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Home My WebLink About2017-01-17-CEC-min Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting January 17, 2017 Location and Time: Town Offices Building, Reed Room; 7:30 .. AM Members Present: Jill Hai, ChairDavid Kanter, Vice-Chair & Clerk; Rod Cole; ; Charles Lamb; Wendy Manz Members Absent: None Others Present: Susan Bennett, Executive Director, Lexington Historical Society; Jeanne Krieger, Friends of Minute Man National Park; Caileen Foley, Executive Director, Lexington Housing Authority; Elaine Ashton, Town Meeting Member; Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Documents Presented : Notice/Agenda of CEC Public Meeting, January 17, 2017 Draft #4 Minutes of CEC meeting, January 10, 2017 (Open Session) Draft Minutes of CEC Meeting, January 12, 2017 (Summit IV) Town of Lexington, Community Preservation Committee (CPC), Project Application Form: Interpretive Signage Project Town of Lexington, CPC, Project Application Form: Greeley Village Rear Door and Porch Restoration SupplementÏPorch Decking, revised October 28, 2016 Town of Lexington, CPC, Project Application Form: ParkerÓs Revenge Interpretive, and Public Education Project Draft CEC Review of FY2018 Town ManagerÓs Preliminary Budget & Financing Plan (ÐWhite BookÑ) after 10 Jan 2017 Meeting (January 16, 2017; prepared and distributed that date to this Committee by Mr. Kanter) FY2018ÎFY2022 Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs) Call to Order: At 7:30 .., Ms. Hai called the meeting to order. AM Minutes: A Motion was made and seconded to approve the Draft #4 Minutes of the CEC meeting, Vote: 5–0 January 10, 2016 (Open Session), as amended. A Motion was made and seconded to approve the Draft Minutes of the CEC meeting, Vote: 5–0 January 12, 2016 (Summit IV). Non-town Government Projects approved by the Town’s Community Preservation Committee: The projects were discussed, as follows Interpretive Signage (Lexington Historical Society): In response to questions, Ms. Bennett provided the following information: If the project does not require use of all the approved Lexington Community Preservation Fund (CPF) allocation, the excess portion will remain available in the CPF for other uses. The posts for the signs have not yet been selected, but it is expected they will be metal. Many signs are located in front of private property, and may or may not be in the TownÓs right-of-way. The Committee recommended that if any are on, or Page 1 of 3 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting January 17, 2017 proposed to be on, private property, the TownÓs rights to the signs and that placement should be formally memorialized by an appropriate legal document. A preliminary position was unanimous support by this Committee. ParkerÓs Revenge Interpretive and Public Education Project (Friends of Minute Man National Park): Ms. Krieger provided the following information: An initial grant for exploring the ParkerÓs Revenge site resulted in discovering that the April 19, 1775 events were not as close to the nearby bluff as originally thought; musket balls were found in a surface bowl set back from the bluff. The current funding request is for creating exhibits for, and restoration of, the area. The Peabody Foundation has contributed $45,000 for this project, and there are other donations as well. The Bloody Angle site, which has similar interpretive needs as the ParkerÓs Revenge site, is in Lincoln; Lincoln would be approached for funding requests associated with this site. A preliminary position was unanimous support by this Committee. Greeley Village Rear Door and Porch Restoration Supplemental RequestÏPorch Decking (Lexington Housing Authority): In response to questions, Ms. Foley provided the following information: The current project schedule includes issuing the bid package in February, awarding the contract in March, commencing the project in April, and completing the project in the fall. The Committee noted that as the award must await the dissolution of the 2017 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) (and then the passing of the 5daypetition period), award as early as March is unlikely, but as projected for prior to the beginning of FY2018, the Motion at Town Meeting must authorize the use of previously appropriated funds in the CPF. Ms. Foley will provide the Committee with a budget-and-funding-source document addressing both the original appropriation and basis for this supplemental request sothe Committee can better understand the basis for the funding request. There was discussion about the StateÓs responsibility associated with operating and maintaining these housing units and the TownÓs multiple contributions toward needed capital improvements. Because State mandates are associated with low- and moderateincome housing, Ms. Manz agreed to compile historical information on State funding for these facilities. A preliminary position was unanimous support by this Committee. FY2018 Budget-Review Cycle, including Report to 2017 ATMand the anticipated concurrent Special Town Meeting: Ms. Hai and Mr. Kanter discussed matters related to preparing this CommitteeÓs report, as follows: Page 2 of 3 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting January 17, 2017 The Committee should review the latest Draft CEC Review of FY2018 White Book and advise Mr. Kanter if that Review does not still represent the CommitteeÓs current positionsÏbeyond the preliminary votes taken at this meeting. A shell of the report will be distributed in Microsoft Word format once the Warrant articles are published. Each Committee member is responsible for developing the material related to their previously-assigned departments/offices, in particular updating the front section of the report which includes historical information and prior-year data. Much of the background information on each department or office can be built upon an update of the comparable information in the CommitteeÓs Report to the 2016 ATM. The back section includes this CommitteeÓs positions; explanations of any final minority positions would be prepared by the member(s) taking those position(s). While the already available FY2018 White Book provides an excellent guide to what will be quoted for each proposed capital-funding action, the final text will be taken from the FY2018 Recommended Budget & Financing Plan (ÐBrown BookÑ)Ï expected to be published at the end of February. Review of the Budget Summit IV, January 12, 2017: It was noted at the Summit that the debt-exclusion referendum anticipated for the fall of 2017 would likely be for about $113 millionÏmore than any previous debt-exclusion request. While the Board of Selectmen will formally determine what is in such a referendum and how it is structured, it is contemplated to address excluding from the limits of Proposition 2½ the funding to purchase the 20 Pelham Road property (approximately $8.0 million), to purchase the 173 Bedford Street property ($4.4 million), to rebuild the Fire Headquarters (approximately $20.0 million), to rebuild the Hastings Elementary School (approximately $62.0 million), and to create the Lexington ChildrenÓs Place at the Pelham Road property (approximately $18.0 million). The White Book identifies a small number of projects that the Town Manager is proposing be postponed in execution after appropriation at the 2017 ATM, and thereby delay an FY2018 expense, until the outcome of the debt-exclusion referendum is known. The Committee discussed those projects and the implications of delaying each. Ms. Hai noted that there will be continued discussion with other committees regarding that proposal. Adjourn: Vote: 5–0 A Motion was made and seconded at 8:49 .. to adjourn. AM These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its meeting on January 31, 2017. Page 3 of 3