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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-05-07-CEC-min Minutes of the /v Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting May 7, 2020 APRIL,1,91" Location and Time: Remote Meeting; 8:30 A.M. Members Present (all remote participation): Charles Lamb, Chair; David Kanter, Vice—Chair & Clerk; Sandy Beebee; Rod Cole; Wendy Manz; and Frank Smith Members Absent: None Others Present (remote participation): None Documents Presented: • Notice of CEC Meeting, May 7, 2020 • Memorandum of Agreement ("MOA") between Symmes Lifecare, Inc. d/b/a Brookhaven at Lexington ("Brookhaven") and The Town of Lexington, Massachusetts ("Town") regarding Planned Development District 1 , signed April 26, 20177 by Brookhaven, and May 1 , 20177 by the Town. (Mr. Kanter's e-mail, March 16, 2020 16:03) • Robert J. Burbidge e-mail, April 11 , 2020 12:27, Status of LexHAB Units (Forwarded by Mr. Kanter's e-mail, April 11 , 2020 1400, Habitable Status of LexHAB Units) • DRAFT Minutes of the CEC Meeting, April 10, 2020 (Mr. Kanter's e-mail, April 28, 2020 20:43) • 2020 Annual Town Meeting ("ATM"), Article 19 (Establish, Dissolve and Appropriate to and from Specified Stabilization Funds) Motion, April 9, 2020 • DRAFT Updates to the CEC Report to the 2020 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) ("Updates Document") (Mr. Kanter's e-mail, May 4, 2020 11 :11) • CEC Report to the 2020 Annual Town Meeting, published March 26, 2020 Call to Order Mr. Lamb called this Remote Meeting, which had been posted as such, to order at 8:35 A.M. He announced the requirement to have a physical presence of a quorum had been suspended in an Executive Order by Massachusetts Governor Charles D. Baker, on March 12, 2020, after having proclaimed, on March 10, 2020, a STATE OF EMERGENCY in the Commonwealth due to the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus, known as "COVID-19". Mr. Lamb announced the Documents Presented at this meeting and stated that any votes during this meeting would be taken by a roll-call vote—which he will call. He also announced that this meeting's audio and video were being recorded, but solely for the purpose of facilitating drafting the Minutes for this meeting and would be destroyed when that Minutes was approved. A roll-call vote was taken and confirmed that all six members were remotely participating. Approval of Minutes At Mr. Lamb's request, Mr. Kanter reviewed recommended clarifications and corrections to the Draft Minutes of this Committee's meeting on April 10, 2020. A Motion has made and seconded to approve said Minutes, as amended. Roll-Call Vote: 6-0 Pagel of 3 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting May 7, 2020 Discussion of the Draft Updates of this Committee's Report to the 2020 ATM. Mr. Kanter reported that Ms. Manz had recommended significant amendments to the proposed replacement text about the two elements (b & c) in the latest Article 19 Motion regarding Brookhaven payments received by the Town ($111 ,922) and the appropriation of $111,000 of it to the Lexington Housing Assistance Board, Inc. ("LexHAB"). He supported the administrative corrections in it for the Updates Document, but not those changes that went beyond providing administrative corrections and errors (of which there were none identified) from this Committee's last meeting—what was his understanding of what was to be the substance of the Updates Document. Ms. Manz explained that her efforts were intended to provide clarification of the issues and sequence of events related to the Article 19 Motion and this Committee's debates and votes. Ms. Beebee and Mr. Smith added that given the complexities of holding a virtual Town Meeting, this additional explanation would be particularly useful to Town Meeting members. Mr. Cole agreed that the additional text went beyond the constraints identified by this committee for editing the report, but this Committee does not need to be held to those parameters if a change were warranted. Mr. Kanter reminded the Committee that he had provided Mr. Burbidge's advice that none of the renovations to be funded by Article 19(c) were needed to maintain habitability of all units in the LexHAB current inventory of affordable housing and, therefore, there is no urgent need for that funding. Mr. Kanter reiterated his long-standing objection to this Committee's support of the Select Board's recommendation to transfer funds to the Lexington Housing Assistance Stabilization Fund for what would then be applied to housing renovations because those funds come from Brookhaven and such usage is inconsistent with the MOA between the Town and Brookhaven. Further, in his opinion, this Committee, in effect, just saying "don't do it again" is inadequate. During the following discussion, it was noted that this Committee's reports frequently include the sense of this Committee's conversations about a project, thus going beyond that which actually occurred when the vote was taken. It was also noted that the Committee could go as far as changing its vote at this time, if that were the will of the Committee. Although there was no Motion to change the vote, there was continued concern expressed about the way this Article was handled during the process of preparing it for presentation to the ATM. Corrections and clarifying edits to the material suggested by Ms. Manz were discussed. It was then proposed that Mr. Smith work with Ms. Manz to prepare the substitute, alternative, language for that portion of the Updates Document that was supported during the discussion by the rest of this Committee, and to provide it to the Chair. Mr. Kanter said that once the Chair approved that alternate language and provided it to him, he would accordingly revise the Updates Document, then publish it electronically, and print the required copies for the Town Clerk's Office and the Cary Memorial Library, as done with the CEC Report to the 2020 Annual Town Meeting. A Motion was made and seconded to incorporate the Chair's approved version of the changes to the Updates Document, including any non-substantive changes he supports, and Page 2 of 3 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting May 7, 2020 that Mr. Kanter should publish the thus-final version of the Updates Document as he proposed. Roll-Call Vote:5-1 (Mr. Kanter was opposed.) Adjourn A Motion was made and seconded at 9:13 A.M. to adjourn. Roll-Call Vote: 6-0 This Minutes was approved by the CEC at its meeting on May 29, 2020. Page 3 of 3