit III) • Draft Minutes for the 2022 CEC Meeting on January 20 • 2022 Annual Town Meeting Consent Agenda Articles, Select Board (SB) Draft #2 • CEC Report to 2022 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) & Special Town Meeting (STM) 2022-1 Call to Order Mr. Lamb called this Remote (Virtual) Meeting, which had been posted as such, to order at 8:00 A.M. As the Committee members present had been previously advised of the special conditions of this meeting, he passed on repeating them (i.e., the authority to not require a physical presence of a quorum and other selected terms under the Open Meeting Law in legislation signed on June 16th of this year by Massachusetts Governor Charles D. Baker). Mr. Lamb advised that materials provided electronically to the Committee or presented at the meeting, would be available upon request and are those listed in the Minutes as Documents Presented. Any votes during this meeting would be taken by a roll call. Further, this meeting would be recorded to assist in preparing Minutes, and the recording would be deleted once the Minutes are approved. Mr. Lamb took a roll-call attendance, determining that six members were present. Presentation of Article 25 Mr. Himmel, Mr. Merrill, and Mr. McGaw explained that Article 25, their Citizens Petition, was designed to conduct a high-level land use study that would provide valuable information as the Town pursues plans to replace/renovate Lexington High School, adding that it would be consistent with a recommendation included in the Lexington Schools Master Plan Page 1 of 4 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting February 10, 2022 Compendium. From their perspective, it seemed advisable to start looking at the challenges associated with the land that was likely to be needed for either swing space and/or for locating a new facility, even though the Town had not yet been invited by the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to participate in its process for potentially receiving a State grant towards such a project. The Article was submitted before learning that the Town Manager was creating a Working Group, which first met in early January to look at some of the same issues. It was noted that the Working Group meeting was not publicized. Unfortunately, this Article is being perceived as adversarial or uncollaborative, which was not the intention. In response to questions, Ms. Battite's comments included the following: • Recreation Department staff and the Recreation Committee have been aware of the complexities associated with this project for approximately two years. • Town Counsel and her department have been looking at the designated recreation land that could be impacted. • There is conservation land, a culvert, and an area that is not owned by Lexington identified in Article 25. • The fields and facilities on Worthen Road are heavily used by the community as well as the high school—this project will impact more than a school building and recreation space, and the impact will last three to five years. • The Town Manager created a working group in the fall of 2021, which met for the first time in early January. Ms. Battite and Ms. Rhodes noted that they had not been contacted by the proponents of Article 25 until very recently, and Ms. Battite recommended that conversations be broadened to include all stakeholders. Ms. Barry reiterated that conversations about the challenges associated with this project go back at least two years. She noted that the Working Group, of which she is a member, is large and represents a broad range of stakeholders. Noting that public input is important, Ms. Barry reported that last Monday evening the SB agreed that future meetings of the Working Group would be open and recorded for LexMedia. While recognizing that the intention was, otherwise, members of this Committee expressed concerns about the uncoordinated and duplicative aspects of the two efforts. It was noted that there are many demands on staff time, which might support the use of hiring a consultant, but this needs to be supported by staff. Additional comments made by the Article 25 proponents included the following: • This is the largest project the Town has ever undertaken. • Article 25 was designed to be a stop gap measure that would help reduce pressure on staff. • This was not intended to be a feasibility study, which is a required component of the MSBA process. The MSBA process is rigid, and this study would allow for some flexibility. • The Working Group appears to be focusing on legal issues associated with the designated recreation land. Article 25 would fund an effort that would include looking at the land use impacts associated with the recreation land issues, but the legal issues need to be handled by Town Counsel. Page 2 of 4 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting February 10, 2022 • This was an effort to "do the right thing" and make the MSBA process go more smoothly. • Initial outreach about Article 25 started "at the top". After meeting with the Appropriation Committee on January 26th, there has been outreach to all the stakeholders who are part of the Working Group. • There is no opposition to having the Working Group manage a land use study that could be funded by Article 25. In response to questions, Ms. Kosnoff's comments included the following: • The Town Manager did not see a need for funding this Article when the budget was prepared, and on Monday evening the SB approved the budget without that funding. • Just yesterday the MSBA contacted Lexington about participating in its process. Funding for a land use study could be included in a future STM. • The budget does include $500,000 in unallocated funds, which could be used for funding Article 25. Mr. Lamb urged members of this Committee to listen to the SB discussion of this Article that took place on January 18th. He said that the discussion is becoming political, and this Committee tries to avoid taking political positions. There is important work to be done, and if the Working Group needs funds, there are mechanisms for them to get those funds. Members of this Committee concurred that they could only recommend approval of Article 25 if it is supported by the Town Manager. Committee Officers and Subject Areas & Liaisons Mr. Kanter noted that this Committee needed to approve the changes that were made to subject areas and liaison assignments, as discussed at the January 20th CEC meeting and to vote on its officers, which were presented as Chair: Mr. Lamb, and Vice-Chair & Clerk: Mr. Kanter. A motion was made and seconded to support the assignments and officers as identified in the Draft CEC Officers, Subject Areas & Liaison Assignments, 10 Feb 2022. Roll-Call Vote: 6-0 Minutes A Motion was made and seconded to approve the Draft#3 Minutes for the CEC meeting, January 11, 2022, as amended. Roll-Call Vote: 6-0 A Motion was made and seconded to approve the Draft Minutes for the CEC meeting, January 13, 2022, Financial Summit III, with one punctuation correction. Roll-Call Vote: 6-0 A Motion was made and seconded to approve the Draft#3 Minutes for the CEC meeting, January 20, 2020, as presented. Roll-Call Vote: 6-0 Page 3 of 4 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting February 10, 2022 SIB's Recommended Consent Agenda Using the SB's list of recommended Consent Agenda items, Mr. Kanter identified capital projects that were not included and reported that the Appropriation Committee has recommended that the following items be removed: • Article 10: Appropriate for the FY2023 Community Preservation Committee Budget and Community Preservation Act Projects (f) Playground Improvements —Hard Court Surfaces (i) Lincoln Park Master Plan • Article 16: Appropriate for Public Facilities Capital Projects: (g) High School Emergency Funds Mr. Kanter recommended that Article 12: Appropriate for Municipal Capital Projects and Equipment, and (q) New Sidewalk Installations be added to the Consent Agenda. Mr. Parker explained that the AC did not support the inclusion of Article 16 (g) on the Consent Agenda because the funds would serve as a line of credit, which is out of the ordinary, and if they are needed, they would be a debt expense. A motion was made and seconded to recommend removal of Article 16 (g) from, and to add Article 12 (q) to, the SB's Consent Agenda. Roll-Call Vote: 6-0 The Committee's Report to the 2022 ATM and accompanying STM 2022-1 Committee members reviewed the status of their assigned portions of the report. Ms. Kosnoff reported that the FY2023 Town Manager's Budget & Financing Plan (Brown Book) will include changes in the funding sources for some projects as compared to the FY2023 Town Manager's Preliminary Budget & Financing Plan (White Book). Mr. Lamb added that Article 16 (h), Town Pool Water Heater Replacement, is going to be turned into a request for design funds. The amount has not yet been determined. Mr. Cole departed at 9:09 A.M. Adjourn A Motion was made and seconded at 9:11 A.M. to adjourn. Roll-Call Vote:5-0 This Minutes was approved by the CEC at its meeting on April 13, 2022. Page 4 of 4