Laserfiche WebLink
Breadcrumb Navigation:
<br />12/08/2016 AC Minutes <br />Minutes <br />Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee(AC) <br />December8, 2016 <br />: Parker Room (moved from DawesRoom),Town OfficeBuilding,7:30p.m. <br />: Glenn Parker, Chair;John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; AlanLevine; <br />Eric Michelson;RichardNeumeier; Jian Helen Yang; Rob Addelson (non-voting, ex officio) <br />Members Absent:Mollie Garberg;Andrei Radulescu-Banu; <br />Membership Note:A ninth member has not yet been appointed. <br />Others Present:Suzie Barry, Chair, Board of Selectmen(BoS); Jill Hai, Chair, Capital <br />Expenditures Committee(CEC); Bob Pressman, resident; ElaineAshton, Town Meeting member <br />The meetingwas calledto order at 7:35pm. <br />1.Announcements <br />Mr. Neumeier reportedthatthe Lawyers’ Weeklypublication recentlylistedopen positionsfor legal <br />servicesin three Massachusettscities, as follows: <br />Cambridge: $91,206 plus benefits; <br />Newton: $90,000 to $94,000; <br />New Bedford:$57,666-$69,609 <br />He noted thatthe BoS is requesting $415,000 for municipal legal services. The additional amount <br />needed for the school department has not been identified, but the Town has been spending $800,000 <br />to $900,000 annually for out-sourced legal assistance. He suggested thatthe Town should consider <br />hiring in-house counsel for most of its legal work. <br />Mr. Michelson reported that the Town of Lexington recently approved the Town of Belmont’s <br />request to leave the Minuteman TechnicalHighSchool regionaldistrict. He noted that the demand <br />for vocational education is expanding, according to a Globearticle. <br />2.Minutes <br />A motion was made and seconded to approve the draft September 21, 2016 minutes with one minor <br />edit.VOTE: 6-0 <br />3.FY2017Snow and Ice Service Contracts <br />Mr. Michelson reported on the Department ofPublic Works’ (DPW) changes in the process used <br />for hiring outside sources for snow removal. <br />In previous years, a number ofdifferent individuals were contacted and hired, but competition from <br />other townswas creating challenges. DPW decided to seek bids fromcontractorswho would bid on <br />snow removal services for all of one or more of three components:sidewalks, parking lots, and <br />roadways. Using a handout, Mr. Michelsondescribed the resulting cost increases. Of particular <br />concern was that there was only one bid for the roadway component, which is 33% greater than last <br />year’s cost. <br />1 <br /> <br />