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03/19/2020 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) March 19, 2020 Place and Time: Remote Participation: in accordance with the Governor's March 12, 2020 Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law; communication 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; Alan Levine, Secretary; John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson; Meg Muckenhoupt; Nick Nichols; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Member(s)Absent: Lily Manhua Yan Other Attendees: Robert Burbidge, Chair, Lexington Housing Authority Board (LexHAB) The meeting was called to order at 7:40 p.m. Announcements and Liaison Reports Mr. Parker announced that in addition to this meeting being held remotely, it was being recorded to the cloud to assist in preparing the minutes. He asked participants to mute their microphones except when speaking, to speak clearly, and to avoid speaking over another person. Mr. Padaki reported that there had been some questions related to the presentation of full-time employee data in the FY2021 Recommended Budget and Financing Plan (Brown Book), and some suggestions may be forthcoming. Ms. Kosnoff said that an effort had been made to be fully transparent. 2020 ATM Financial Articles and Report Planning Mr. Parker facilitated discussion about two articles, as follows: • Article 19: Establish, Dissolve and Appropriate To and From Specified Stabilization Funds: Part d) appropriate funds from the Affordable Housing Capital Stabilization Fund: Because part d) of this article had generated considerable discussion and a split vote at this committee's March 12, 2020 meeting, Mr. Levine had asked that a representative from LexHAB be invited to this meeting to discuss the issues. Mr. Parker introduced Mr. Burbidge. Mr. Burbidge reported that Brookhaven at Lexington, as part of its permitting agreement for an expansion, had committed to 15 annual payments to the Town to assist in expanding Lexington's affordable housing units. The first $111,922 payment was recently received and, under Article 19(c), will go into the Affordable Housing Capital Stabilization Fund. Article 19(d) is a request to withdraw $111,000 from that account to support renovations and repairs to existing affordable housing rather than the acquisition of new units. Mr. Burbidge explained that LexHAB is currently working on new affordable units at Faimview, for which there have already been two appropriations, the second because of financial overruns, and it is still overbudget. Contributing factors include a requirement to pay prevailing wages, the incorporation of sustainability features that result in net zero homes, and the discovery of ledge on the property. He added that it is easier to forecast expenses than rental income. An option would be to use the Brookhaven funds for the Farmview housing,but there are some town officials who are opposed to supporting any 1