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10/19/2023 AC Minutes 1 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) October 19, 2023 Place and Time: Remote participation via a Zoom teleconferencing session that was open to the public; 7:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; Anil Ahuja; John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent: Sean Osborne; Lily Manhua Yan Other Attendees: David Kanter, Capital Expenditures Committee At 7:33 p.m. Mr. Parker called the meeting to order and took attendance by roll call. Announcements and Liaison Reports Mr. Levine reported that the School Building Committee (SBC) met on Thursday, October 12. Pre- viously on October 3, the Designer Selection Panel chose SMMA as the architectural firm for the design process. The SBC, Dore and Whittier, and SMMA will host community meetings in Novem- ber, February, and April. Over the next 3 to 6 months, the designers will document existing condi- tions at LHS and research wetlands issues and deed restrictions for the areas around the high school, and will develop an educational plan for the high school. This work will be followed by about 6 months of work creating designs based on at least the three required options that are renovation, renovation with additions, and full replacement. Ms. Kosnoff stated that the Town plans to request $10 million in FY2025 to fund further design work on the high school project. Those funds are intended to enable the generation of preliminary cost estimates for the project that will be adequate for informing the community in advance of a debt-exclusion referendum. Review the Committee’s Report to the 2023-1 Special Town Meeting Mr. Parker led the Committee through a discussion of all the articles covered in the Committee’s report. Article 2 Appropriate for Prior Years’ Unpaid Bills Mr. Parker stated that he had added a very brief summary of the situation in the report draft, which involves a payment for the FY 2023 annual assessment by Minuteman Regional High School. Ms. Kosnoff stated that there are two kinds of unpaid bills, the first of which happens for an ex- pense for which funds were appropriated in a prior fiscal year, and the second in which there was no appropriation. The second kind requires nine-tenths voting quantum for approval at town meeting. Town Counsel has indicated that this bill is of the first type. The Committee suggested adding more context to the report explaining that this bill does not reflect an additional payment to Minuteman Regional High School above the FY 2023 assessment, why the funding source would be the tax levy, and how the unexpended funds from the prior fiscal year would flow to Free Cash.