Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-06-12-AC-min June 12,2013 Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee June 12, 2013 Place and time Ellen Stone Room, Cary Memorial Building at 7 30pm Members present Glenn Parker, Chair, Robert Cohen, Mollie Garberg, Alan Levine, Enc Michelson, Susan McLeish, Richard Neumeier, Jomna Schonfeld, Rob Addelson, Assistant Town Manager for Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent John Bartenstem, Vice Chair and Secretary Other Attendees Patrick Mehr, Town Meeting Member The meeting was called to order at 7 40 p m 1 Liaison Reports: Mr Levine reported that the Ad hoc Townwide Facilities Master Planning Committee met on Monday, June 10 to finalize its interim report to the Selectmen They also discussed a financial scenario that will be included with their final report Their goal is to complete the final report by the end of June Ms Schonfeld reported that the School Committee will be meeting in executive session next week to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining 2 June 17, 2013 Special Town Meeting Report: Mr Parker discussed his draft report for Article 2 "Approve TIF [Tax Increment Financing] Agreement(s)" The current draft does not include the Committee's position on the article and serves primarily as background information about TIFs in Lexington Mr Addelson will provide some additional information regarding the Shire TIF agreement Mr Parker plans to submit the report for printing in the morning so it will be available for the Town Meeting Members Association information meeting being held Thursday night Mr Mehr asked this Committee to reject Article 2 for three reasons • Businesses already have a tax advantage because the sale pnces for business properties exceed assessed values, and assessed values are used to determine taxes He believes that the assessments need to be looked at in a formal way before the Town accepts such TIFs • Facts about the building under consideration and the Hartwell Avenue area are being twisted The property is described as decadent and the area around 95 Hayden Ave was called blighted, and he does not believe this is true • Staff is spending an exorbitant amount of time negotiating a TIF, and this costs the Town money This time should be spent on more important matters Mr Cohen said that the state has identified the Hartwell Avenue area as blighted, this is a legal term Mr Levine noted that sale pnces of business properties reflect more than the value of the real estate unless the buildings are vacant, having tenants impacts the sale price He added that the Board of Assessors handles these issues Mr Mehr expressed disappointment that this Committee is not looking into these concerns Mr Michelson suggested that they might be looked at after Town Meeting 1 June 12,2013 Minutes There was a motion to approve the draft report with technical corrections, the Committee's vote on the article will be added as one of the technical corrections The motion was approved VOTE 8-0 3 Approval of Warrant Articles: It was noted that Mr Cohen was not present at the last meeting when the Committee voted on Article 3 "Technical Correction to Article 2 of the March 18, 2013 Special Town Meeting — Land Purchase off Marrett Road" Mr Cohen asked that his affirmative position be incorporated into the report, making the vote 9-0 in favor of the article There was a motion to support Article 2 The motion passed VOTE 8-0 Mr Levine will explain to Town Meeting why the Committee has taken its position on Article 2 Mr Bartenstein indicated at last week's meeting that he will decide whether to support Article 2 before Town Meeting 4. Executive Session At 8 15 p m , following a declaration that an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the Town, a roll call vote of the Committee was taken on a motion by the Chair to go into executive session to discuss the umQure TIF matter under exemption 6 (to consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property) and exemption 7 (to comply with, or act under the authority of, any general or special law or federal grant-in-aid requirements) and to return to open session The motion was unanimously adopted, each member present having voted in the affirmative The Committee returned to open session at 8 35 p m 5 Next Meetings: The Committee discussed the meeting that was posted for 6 30 p m on June 17, the same night as the Special Town Meeting Because there is currently no need to meet, Committee members should consider the meeting cancelled However, Mr Parker will not have the meeting officially cancelled until the day of the meeting, making it possible to hold a meeting if it becomes necessary Committee members will be so informed if a meeting is to be held Mr Parker asked committee members to respond to his email, if they haven't already, about future meeting dates There will be a meeting on either July 10 or 11 Mr Parker will try to determine future dates before he leaves town on vacation 6. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 8 42 p m A list of documents and other exhibits used at the meeting is set forth below Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold Recording Secretary Approved July 10, 2013 Exhibits 1 Meeting Agenda posted by Glenn Parker, Chair 2