1996-03-09-AC-MIN.pdf - Laserfiche WebLink

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APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE MEETING SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 1996 COMPTROLLER'S OFFICE, 1:00 PM Present: P Lapointe, M Miley, M Mairson, R Colwell, J Pagett, L Peck, R Leone, R Borghesani, J Ryan Absent: M Hastings * R Leone discussed the meeting he attended on Friday, March 8th with P Lapointe, R White and G Woodbury regarding utilities( Art 37). G Woodbury has done this in the past and seems very knowledgeable on the subject. A vote against the article will hurt the Town's ability to structure an agreement with Boston Edison. Town Meeting should support the article. Discussed the possibility of creating an enterprise zone consisting of the Town, Hanscom and the businesses on Hartwell Avenue. This process require two separate Town Meeting votes, the current vote only authorizing a discussion with Boston Edison. The first to negotiate a contract with a utility may get locked into a long term deal which may or may not prove advantageous but it also may be beneficial to be the first to do so. * R Leone discussed the article dealing with NESWC( Art 38). Contractual agreement to pay for the scrubbers, $ 66 million over 10 years will greatly increase the tipping fee. Question is do we extend the contract or walk away from the project? Need to insure that this article is not discussed in conjunction or near the utility article. * P Lapointe discussed his meeting with FinCom members from Arlington and Belmont on the MMRVHS issue. They intend to request that the Fiscal 1997 appropriation request be reduced by approximately $ 500,000 to the state calculated minimum. This would mean a reduction in Lexington's assessment of approximately $ 67,000. MMRVHS has reserved $ 2.3 million of their fund balance of $ 2.8 million as of June 30, 1995. P Lapointe along with Arlington and Belmont will meet with N Barnett and R Fitzgerald on Monday, March 11, 1996 with their proposal. * P Lapointe indicated that a discussion he had with R White indicated that there is a real role for the AC to play in identifying and understanding the capital needs of the community and what impact they will have on the long term operating budget. AC must clearly articulate what needs to be said. The School Department currently relies on 58% of the operating revenues of the Town. If current projections hold true, in 7 years the School Department will require 100% of the operating revenues. * Lexington's school enrollment is increasing the second fastest in the state. * There are "chestnuts" on the Town side of the equation but there don't seem to be any on the School side. * P Lapointe expressed disappointment that there appears to be no flexibility with the School Department in attempting to minimize the financial impact due to increases enrollments. J Young does not suggest any financial response to the trend. * R Leone discussed the teacher/student ratio. There are approximately 12 students per teacher( approx 5500 students with 444 teachers). * M Miley and others discussed the need to review our experience at the Hastings School