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2/22/2024 AC Minutes 1 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) February 22, 2024 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; Eric Michelson; Sean Osborne; Lily Yan Members Absent: John Bartenstein; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-vot- ing, ex officio) Other Attendees: Mark Sandeen, Select Board; David Kanter, Capital Expenditures Committee; Bob Pressman, Community Preservation Committee; Margaret Heitz At 7:35 p.m. Mr. Parker called the meeting to order and took attendance by roll call. All votes recorded below were conducted by roll call. Announcements and Liaison Reports There were no announcements or liaison reports. Warrant Articles for 2024 Annual Town Meeting After an introduction by Mr. Parker, Mr. Sandeen asked the Committee members to share their con- cerns about Article 33 Authorize the Select Board to Seek Affordable Housing. Mr. Parker summa- rized his understanding of the Committee’s position. He said the Committee members want a better understanding of the kind of development that could result if Article 33 is approved. At a previous meeting, Mr. Bartenstein voiced serious concerns because he felt the proposal was coming to town meeting with too few constraints on the outcome. Mr. Parker has shared this with Elaine Tung, Chair of the Affordable Housing Trust (AHT). Mr. Michelson stated that this article differed in many ways from earlier articles related to afforda- ble housing that have come before town meeting, and some town meeting members might hesitate to relinquish control over the project to the Select Board, even if there would be opportunities for public input as the project progressed. He said the Committee was looking for guardrails on the pro- ject, though he understood that we can’t insist on a specific detailed design. He wondered if the Se- lect Board and the AHT could clarify some limits on the future development, such as the total num- ber of units, which might improve town meeting’s confidence in the vision for the development. Mr. Padaki wondered how the Committee could write up a recommendation on a request without knowledge that would enable the Committee to examine the impacts of a development on the Town. Mr. Levine referred to a conversation he had with Mr. Sandeen earlier in the day. He has three con- cerns, starting with the total number and density of units. He objects to a 50-unit development due to the size of the parcel, but a 30-unit development would be acceptable to him, based on a density comparable to that at Locke Village. Next, he expressed a responsibility as an elected town meeting member to his constituents that he should vote to approve an article only on the basis of adequate information or expectations in terms of what the Town is looking for. Finally, he noted that a wide open RFP does not give guidance to affordable housing development outfits about the Town’s pref- erences, so that the outcome would likely reflect the developer’s preferences instead of the Town’s.