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2/4/2016 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) February 4, 2016 Place and time: Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members present. Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Kate Colburn; Mollie Garberg; Alan Levine; Beth Masterman; Eric Michelson; Andrei Radulescu -Banu Members Absent: Richard Neumeier Others Present: Elaine Ashton, Town Meeting member The meeting was called to order at 7:40 pm. 1. Announcements: Mr. Michelson reported that the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) informed Minuteman Technical High School that, in order to qualify for MSBA grant funds, it had 120 days to submit its plan for rebuilding the school. Mr. Parker reported that the Board of Selectmen, at their recent meeting, did not indicate when they would ask the Moderator to take up Special Town Meeting (STM) 2016 -2, Article 2: Land Purchase 20 Pelham Road. It will not be brought up this Monday night but, it could be brought to the STM as early as mid - February. 2. Reports to STM 2016 -1 and 2016 -2: Articles were discussed as follows: • STM 2016 -1, Article 2: Amendments to the Regional School District Agreement of the Minuteman Regional Vocational School District: Ms. Garberg and Ms. Masterman added their support to this article, making this Committee's support unanimous. • STM 2016 -1, Article 3: Appropriate for Hastings School Feasibility Study: Ms. Garberg and Ms. Masterman added their support to this article, making this Committee's support unanimous. • STM 2016 -1, Article 4: Establish, Rename and Appropriate to and from Specified Stabilization Funds: Ms. Garberg and Ms. Masterman added their support to this article, making this Committee's support unanimous. Mr. Parker reported that he would be traveling and would not be attending the Budget Summit or the STMs, and that Ms. Masterman would be handling the publication and distribution of this Committee's report. A motion was made and seconded to approve this Committee's report to the STMs. The motion passed. VOTE: 8 -0 3. Liaison Reports: Mr. Parker discussed continuing efforts to develop a memo from the finance committee and selectmen's "chairs plus one" group to the School Committee. The memo would serve as a framework for evaluating the effectiveness and suitability of school building proposals from a system -level view. He noted that the memo would likely become an internal working document, although Ms. Hai may choose to share it with the School Committee. This triggered discussion about the magnitude of funds needed to address current and projected school enrollment, the impact this would have on the typical taxpayer, whether the enrollment increases will continue as projected, and housing policies that could impact enrollment. It was generally agreed that the points in the framework memo must be formally addressed in order for this Committee to create its reports on related Town Meeting articles. 1