HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-06-25-AC-min
June 25, 2008
Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee
June 25, 2008
Place and time: Town Office Building, Room 111, 7:30 PM
Members present: Alan Levine (Chair), John Bartenstein (Secretary), Richard Eurich,
Susan McLeish, Eric Michelson, Mike Kennealy, Pam Hoffman
Also present: Patrick Mehr.
The meeting was called to order at 7:45 PM.
Reports from Committee members.
1. Pam Hoffman and John Bartenstein
reported that they had attended a meeting this afternoon where it was announced that the
Town of Lexington would receive $1.1 million under the M.O.R.E. program from the
State for infrastructure improvements at the intersection of Waltham Street and Marrett
Road. This was one of four projects for which a grant was submitted to the State (total
requested - $2.6 million). There was a brief discussion regarding the fact that the
agreement with Shire requires them to cover any shortfall in monies received from the
State unless the Town failed to apply for the funding promptly.
Pam also reported on a meeting of the School Financial Review Committee (SFRC). At
that meeting, it was reported that a position control system is being implemented as
contracts with the various unions are finalized (this is the easiest time to implement). The
system will allow the schools to gather and report data regarding classes of jobs and other
metrics.
Additionally, there was conversation regarding FTE’s and FTE reporting and the
definition of such at the SFRC meeting – it varies for each bargaining unit and each
position.
The schools are also changing their chart of accounts to be consistent with the Dept. of
Education codes. This will be done in time for the 2010 budget and they plan to go back
to the 2009 budget to restate as well so there will be comparability in the data.
Pam reported that the Financial Review Committee is doing very good work and that it
has been very helpful.
Alan suggested that when we receive the year-end report we should take 15 minutes to
review it at a meeting in terms of the information provided (too much, just right…) and
the format. We should also focus on the final disposition of the watch list. The third
quarter report projected a $1.2 million surplus (in addition to the $350,000 that was
transferred at the recent Annual Town Meeting to commence funding of a special
education (SPED) stabilization fund).
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June 25, 2008
LexMedia.
2. Alan mentioned that LexMedia is in the process of moving into
Kline Hall and that Kite’s End will soon be vacated. There is a new executive Director –
Florence DelSanto.
Minutes.
3. Minutes of meetings held on March 10, March 31, April 16, April
28 and May 5 were discussed, minor edits were made and were unanimously (7-0)
.
approvedAlan urged members to get minutes of past meetings drafted.
Health Insurance.
4. Alan recapped that there was a group formed to meet with
Carl Valente after the joint BoS/School Committee/Appropriation Committee meeting on
June 16. The group consists of Deborah Brown and Mike Kennealy from the
Appropriation Committee, Jeanne Krieger and Peter Kelley from the BoS, and Rod Cole
and Margaret Coppe from the School Committee (and their first meeting is on July 2).
We discussed the fact that it is an objective to conduct as much of our discussions
regarding health insurance and any reporting back to the Committee by Deborah and
Mike in an open meeting format versus in executive session and that executive session is
appropriate for a conversation where information to be presented could be detrimental to
contract negotiations if made public. It was suggested that open meeting discussions
could include information used to educate ourselves in terms of determining parameters
and possibilities and that strategy conversations around what position we should take
should be in executive session. Bill Lahey, Town Counsel, is looking into this and will
be providing Alan with advice on what is appropriate.
Eric Michelson reported that he has started to gather data which is available on the DOR
website with respect to personnel expenses and that he will contact the DOR database
administrator for assistance on how to easily obtain information on health benefits. He
mentioned that there has been a study done (and it is publicly available) on the benefits
structure for public safety employees.
We discussed Medicare provisions and concluded that it would be helpful to have Rob
Addelson go over the facts with us so that we have a thorough and accurate
understanding of the considerations.
Future Meeting Schedule
5. . July 10, August 7, September 4.
Miscellaneous. ,
6.It was reported thatPam Hoffman and Susan McLeishwhose
terms were expiring on June 30, were both reappointed to the committee (and both
accepted). Additionally, Glenn Parker has been appointed to the Committee effective
July 1.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:32 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan McLeish
Approved July 10, 2008
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