HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-04-09-CEC-min
Minutes
Town of Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee
April 9, 2008
Place and Time: Town Office Building, Room 111, 9:00
AM
Members Present: Charles W. Lamb (Chair), Ted Edson (Vice-Chair), David G. Kanter, and
Shirley Stolz
Visitors:
At 9:00 : Betsey Weiss (Chair, Lexington Community Preservation Committee [CPC]),
AM
Joel Adler (Member, CPC), Marilyn Fenollosa (Member, CPC), Richard Wolk (Member, CPC),
Judy Pearson (Administrative Assistant, CPC), John Bartenstein (Lexington Appropriation
Committee), Joyce Miller (Chair, Lexington Conservation Commission), and Carl Valente
(Lexington Town Manager),
At 10:00 : Jerry Van Hook (Chair, Lexington Sidewalk Committee)
AM
CWL called the meeting to order at 9:00
AM
Land Acquisition Financing
MF: Don’t know about future costs or projects that CPC will need funds for. The open-space
bucket is approximately $1.1M after FY09 allocations are made. That could be used for the cash
portion. $4.4M in the unallocated bucket (in addition to the $1.1M in land bucket). Pledging debt
service would only be against the unallocated portion.
CV: There is no right or wrong answer to debt versus cash. Now is a good time to borrow
money. Income on our investments is about 3% or just under. If you drain the undesignated
balance, it may cause concern for other groups. The affordable housing pot is about $840K at the
end of FY09. Hancock-Clarke house would not be bondable because it’s a grant. He wouldn’t
want to go beyond a 10-yr bond for the land. Timing will be tight because Bond Anticipation
Note (BAN) is being issued in June. They would want to BAN this purchase in June or July, but
timing would be tight to do it in June.
RW: Both sellers were told they would close in July.
CV: Town can float the funds prior to the bond, but they can’t cross fiscal years with the
float because Free Cash freezes on July 1. Nor can they refinance an existing asset with CPA
funds.
TE, DGK, & CWL want “all cash”; SS would consider bonding 50% or less.
The Public Hearing on the land purchases contemplated for the current Annual Town
Meeting is scheduled for April 29—with presentation to Town Meeting expected on April 30.
CV: Would need to get bond counsel’s opinion on BAN as soon as Town Meeting closes.
Bonding this will require a BAN in July. If they close the sale in July, they won’t need to “float”
across FYs.
RW: The Letter of Intent provides for potential contamination on the properties. The fees for
closing are about $25K.
RW: Purchase of the Marrett Road land removes the right to develop 6 parcels. The back
parcel was involved in a land transfer 20-30 years ago. The owners were allowed to build two
houses on the back lot. Cataldo wants to build one house and maybe a second house. The Pacfic
Partners property (Article 11) must be purchased if the Marrett Road property (Article 10) is
purchased. Total acreage on Marrett Road is about 3.5 acres.
Motion: Support Article 13 (Goodwin property) with cash funding at $175K. (Passed 4:0)
Motion: Support Articles 10 and 11 (Cataldo and Pacific Partners properties) with cash
funding at approximately $3.3M. (Passed 4:0)
JVH discussed status of sidewalk projects and what he was preparing for presentation at Town
Meeting regarding Article 15(c) for the FY09 funding of work on the residential sidewalks.
Asphalt linear overlay is $10/linear-foot. That FY09 request was originally to be $200K, but they
added $75K for granite curbs at the recommendation of the Town’s Department of Public
Works.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 .
AM
Respectfully submitted,
Charles W. Lamb
Approved April 30, 2008
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