2004-04-22-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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April 22, 2004 Minutes of the Meeting of the Appropriation Committee April 22, 2004 Room G-15 (originally planned to be in Room 111), Town Office Building 7;30 PM Present: Karen Dooks, Richard Eurich, Paul Hamburger, Alan Levine (acting Chair), Eric Michelson, Ron Pawliczek, Michael Young (staff), with an audience of about 25 people None of us remembered one of our meetings with so much attention - there were about 25 people observing. The meeting had to be moved down to G-15 to accommodate the crowd! Library - Paul and others will continue to work on understanding the rules the MA Board of Library Commissioners (BLC) follows re certification, and thus to see whether there are any options that would allow us to maintain the certification by means of shifting pieces of the budget around. There did not appear to be any sentiment to protect the $191K by putting Police funds at risk or by using cash. Lexpress - The sense of the Committee was to not support the proposal to combine the $213K transportation at risk funds with the other public works at risk funds in one override question. Cash capital - The proposal to put the $100K for sidewalks, $35K for Kineen Park, and $150K for Cary Hall audiovisual improvements on the override (and to not fund them at all if the override fails) did not get much support. Resolution re raising fees - The Committee did not support such a resolution in the absence of a definite amendment. There appeared to be sentiment to get better data on the relationship between fee revenue and the services those fees support. Supervisor of Env. Services - Voted 4-3 to support Charlie Hornig's amendment (but contingent on detailed wording yet to be received) to fund a full time position in the DPW using $70K (salary plus benefits) from the DPW Revolving Fund. The amendment will not affect the $25K 1/2 time grantwriter in the Town Manager's office that is at risk. Charlie says that Bill Hadley says that the fund can easily support the $70K. Some sentiment was expressed that the Committee should understand this fund better. Committee reports for Town Meeting - Everyone seems ready to stand up and say "we approve" or "disapprove" for the articles they researched. Deborah will be making extensive remarks that will cover Art. 14. Avalon Bay - This topic was taken up late and the Committee did not talk about it in detail. Loren Wood passed out a paper copy of his analysis (he told us he thinks it is $600K from being revenue neutral). He would like a chance to talk to us for 10 minutes when the Committee discusses it at greater length. A motion to adjourn was approved unanimously. Respectfully submitted, -- Alan M. Levine Approved December 9, 2004