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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-02-29-AC-min February 29 2012 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee Meeting February 29, 2012 Time and Location Room G15, Town Office Building, 7 30 p m Members Present Glenn Parker, Chair, John Bartenstem, Vice Chair and Secretary, Joe Pato, Vice Chair, Robert Cohen, Alan Levine, Eric Michelson, Jomna Schonfeld, Rob Addelson (non- voting, ex officio) Not present Mollie Garberg, Richard Neumeier Others in attendance Judy Crocker, Lexington resident, Mary Ellen Dunn, Assistant Supenntendent for Finance and Business, Pat Goddard, Director of Public Facilities, Andy Friedlich, Town Meeting Member The meeting was called to order at 7 32 p m 1 Announcements Mr Parker reported that he had interviewed two candidates for the minute-taker position 2 Article 17: School Bus Transportation Subsidy (Citizen Article). Ms Crocker was in attendance, at the Committee's request, to provide information on Article 17 She was accompanied by Ms Dunn, Assistant Supenntendent for Finance and Business for the Lexington Public Schools Article 17 asks the Town to appropriate an as yet unknown amount of funds to reduce or offset fees charged for use of the school bus transportation system Ms Crocker explained that Article 17's objective is to increase bus ridership while reducing the large number of private automobiles making tnps to the schools at the beginning and end of each school day The proponents contend that increasing ridership will not only improve traffic congestion at the schools but also address problems of road wear, pedestrian safety, and pollution Ms Crocker made a PowerPoint presentation and provided a number of handouts to the Committee Ms Crocker reported that, presently, bus fees in Lexington are the highest in the metropolitan area at $550 per student with a $1,600 family cap Parent survey results indicate that cost is the primary reason more students do not use the bus The percentage of students using school bus transportation has decreased in the last decade to 31%, and 50% of students now drive or are driven to school The number of students seeking financial assistance with school bus fees has increased substantially, from 7 in school year 2007-08 to 185 in school year 2011-12 School bus transportation costs are currently funded through a combination of parent fees and school department operating funds If Article 17 is approved, the parent fee would be lowered and a town subsidy would be added to the mix If transportation costs for the year exceeded the sum of the School Department funds, parent fees and the Town subsidy, the School Department 1 February 29 2012 would be responsible for funding the balance If transportation costs were less, the full amount of the subsidy would not be spent The expectation is that any subsidy appropriated would be an annual subsidy, but that the subsidy would not be part of the school department budget Ms Crocker was not able at this point to state the amount of funds proponents will request under Article 17 or an estimate of what could be the best-case scenario in terms of increasing bus ridership The Committee's discussion focused on a number of additional issues including present costs and ridership and how Lexington compares to other communities Ms Dunn reported that although Lexington's per student bus fee is the highest in the area, and most communities are "under $400," some "are creeping up toward" the $550 charged by Lexington Ms Dunn also reported that, at present, Lexington is paying the highest per day bus cost in the area The annual cost per nder is $688 so in effect the Lexington school department budget is contnbuting a subsidy of$138 per nder to keep the annual fee at $550 The renewal of the school bus contract is presently out to bid Ms Dunn stated that in FY12, the school budget is contnbuting $174,000 to school bus costs By state law, the School Department must provide K-6 students who live more than 2 miles from school with free transportation The School Department also provides subsidies to students based on financial need Currently 400 students in grades K-6 are eligible for free busing, but Ms Dunn was not certain what proportion of those children actually take the bus A total of 1,265 students currently take the bus Other means of reducing the number of cars making trips to school were discussed Mr Bartenstein asked if it might be possible to charge a fee to parents who drive to school There was also some discussion about the possibility of increasing the fees charged to students who park at the High School parking lot as these fees have not been raised in a number of years It was noted that many students park on the street for free The Committee decided to defer voting on this article until more information is available 3 Article 16: Department of Public Facilities FY 13 Capital Requests. Mr Goddard made a presentation on the Department of Public Facilities' FY13 capital requests, which were summarized in a spreadsheet entitled"FY 2013 Recommended Capital Budget" Estabrook School Construction—Mr Goddard reported the Town would be meeting with the Massachusetts School Building Authority ("MSBA") on March 1, at which meeting the MSBA may tell the Town what reimbursement rate it will receive The Town submitted a schematic budget of$40 8 million, which includes $1 5 million already appropriated for feasibility studies The Town estimates the overall reimbursement will be approximately 32% of the total budget, or approximately $13 million Mr Goddard noted that a portion of the site costs would be excluded from reimbursement under the MSBA's method for calculating reimbursement Mr Levine asked why the budget of$40 8 million is so much higher than that for the Fiske School (completed in 2007) and the Harrington School (completed in 2005) Mr Goddard listed 2 February 29 2012 the various elements of the budget, and the Committee discussed a variety of factors that could contribute to increased construction costs Mr Goddard will send detailed cost information to Mr Levine Mr Addelson said Town Meeting would be asked to appropriate the entire $40 8 million cost of the project, minus the $1 5 million already appropriated For purposes of determining the correct amount of an appropriation request, the MSBA reimbursement amount is treated the same way debt would be treated The Town has already pre-qualified three contractors for the Estabrook construction The Town is using a"contract manager-at-risk" approach and will not necessarily take the lowest bid The MSBA also adds an extra 1%to the reimbursement rate (already included in the 32%)when towns take this approach White House Stabilization - The Warrant includes a request to appropriate a sum for the White House stabilization project, although Mr Goddard was not sure whether it would actually come before Town Meeting The Historic District Commission has ruled that the Town may demolish the White House's wing but may not demolish the main house Mr Goddard reported that stabilizing the White House by making the main house watertight, adding new shutters, a new roof and repointing the foundation would cost $233,000 Demolishing the addition would cost an additional $148,000 for a total of$381,000 Also included in the project cost is constructing a new extenor wall after the demolition Mr Goddard observed that any future use of the building would require almost all the stabilization work that is currently being proposed School Building Envelope and Systems— $150,000 will focus on Diamond extenor, $15,000 will be for improving loading dock area at Central Office, remaining $50,000 will be reserved for modifications that may be needed to accommodate late enrollment Middle School Science Labs and Performing Art Spaces—Evaluation—($35,000) —There is concern that spaces may no longer adequately support educational program Diamond Energy Improvements — ($25,000)—An in-depth energy audit for Diamond, which has high energy use Municipal Building Envelope and Systems— ($169,000) Muzzev Senior Center Upgrade—Phase 1 Construction— ($561,518 CPA funds)—Involves installing an elevator between the ground floor and basement and attending to additional accessibility, safety, and energy efficiency needs It is anticipated a subsequent request will be made in FY2014 of approximately $480,000 Cary Memorial Building Upgrades—Design—($75,000)— To prepare design and development documents and to gain more public input to ensure all proposed work has public benefit The CPC voted to approve the $550,000 originally requested for design development and construction documents for a $7 7 million total project budget The Selectmen, however, have voted to approve only a more limited development budget that would help to determine the 3 February 29 2012 necessary scope of the project The Appropriation Committee will be asked to render an opinion on reducing the $550,000 request to $75,000 Extraordinary School Repair Proiects — ($610,000)—The individual projects within this article will be voted together as a single line item to allow the DPF to smooth out unexpectedly higher or lower bids Department of Public Facility Bid Documents —($75,000)—The Public Facilities Department is requesting an appropriation to cover the cost of bid documents for projects it believes will likely be approved at Town Meeting This will speed up the process of getting the work done and enable the work to be done between the end of school in June and the beginning of the following school year in August Hastings Natural Gas Conversion—($45,000)—Conversion of the Hastings School heating system to use natural gas instead of oil, which is projected to save between $9,000 and $20,000 per year depending on the price of natural gas Town Wide Facility Master Plan— ($65,000)— To appropriate money for an architect to take individual facility plans previously done and integrate them into one Town wide Master Plan Grounds Vehicle Replacement— ($80,000) LHS Overcrowding—Phase II Renovations —($400,000) —These renovations will move information technology staff to the Central Office and convert space at the high school to educational space Other opportunities are being reviewed to identify more classroom space to relieve overcrowding School Paving Program —Work would be concentrated on Harrington Additional details about these projects can be found in the Brown Book in Section XI Capital Minutes Minutes of meetings held on 12/7/11 and 1/26/12 were approved with minor edits by a vote of 7-0-0 Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 10 29 p m Respectfully submitted, Jomna Schonfeld Approved September 20, 2012 4 February 29 2012 Exhibits Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee Meeting February 29, 2012 1 Meeting Agenda, posted by Glenn Parker, Chair 2 PowerPoint slides prepared by Judy Crocker entitled"Article 17, School Bus Transportation Subsidy, Safe Routes To School " 3 Two spreadsheets prepared by Judy Crocker entitled "Article 17 Analysis—Based on FY12 1265 Fee-Based Students " 4 Information packet entitled"Article 17, School Bus Transportation Subsidy (Safe Routes to School) 5 Spreadsheet entitled"FY 2013 Recommended Capital Budget," prepared by Pat Goddard, Director of Public Facilities 5