2003-04-10-CEC-summit - Laserfiche WebLink

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Summary points from the Selectmen-School Committee-Capital Expenditure- Appropriation Summit at Lexington High School 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. April 10, 2003 Operating Budget 1. Loren Wood still expects to offer amendment to cut expenses across the board, use $500,000 to cut short-term borrowing/debt-service costs. Selectmen and Appropriation unanimously opposed. 2. Dawn McKenna and Peter Kelley propose to cut solid waste coordinator, use those funds rather than subjecting to override or using free cash to pay for weekly recycling and MIS/Town website. Selectmen opposed 3-2, see coordinator as important; would take from free cash. Appropriation will report, but are 7-1 vs. cutting the position, and 6- 2 vs. putting the extra spending on the override (which was agreed upon by the summit budget process); and therefore would fund from free cash. [Correspondent's query: restoring weekly recycling was justified as a nice service AND to sustain whatever recycling is now being done; but isn't that recycling volume ALSO prompted by the recycling coordinator, cutting whom would likely boost trash volume, at a resulting cost to the Town? doesn't the coordinator prompt the programs for school and apartment recycling, which would otherwise tail off?] 3. Free cash update, John Ryan: $2.135 million certified, $630,000 being used to balance FY '04, balance of about $1.5 million. [Correspondent's query; will Deborah be making her free cash update presentation to Town Meeting 4/14 and 4/28? Surely we need some such lively audiovisual element to kick off each night!?] 4. Other budget reductions: none 5. Increase override amount? Leo: no Deborah, if Town Meeting accepts the Fred Rosenberg and David Kaufman amendments to make weekly recycling and MIS/website subject to override, the Selectmen would have to agree to do so, which they say they will not do; which would kill those items outright. So Town Meeting ought to be told that before the votes? School Capital, Harrington and Fiske See Spt. Benton handout. State has approved only one project per town; Lexington has asked for Harrington, rather than the state choice of Fiske, to reflect current construction staging and Harrington role as swing space. Fiske in worst physical shape, not being maintained, and grossly overcrowded, inadequate for current arts and SPED programs for example. [Benton later said that if new Harrington were built and Fiske not, she would move Fiske to old Harrington rather than maintain/invest in/spend on the improvements necessary at Fiske!] Exhibit p. 7 shows huge, multimillion-dollar annual maintenance spending required at all elementary schools, beginning with Fiske and Harrington, if the replacement program is not pursued; this in accord with the school capital plan, which called for suspension of maintenance spending after replacement was agreed upon and