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02/09/2023 AC Minutes 1 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) February 9, 2023 Place and Time: Remote Participation: in accordance with An Act Relative to Extending Certain State of Emergency Accommodations, signed into law by Gov. Baker on July 16, 2022, communica- tion 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; John Bartenstein; Alan Levine, Secretary; Eric Michelson; Sean Osborne; Lily Manhua Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent: Anil Ahuja Other Attendees: David Kanter, Capital Expenditures Committee; James Malloy, Town Manager; Mike Cronin, Director of Public Facilities At 7:34 p.m. Mr. Parker called the meeting to order and confirmed attendance by roll call. Announcements and Liaison Reports Ms. Kosnoff announced that the Town completed a 20-year bond sale for $30 million to cover con- struction costs of the new Police Station Headquarters. The Town received a triple-A rating from Moody’s, and the True Interest Cost (TIC) was 3.03%, which is considered to be a low interest rate in the current economic environment. The loan premium was over $3 million, which will be applied to the cost of construction. The bond cannot be “called” during the first 10 years. Mr. Parker announced the formation of the Select Board’s Ad Hoc Transportation Committee, which will focus on the LexPress local bus service. The Select Board requested a liaison from the Committee and, after asking for volunteers, Mr. Parker agreed to serve in that role. Mr. Parker noted that he had shared the agenda for the upcoming Select Board meeting, including documents related to two points of interest to the Committee: a slide show of the proposed design for the solar canopy at the new Police Station Headquarters, and a memorandum from Jim Malloy about remaining budget issues for the Select Board to discuss. Mr. Bartenstein noted that a memorandum from the School Committee was published on the LexTMMA mailing list. The memorandum addressed the current state of contract negotiations with the teachers’ union. Mr. Parker mentioned that he had also forwarded this to the Committee. FY2024 Budget Discussion with James Malloy, Town Manager Mr. Parker introduced Mr. Malloy and Mr. Cronin, and then suggested that Mr. Malloy begin by providing answers to questions previously submitted by the Committee. Mr. Malloy summarized the questions and gave the following responses: How to lower the trash budget, including the possibility of banning food waste in trash and provid- ing curbside composting? At their most recent meeting the Select Board had a lengthy discussion on “Zero Waste” and curbside composting. The Board indicated its support for curbside composting service and asked staff to make recommendations on how to fund it. Mr. Malloy’s memorandum proposed using ARPA funds and free cash to pay for a one-year pilot program providing free composting for 2,000 households. In Lexington, 1,300 households already pay for curbside composting. These households