HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-10-18-AC-minOctober 18, 2012
Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee
October 18, 2012
Place and time: Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m.
Members present. Glenn Parker, Chair; Joe Pato, Vice Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and
Secretary; Alan Levine; Jonina Schonfeld; Robert Cohen; Mollie Garberg; Rob Addelson (non-
voting, ex officio)
Members Absent: Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier
Also present: Bill Hadley, Director of Public Works, and John Livsey, Town Engineer
The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m.
1. Announcements: Glenn Parker reported that he had attended the groundbreaking
ceremonies for Estabrook School.
2. Minutes: John Bartenstein reported on the status of outstanding minutes.
VOTED: Minutes for the April 2, 2012 summit meeting were approved 7 -0.
VOTED: Minutes for the April 11 summit meeting were approved 6 -0 -1; Robert Cohen
abstained because he was not present at the meeting.
3. Member Reports:
Vistaprint TIF: Robert Cohen reported that the Town's negotiating team has met with
Vistaprint regarding its TIF (tax increment financing) application requesting $3.5 million
over 13 years. Vistaprint has outgrown its current facilities at the 95 Hayden Ave
(Ledgemont 2) building but would like to stay in Lexington. Vistaprint is proceeding on
an aggressive schedule and has targeted the beginning of 2013 for deciding on expansion
at the Ledgemont site.
Hobbs Brook, owner of the Ledgemont 2 property, plans to build a Ledgemont 3 building
whether Vistaprint decides to lease it or take its expansion plans to another location. It
wasn't clear to Appropriation Committee members whether a TIF agreement would be
ready for the fall special Town Meeting.
School Committee: Mollie Garberg reported on the Saturday morning, October 13, 2012,
School Committee meeting where the Estabrook School project was discussed. It was
reported that at 60 percent construction design the cost estimates were over budget. A list
of "value engineered" items was presented that, if adopted, could close the budget gap.
Most were accepted, but those that weren't leave the project $1.2 million over budget.
Pat Goddard anticipates that, to cover this and other potential shortfalls, a request for an
additional appropriation in the range of $2.0 to $2.8 million will be made at the special
October 18, 2012
town meeting. Factors that warrant an appropriation higher than the current shortfall are:
variables in the cost of steel; potential unanticipated tear down costs for the old building;
the guaranteed maximum price requirement; and an $800,000 difference in our two
current total cost estimates. There was some discussion at the School Committee meeting
about addressing the shortfall by taking money out of the construction contingency fund
but this did not receive support. The School Committee wants to go out to bid in
December before bid requests for a number of other known construction projects are
issued within the state.
4. Estabrook School Access Roads: DPW Director Bill Hadley and Town Engineer John
Livsey described the Estabrook School access road project and efforts to address neighborhood
issues. Most of the proposed changes are on Robinson Road, but Grove Street intersections are
also included. Based on 75 percent design estimates the project will require $1.5 million, which
includes 20 percent contingency funding. 20 percent is a typical contingency amount at this
stage of design; contingency funding can be as low as 10 percent when the design work is at 100
percent. Potential cost overruns for which the 20 percent contingency may be required include
drainage design work, which is still being developed and may require special permitting. Testing
should determine whether soft soil or ledge is under the current asphalt; either condition could
increase costs. No takings for permanent easements are anticipated. By taking this project to the
special town meeting this fall, the work can be done during the summer of 2013 when the
students are on vacation.
In response to questions about the use of free cash, rather than debt service, to fund this project,
Rob Addelson explained that $1.6 million of free cash certified at the end of the previous fiscal
year had been set aside for this purpose but was not ultimately appropriated at last spring's
annual town meeting because the project was not yet ready. The resulting surplus became part of
the free cash balance at the end of FY2012, and so it is now appropriate to earmark it again for
this purpose. There are no implications for the rest of the budget.
5. Discussion of Special Town Meeting Articles: Glenn Parker reviewed his outline for
the committee's report to the fall special Town Meeting and noted that articles 2, 3, 4, and 6 are
related and involve positions of multiple committees. He reported that the chairs of Capital
Expenditures, Appropriations and Selectmen met to discuss the possibility of developing a
consensus proposal on how to use excess funds and may continue those discussions. It is
understood that any proposal developed by the chairs would ultimately be subject to approval of
their respective committees.
One of the options for disposition of unallocated funds is to increase the amount appropriated for
the pension fund in FY2013. Rob Addelson suggested that such a recommendation may be made
after the Retirement Board determines the annual amount the Town would need to allocate to
reach its 2020 goal of a 100 percent funded pension fund. He reported that the Retirement Board
has received an updated actuarial report indicating that, beginning in FY2014, our annual
contribution will need to be increased significantly from $4.2 million to $7.3 million. This
increase arises from an increase in life expectancy, a decrease in expected returns on investment
accounts and the multi -year averaging of pension fund balance that now fully integrates the
economic downturn. Although the Retirement Board could require $7.3 million of the Town, the
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Board understands the difficulties of such a large increase. The Board has asked the actuary to
calculate different scenarios by changing the goal from 2020 to 2025, 2030, 2035 or 2040. The
actuary is also evaluating the impact of the Town making a one -time additional allocation of $1
million or $1.7 million in FY2013. The Retirement Board expects to get the results of those
analyses next week.
6. Article Assignments: Committee members agreed to write the committee opinions on
the articles as follows:
• Article 2
Glenn Parker
• Article 3
Jonina Schonfeld
• Article 4
Alan Levine and Glenn Parker
• Article 5
Dick Neumeier
• Article 6
Mollie Garberg and Alan Levine
• Article 7
John Bartenstein, if the article isn't indefinitely postponed
• Article 8
Joe Pato and Robert Cohen
ACTION ITEMS: The committee will vote on the articles on November 1, and final draft
reports need to be submitted to Glenn Parker by November 8. Glenn will produce 175 copies of
the report for Town Meeting.
7. Next Meetings: Pat Goddard and Margaret Coppe have been invited to the October 23
meeting to discuss the Estabrook School project.
ACTION ITEM: Joe Pato will attend the Selectmen's meeting on October 29
The meeting was adjourned at 9:03 p.m.
A list of documents and other exhibits used at the meeting follows.
Respectfully submitted,
Sara Arnold
Recording Secretary
Approved. November 1, 2012
Exhibits
1. Meeting Agenda posted by Glenn Parker, Chair
2. Appropriation Committee Report to the November 2012 STM — [Outline]
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