HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-05-01-AC-min May 1, 2012
Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee Meeting
May 1, 2012
Time and Location Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Offices, 7 30 p m
Members Present Glenn Parker, Chair, John Bartenstem, Vice Chair and Secretary, Joe Pato, Vice
Chair, Alan Levine, Eric Michelson, Richard Neumeier, Rob Addelson (non-voting, ex officio)
Not present Robert Cohen, Mollie Garberg, Jomna Schonfeld
Others in attendance David Kanter(member Capital Expenditures Committee), Deb Mauger
(Selectman), Carl Valente (Town Manager), Paul Ash (School Supenntendent), Mary Ann Stewart
(School Committee Chair)
The meeting was called to order at 7 36 p m
Announcements.
No announcements
Discussion of potential for in-house legal services
Mr Neumeier led a discussion considering the merits of having in-house legal counsel for the
Town's affairs Mr Neumeier observed that the abundance of recent law school graduates has led to
a market favorable to clients hiring legal staff Currently the town spends between $700K and $900K
per year on outside counsel legal fees It is possible that bringing some of the work in-house may
reduce this expenditure, especially if a significant portion of the work is routine and doesn't need
deep specialization
Dr Ash reported that the school department uses four categories of legal services special education,
labor relations, student and general law Special education and labor law require highly specialized
work and account for the majority of legal services consumed by the school department—the exact
breakdown of expenditures was not immediately available
For municipal services the majority of legal expenses stem from land use issues Mr Valente reported
that Lexington has all the complexity facing a community like Brookline, which has in-house
counsel, but does not have the volume to support the number of positions that would allow for
specialization
Further analysis of the potential for savings requires a deeper investigation to determine if there is a
large enough consumption of routine legal services not requiring deep specialization
Action Mr Parker will send a request to the Board of Selectmen and another to the School
Committee asking them respectively to have the Town Manager and the School Supenntendent
consider the merits of bringing legal services in-house
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May 1, 2012
Wright Farm purchase (Warrant Articles 9 and 10).
The committee discussed the proposal to purchase the Wright Farm parcel number one for
conservation purposes as approved by the Community Preservation Committee under Article 9 Mr
Pato asked if a conservation restnction attached to the land acquired using the CPA process under
Article 9 was more restrictive than a conservation restnction imposed under a non-CPA process as in
Article 10 The general consensus was that the CPA process requires the conservation restnction to
be held by a third-party and is therefore harder to remove than a restriction held directly by the town
Vote Motion to recommend approval of the purchase of the Wright Farm under Article 9 [5-0-1]
(Mr Pato abstaining)
Vote Motion to support the CEC proposal on financing the purchase [6-0]
The meeting was adjourned at 9 40 p m
A list of documents and other exhibits used at the meeting is attached
Respectfully submitted,
Joe Pato
Approved August 2, 2012
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May 1, 2012
Exhibits
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee Meeting
May 1, 2012
1 Meeting Agenda, posted by Glenn Parker, Chair
2 Analysis of Legal Expenditures (FY09-FY12 GAAP)prepared by Rob Addelson, 5/1/12
3 Report of the Legal Services Review Committee II (Interim Report Nov 18, 2006)
4 Handout on Wright Farm Financing and Legislative Changes to CPA prepared by Eric
Michelson, 5/1/12
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