HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-04-13-AC-min
April 13, 2005
Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Location: Room 105, Town Office Building
Members present: John Bartenstein, Rod Cole, Richard Eurich, Paul Hamburger, David
Kanter, Alan Levine (chair), Ron Pawliczek
Also present (for part of the meeting): A. Friedlich, J. Frey, K. Longeteig, J. Wood
The meeting was called to order at 6:40 PM by Chair A. Levine.
A. Friedlich informed the Committee that he intends to bring up Article 7, Community
Preservation Act (CPA), for reconsideration on April 27 and asked whether the
Committee is willing to "take ownership" of estimates of effects of the CPA and an
operating override on the tax rate in FY 2007. In response to a question, he also included
the possible effects of a debt exclusion in his question to the Committee. In the
discussion that followed, Committee members supported reporting about the CPA to the
Town, but did not make a commitment about specifics.
Representatives from the Tree Committee, John Frey, Karen Longeteig, and Jim Wood,
presented a proposed amendment to the operating budget to increase the appropriation for
3100-3500 DPW General Expenses by $10,000 to be used for planting of trees. The
drafting of the motion was discussed and simplifications were suggested by members of
the A.C. Since this proposed amendment did not come with a proposed reduction
elsewhere in the budget, budget balancing mechanisms were discussed. It was suggested
that use of free cash would not be preferred. Upon suggestion by Committee members,
the Tree Committee representatives stated that they would be satisfied with a reduction in
the appropriation to the Stabilization Fund by $10,000 if their proposed amendment were
to pass; they did not intend to propose to reduce a "real" expense instead.
In general discussion of the proposed amendment, it was pointed out that some funds
could be raised via private contributions and mitigation contributions to the Lexington
Tree Fund, and that it could be worth waiting to see how much is deposited into the Fund.
One response was that the Town has a moral obligation to maintain the stock of street
trees.
A motion to not support the proposed amendment to increase spending on trees by $10K
passed (7-0).
There was a brief discussion of distribution of A.C. meeting agendas. A motion to
approve sending the agendas to the TMMA email list passed (7-0).
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April 13, 2005
P. Hamburger reported a conversation with P. Mehr in which the latter inquired about
energy efficiency of school buildings and how improvements should be addressed, and
whether this showed the need for a Strategic Audit Committee.
D. Kanter suggested that the A.C. and Capital Expenditures Committee should have a
coordinated discussion after the conclusion of Town Meeting to see if future year budgets
can sustain maintenance.
There was discussion of future meeting dates. It was decided to post a meeting for April
21 and to cancel if no reason to meet materialized.
Respectfully submitted,
-- Alan Levine, acting Secretary
Approved June 22, 2005
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