HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-07-26-AC-min
July 26, 2007
Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee
July 26, 2007
Place and time: Town Hall, Room G-15, 7:30 p.m.
Members present: Alan Levine (Chair), John Bartenstein (Secretary), Deborah Brown,
Richard Eurich, Pam Hoffman, Susan McLeish, Rob Addelson (ex officio, non-voting)
Also present: Carl Valente (Town Manager); Jeanne Krieger (Board of Selectmen); and
members of the Economic Development Task Force of the Lexington 2020 Vision
Committee, including Molly Garberg and Greg Zurlo, co-chairs, Narain Bhatia, Richard
Canale, Arthur Katz, Mary Ann McCall-Taylor, Adam Sacks and Susan Yanofsky
(Economic Development Officer)
Meeting with Economic Development Task Force
1. . Following some
preliminary discussion, the Committee met at 8:00 p.m. with members of the Lexington
2020 Vision Committee’s Economic Development Task Force to hear the views of that
group on the request by Shire Pharmaceuticals that the Town of Lexington enter into a
Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement in connection with Shire’s potential
construction of two new biotechnology laboratory and manufacturing facilities at the
Patriot Partners property (former Raytheon site) and whether the Town should consider
entering into negotiations for such a TIF. Members of the Task Force made a
presentation on the history of the discussions and provided their assessment of the risks
and potential benefits of the proposed TIF. The Task Force, Town Manager Carl
Valente, and Assistant Town Manager for Finance Rob Addelson then fielded numerous
questions from the Committee. Although some members of the Task Force indicated that
they were not enthusiastic in general about the concept of offering tax concessions to
induce economic development, and there was a consensus that it would be premature to
attempt at this point to establish general guidelines, all agreed that the Shire proposal
presented a unique opportunity that merited further exploration. At the conclusion of this
presentation, and following further debate, the Committee voted, by a vote of 6-0, to
inform the Board of Selectmen that: “the Committee recommends that the Town tell
Shire that the Town is willing to enter into negotiations with Shire for a Tax Increment
Financing (TIF) agreement.”
2. Miscellaneous.
The Committee then discussed various housekeeping issues,
including the schedule for meetings in the fall. Pam Hoffman volunteered to serve as the
Committee’s liaison to a new committee that has been created by the Board of Selectmen
to consider budget scheduling issues and the timing of future overrides, and Susan
McLeish expressed an interest in attending these meetings as well. Deborah Brown
expressed an interest in attending meetings of the Capital Expenditures Committee, to
which David Kanter had previously served as liaison. Al Levine, John Bartenstein and
Susan McLeish will try to cover meetings of the Board of Selectmen.
- 1 -
July 26, 2007
Carl Valente explained that if the Board of Selectmen voted at its next meeting to
entertain negotiations with Shire for a potential TIF, several negotiation sessions would
then have to be arranged with Shire, and Carl and his staff would have a great deal of
work to do over the next several weeks to prepare for and follow up on those sessions.
Al Levine, Rick Eurich, Deborah Brown and Susan McLeish offered to make themselves
available for “small group” discussions with the Town Manager and representatives of
other Town committees, during this process, to provide feedback on the negotiations and
help with strategy.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
John Bartenstein
Approved September 5, 2007
- 2 -