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RECEIVED 03/09/2022 AC Minutes 2022 22 IIIVI", 9��04 auin Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) TOWN W 16 E R March 9, 2022 LEM14GTON MA Place and Time: Remote Participation: in accordance with Section 20 of Chapter 20 of the Acts of 2021 "An Act Relative to Extending Certain COVID-19 Measures Adopted During the State of Emergency", communication took place via a Zoom teleconferencing session that was open to the public; 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; Anil Ahuja; John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson; Meg Muckenhoupt; Lily Manhua Yan Member(s)Absent: Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Other Attendees: Mark Andersen, Town Meeting member Mr. Parker called the meeting to order at 7:33 p.m., reviewed the authorization for meeting remotely, and stated that the meeting was being recorded for the purpose of creating minutes. Announcements and Liaison Reports Mr. Levine reported that he had just been watching the in-progress Select Board (SB) and School Committee joint meeting on Zoom. They were discussing the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA)process for Lexington High School (LHS)that will be starting in the near future. A series of scheduling modules were identified, starting with the eligibility period, followed by a feasibility study, which takes about one year, and then schematic design. The feasibility study is expected to determine whether the school is to be renovated or a new facility is to be built. It was reported that the MSBA apparently would prefer to see a School Building Committee created from scratch rather than having an existing committee, such as the Permanent Building Committee, act in that role. The estimated cost for the feasibility study has not changed from the previously identified $1.8 (rounded) million, which will likely be requested at a 2022-2 Special Town Meeting (STM)to be held in conjunction with the Annual Town Meeting. The MSBA does not object to such an appropriation being approved prior to the June 1, 2022 start date for the eligibility period. Discussion of Articles with Financial Implications for the 2022-1 STM and the 2022 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) that Need Additional Information and/or Need a Vote There were updates and discussions relating to the use of WDesk for creating this Committee's report to the 2022-1 STM and the 2022 ATM. Mr. Parker reported that he has entered a placeholder into the report for a 2022-2 STM article requesting an appropriation for the LHS feasibility study. The following 2022 ATM articles were discussed. • ATM Article 5: Appropriate FY2023 Enterprise Funds Budgets: Mr. Bartenstein reviewed the material he had prepared for the report, explaining that the combined water/sewer budget increase over last year is less than 3%, so rate increases to be adopted in the fall of 2022 should only be 24%, which is in contrast to the 6.6%increase adopted in the fall of 2021. The low budget increase results primarily from a significant decrease in the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority assessments. He also reported that the retained earnings for both water and wastewater were greater than usual. These have traditionally been used for capital projects, which helps reduce debt service expenses. Mr. Levine reported that the Recreation Department's enterprise fund was severely impacted by COVID-19, but the FY2023 budget 1