2007-03-08-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 8, 2007 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee March 8, 2007 Place and time: Town Office Building, Room 111, 7:30 p.m. Members present: Al Levine (Chair), Deborah Brown (Vice-Chair), John Bartenstein (Secretary), Rod Cole, Rick Eurich, Pam Hoffman, David Kanter, Mike Kennealy, Eric Michelson, Rob Addelson (ex officio, non-voting) Also present: Charles Lamb (Capital Expenditures Committee); Tom Diaz and Tom Griffiths (School Committee); Bill Hartigan, School Facilities Director; Patrick Mehr The meeting was called to order at 7:40 PM. Minutes. 1. Minutes of the meetings held on February 22, 2007 and March 1, 2007 were approved with minor changes. Reports from Staff and Members. 2. Rob Addelson reported that a preliminary version of the Brown Book (the “Beige Book”) would be distributed on line the following day, Friday, March 9, and that a limited number of hard copies would be available at the police station on Monday, March 12. This preliminary version would have the final recommended municipal budget and the school capital budget (with a few placeholders for items not yet finalized) but would not include the school operating budget. Within a few days after the school operating budget is voted, the final Brown Book will be published and distributed. David Kanter reported on two meetings concerning the proposed new DPW facility: a February 27 meeting of the Permanent Building Committee (PBC) and a March 6 meeting of the Design Advisory Committee (DAC). The architects have prepared new drawings of the proposed building that are quite attractive. There do not appear to be any major impediments at this point to the continued progress of the project toward the 50% construction-documents design and cost estimates needed for Town Meeting. Alan reported that he had attended part of a PBC meeting held earlier in the evening. Most of the discussion was on energy issues, and there were no major new developments. Pam Hoffman reported on the most recent School Committee meeting held on Tuesday, March 6. The School Department has pared the projected deficit for the same- service budget by $558,604—a combination of some trimming (about $1.13 million) and some essential additions (about $0.58 million)—leaving a revised gap of about $4.35 million. An “At Risk” list totaling about $4.06 million has been provided to the School Committee. The current version of the budget has eliminated any contingency for SPED overruns ($225,000 last year, and originally $195,000 in this year’s budget) but the estimated increase in SPED costs is higher than last year’s. David Kanter distributed - 1 -