2020-10-14-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

10/14/2020 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) October 14, 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; 6:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson; Meg Muckenhoupt Member(s)Absent: Sanjay Padaki, Lily Manhua Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Other Attendees: Marilyn Fenollosa, Chair, Community Preservation Committee Mr. Parker confirmed attendance by roll call, noted the authorization for meeting remotely, and called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. He stated that the meeting was being recorded for the purpose of creating minutes. Final Positions for Articles for the Special Town Meetings (STMs) 2020-2 and 2020-3 Mr. Parker introduced Ms. Fenollosa, who reviewed the background for STM 2020-3 Article 7: Land Acquisition. Her comments included the following: • Property at 39 Highland Avenue in Lexington was added to the Priority Heritage Landscape survey in 2006 and has been on the Conservation Commission's "wish list" for a long time. • Negotiations for the purchase started in 2018. Placeholders for the purchase were included in the 2018 and 2020 Annual Town Meeting warrants but had to be indefinitely postponed because the negotiations were not yet complete. • The area of the complete property is 5.09 acres, with 4.48 acres of open space and a lot consisting of 0.61 acres on which a house is located. • The house was built in the late 1880s. • The property was appraised in 2018 and 2020 with and without the house. • The Town's original plans included purchasing the house for affordable housing and the open space for conservation land. The Town offered $3.8 million for the entire property in 2018 and $4.0 million in 2020. • After inspections of the house, the Lexington Housing Assistance Board(LexHAB) and the Select Board opposed its purchase. The Town then offered $3.5 million for the 4.48 acres without the house, and this offer was accepted. • The funding request for the STM includes the $3.5 million purchase price plus $60,000 for auxiliary expenses, for a total of$3,560,000. • If the property is not purchased for conservation land, it could accommodate six new housing lots. It abuts the Upper Vine Brook Conservation area, which, in turn, abuts the Lexington Children's Place, and is across Marrett Road from the Dunback Meadow. • The land purchase and auxiliary expenses would be funded entirely under the Community Preservation Act(CPA). The financing chart prepared by Carolyn Kosnoff proposes to use $2,560,000 in cash and $1,000,000 in short term debt. This provides flexibility for future CPA projects and would keep the total debt service borne by the Community Preservation Fund below 50% of expected CPA receipts for this fiscal year. 1