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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-03-07-CEC-min 0���g NgbT MPy�,Ake A Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting March 7, 2018 APRIL 1911 ��IIV 4I47t�r Location and Time: Town Office Building, Reed Room (111); 7:45 A.M. Members Present: Charles Lamb, Chair; David Kanter, Vice-Chair & Clerk; Sandy Beebee; Wendy Manz; Frank Smith Members Absent: Rod Cole Others Present: Mark Andersen, Town Meeting Member and Proponent of Article 35: Resolution to Request Warrant Articles to be Accompanied by Financial Projections; Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Documents Presented: • Notice of CEC Meeting, March 7, 2018 • 2018 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) Article 35; PowerPoint presentation prepared by Mr. Andersen; forwarded to this Committee by Mr. Kanter's e-mail, March 6, 2018, 9:00 A.M. • Draft #3 Minutes of the CEC Meeting, February 28, 2018 Call to Order: At 7:45 A.M., Mr. Lamb called the meeting to order. Minutes: Mr. Kanter noted the need for some minor administrative edits in the Draft#3 Minutes for this Committee's meeting on February 28, 2018. A Motion was made and seconded to approve said Minutes, as amended. Vote: 5-0 Member Concerns and Liaison Reports: Mr. Kanter reported that he had Motion language describing Article 32: Amend General Bylaw Regarding Financial Committees, that clarifies that this Committee's attendance and participation in budget-related meetings and communications are authorized. The Motion and the tracked-changes to the By-Law will next go to the Town Manager's Office for forwarding to Town Counsel for review. Discussion of the process leading to the 2018 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) and the Committee's report to that ATM Mr. Kanter reported that he and Mr. Lamb had discussed whether it was appropriate for this Committee to take a position on Article 7: Appropriate for Advice and Analysis—Getting To New Zero. They had agreed that this Article does not have any near-term capital implications. This Committee then agreed to remove this Article from being one on which this Committee would report to the 2018 ATM. Mr. Kanter led a discussion of Articles on which this Committee's position was pending or was not unanimous, as follows: • Article 16(a): Hydrant Replacement Program: Mr. Kanter reported that he is prepared to vote affirmatively on this Article rather than abstaining. A Motion was made and seconded to support Article 16(a). Vote: 5-0 Page 1 of 5 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting March 7, 2018 • Article 16(e): Center Streetscape Improvements—Design: This project is requesting funds to develop 100% designs for a multi-phased project. Phase 1 is supposed to address improvements at the Massachusetts Avenue/Woburn Street intersection. Other phases include, but are not limited to, sidewalks, lighting, curbs, and roadway reconstruction going through Lexington center. Mr. Kanter expressed his opposition to supporting this Article at the 2018 ATM for the following reasons: ➢ The Board of Selectmen (BoS) recently voted to exclude any proposal that entails installing a traffic light at the Massachusetts Avenue/Woburn Street intersection and no new alternative designs for that Phase 1 of the project have been identified. ➢ It has not yet been determined whether the 25% design work for the other phases of the project meet the criteria recommended by an ad hoc committee and approved by the BoS and there has been no revised, 25%-design cost estimate. Mr. Kanter suggested that the project is not ready to go to this ATM and should be Indefinitely Postponed (IP) with plans to bring it to a later, perhaps fall, Town Meeting. Other members of this Committee were concerned that the project had already been subjected to delays, and they did not want a lack of funding to cause additional obstacles. It was agreed that Selectman Joe Pato, would be invited to this Committee's March 141" meeting to discuss the status of the overall project, including the intersection element—regardless of when it might be phased. This Committee's position remained pending. Continued review of Articles on which this Committee's position was pending or was not unanimous was paused for Mr. Andersen to join this Committee's discussion of his Article 35. Mr. Anderson was informed that all members of this Committee had reviewed the material he had provided and understood his goal that projects presented to a Town Meeting follow a template describing a set of financial details of the project. During the ensuing discussion, Mr. Anderson expressed three concerns about current presentations at Town Meeting: • Sometimes facts are missing, and staff seem to be scrambling to get answers to questions. • A holistic understanding of costs for large, multi-year projects is not made clear; current presentations only focus on the funding request for the coming fiscal year, and this can feel "misleading". • Operating impacts and assumptions used in developing a project need to be transparent, and assumptions used for projects should be standardized. Mr. Lamb and Mr. Kanter made the following points: • It is difficult for staff to anticipate all the questions, and staff time is limited. • A tremendous amount of leg-work and review is conducted prior to Town Meeting, starting in September or October for the following spring ATM. Town Meeting members have many opportunities to get information prior to Town Meeting and need to take Page 2 of 5 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting March 7, 2018 responsibility for doing "their homework", particularly for those Articles that are of concern to them. • It is too late to start re-writing Articles on Town Meeting floor. • In the fall, staff members prepare a Capital Improvement Project form (CIP) for each proposed capital project. There is a provision in the CIP for operating impacts and assumptions, as appropriate. The CIPs are public documents and would appear to be an appropriate vehicle for including elements of the templates that are being described in Mr. Andersen's proposal. The CIP currently has some software-driven limitations, but there are already plans for the software to be upgraded. There was discussion about possibilities for educating Town Meeting members prior to Town Meeting. Mr. Andersen commented that he wants to do something that would be helpful. He suggested that working behind the scenes for what he wants might be more productive than introducing a Resolution at the 2018 ATM. Mr. Lamb suggested to Mr. Andersen that he should move to have his Article IP, but make a statement at the ATM when so moving under his Article, about the need for more information prior to Town Meeting and the need for changes in staff presentations so that they include more "big picture" information. He could then work with those who are in positions to adjust the current process. Mr. Kanter returned to his review of Articles on which this Committee's position was pending or was not unanimous, as follows: • Article 16(f): Automatic Meter Reading System: Mr. Smith reported that staff received a draft report identifying options for implementing an automatic meter reading system and is working with the consultant to address some questions. Staff plans to make a presentation and recommendation to the BoS on March 191", which is one week before ATM begins and is the same day that this Committee planned to release its report. After discussing logistical considerations, it was agreed that the report could be issued as much as a week later because the ATM will not be addressing any financial articles until April 2nd. Thus, Town Meeting members would still have at least a week to review the Committee's report—which is consistent with this Committee's goal. A motion was made and seconded to postpone issuing this Committee's report until after the BoS' March 19'" meeting—which issuing would likely be on March 261"—and to leaving its position on this Article pending. Vote: 5-0 It was noted that the Visitors' Center project would also be discussed at the BoS' March 19'" meeting, so the delay would assist in preparing material in the report for that project as well. It was agreed that this Committee would not meet on March 161"—which was to be the 2nd report-approval meeting—and meet, instead, for that purpose on March 23rd. The already planned March 14s' meeting will be a meeting for a detailed review of the latest draft of the report and the already planned March 21s' meeting becomes the 1 S' report-approval meeting. • Article 24: Appropriate to Post Employment Insurance Liability Fund: Mr. Kanter observed that, although text from last year's report is going to be re-used (with any Page 3 of 5 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting March 7, 2018 needed updates) as agreed at this Committee's last meeting, this Article has not been assigned to anyone. He agreed to work on that Article's commentary. • Article 27: Appropriate To General Stabilization Fund: Mr. Kanter reported that he had changed his position on the Article and now supported it being IP, as proposed by the BoS. In doing so, he has requested that our Chair urge the BoS to conduct—beginning right after the 2018 ATM—the promised, but long-delayed, policy review of the funding of all discretionary funds—which is now to include the General Stabilization Fund as a candidate for receiving such funds along with the Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) Fund, the Pension Fund, the Capital Stabilization Fund, and any others that should be considered. A Motion was made and seconded to support the BoS's recommendation to IP Article 27. Vote: 5-0 Mr. Kanter noted that this Committee had not submitted Articles 16(a) and 27 to be candidates for the 2018 ATM's Consent Agenda because this Committee had not previously supported these Articles unanimously; however, with the votes taken on them at this meeting, this Committee is now unanimously in support of the actions planned for both Articles. A Motion was made and seconded to support the inclusion of Articles 16(a) and 27 on the Consent Agenda. Vote: 5-0. Mr. Kanter will provide the BoS, the Town Manager, and the Appropriation Committee, with this Committee's updated Articles positions and updated list of candidates for that Agenda. He will provide the Town Moderator with the updated list of candidates. • Article 10(b): Community Center Sidewalk: Mr. Kanter reported that the Town is still negotiating with the Masons to get permission to install a sidewalk between Marrett Road and the Lexington Community Center that would cross the Mason's property. An agreement is expected in the near future, but until details (including the estimated cost) of the Community Preservation Committee's position on the project are known, it is premature to vote on this Article. This Committee's position remains pending. • Article 35: Resolution to Request Warrant Articles to be Accompanied by Financial Projections (Citizen's Article): Ms. Beebee noted that she would like Town Meeting members to have access to additional information, but she agrees that the resolution as presented by Mr. Andersen is not the best way to make that happen. Mr. Lamb recommended that all CEC members pay particular attention to presentations and questions being asked at the coming ATM. This would provide specific examples of what kinds of things might need to be improved. A Motion was made and seconded to support Article 35 only if being IP. Vote:5-0 • Article 22: Visitors Center Funding and Article 23: Visitor Center Funding (Citizen Article): Dawn McKenna, Chair, Tourism Committee, is the proponent for Article 23, which she wanted included in the Warrant in the event Article 22 did not pass with construction funding along with the construction/bid-documents funding. The BoS will be discussing this project at their March 19'" meeting. The Committee discussed that while Page 4 of 5 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting March 7, 2018 previous design funding had been appropriated with the understanding that Value Engineering would be accomplished for this project, the results have not been received by this Committee. Mr. Kanter noted that the BoS-approved FY2019 Recommended Budget and Financing Plan ("Brown Book") only includes $200,000 under Article 22 (Appropriate for Visitors Center—Construction/Bid Documents. It does not include construction funding—which it shows as $4,049,000 planned in FY2020. He also noted that, to his knowledge, there is no longer any unallocated FY2019 funds to fund construction—or anything else. Mr. Kanter reported that, if practical, he would be distributing Draft #5 of this Committee's report to the ATM this coming Friday (the 91"). It includes many comments that need to be addressed at the Committee's next meeting (on the 141") by real-time resolution or assignment for providing him a proposed resolution as soon as practical. He also asked that everyone review the Town's Proposed FY2020—FY2023 Capital Requests in the Brown Book (Page XI-27) and be prepared at the next meeting to identify items they suggest should be changed when included in this Committee's Five-Year Capital Plan. All such changes will be footnoted in that Plan. Adjourn: A Motion was made and seconded at 9:30 A.M. to adjourn. Vote:5-0 These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its meeting on March 15, 2018. Page 5 of 5