HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-09-17-CEC-min JS�®pN�N
Minutes of the
�3 Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting
g September 17, 2020
3 - a
EXING'�'
Location and Time: Remote Meeting; 8:00 A.M.
Members Present (all remote participation): Charles Lamb, Chair; David Kanter,
Vice-Chair & Clerk; Sandy Beebee (joined at 8:11 A.M.); Rod Cole; Wendy Manz, and
Frank Smith
Members Absent: None
Others Present (remote participation): Scott Bokun, School Committee liaison;
Sara Cuthbertson, School Committee liaison; Glenn Parker, Appropriation Committee
liaison; Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary.
Documents Presented:
• Notice of CEC Meeting, September 17, 2020
• Strawman for CEC Report to the 2020 Special Town Meetings (STMs) -2 and -3
• Draft CEC Input for Lexington's FY2020 Annual Report
• Draft #1 of CEC Meeting Minutes, September 10, 2020
Call to Order
Mr. Lamb called this Remote (Virtual) Meeting, which had been posted as such, to order at
8:02 A.M. He announced that 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. A roll-call
vote was taken and confirmed that all six CEC Committee (Committee) members were
remotely participating. It was also announced that this meeting's audio was being recorded,
but solely for the purpose of facilitating the drafting of the Minutes for this meeting. Said
recording will be destroyed once the Minutes are approved.
Review of the "Strawman" of the CEC's Report to the Fall 2020 STMs
Mr. Kanter led a"walk-through"of that version of that report he had prepared. The Committee
agreed that the CEC does not need to comment on the Articles included in the 2020 STM-2
because they are not relevant to CEC responsiblities. Thus, the report will only address
Articles included in the 2020 STM-3. It was further determined that only Articles 3 through 5
and Article 7 in the 2020 STM-3 need to be addressed in the CEC report. Comments about
the Articles were as follows:
• Article 3: Establish, Dissolve and Appropriate To and From Specified Stabilization
Funds: There may be a recommendation to appropriate funds to the Capital
Stabilization Fund (CSF) and/or the Other Post Employment Benefits fund along with
an expected withdrawal from the CSF.
• Article 4: Rescind Prior Borrowing Authorizations: It is understood that there will be a
recommendation to rescind some prior borrowing authorizations.
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Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting
September 17, 2020
• Article 5: Amend FY2021 Operating, Enterprise and Community Preservation Act
(CPA) Budgets: It is possible that there will be an amendment to the CPA budget now
that the State Department of Revenue has forecasted a 17.7% State supplement—
which is materially less than the percentage underlying that used in building the 2021
CPA budget approved at the 2020 Annual Town.
• Article 7: Land Acquisition: This Article is pending completion of negotiations for a land
purchase. The location is currently not available, but will be included in the Motion if it
is brought to this STM. If negotiations are not completed prior to this STM, the Article
will be indefinitely postponed.
Because Articles 3-5 fall into the category of general government items, it was agreed that
Mr. Lamb and Mr. Kanter, who are the designated for that category, would be responsible for
preparing text for those articles.
Mr. Kanter noted that the schedule for the fall Town Meetings include opening 2020 STM-2
and then recessing it in order to open and complete 2020 STM-3 before returning to and
completing 2020 STM-2.
Member Concerns and Liaison Reports:
Recommended edits to the draft CEC input for the FY2020 Annual Town Report were
reviewed and resolved by consensus. A Motion was made and seconded to approve said
report, as amended. Roll-Call Vote: 6-0
Ms. Beebee updated this Committee regarding the status of the FY2021 Recreation
Department projects. In the process, it was clarified that appropriated funds for a project do
not have to be used, but eventually unused funds need to be rescinded (if originally intended
to be for future debt service) or released back to the fund source (if it were planned to be
cash payments). Whether rescinded or released, those freed-up funds could be
reappropriated.
Mr. Kanter noted that the Recreation Enterprise Fund has experienced a shortfall resulting
from COVID-19 restrictions on what would otherwise be revenue-generating programs. The
Fund needs approximately $400,000 from the General Fund to cover expenses. He added
that the Town Manager advised that some Towns regularly use more of their General Funds
for their recreation programs than is Lexington's current policies and he has recommended
creating a task force to review Lexington's policies.
Ms. Cuthbertson and Mr. Bokun were introduced as the new liaisons to this Committee from
the School Committee.
Approval of Minutes
One amendment was suggested for the Draft #1 Minutes of this Committee's meeting on
September 10, 2020. A Motion was made and seconded to approve said Minutes, as
amended. Roll-Call Vote: 6-0
Adjourn
A Motion was made and seconded at 8:43 A.M. to adjourn. Roll-Call Vote: 6-0
This Minutes was approved by the CEC at its meeting on September 24, 2020.
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