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Home My WebLink About2013-09-12-AC-min9/12/13 Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee September 12, 2013 Place and time: Ellen Stone Room, Cary Memorial Building, 7:30 p.m. Members present. Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Alan Levine; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Rob Addelson (non- voting, ex officio) Members Absent' Robert Cohen; Mollie Garberg; Susan McLeish; Jonina Schonfeld Other Attendees: Dorinda Goodman, Director of Information Technology (IT)/Management Information Systems (MIS); John Frey, Chair, Tree Committee; Gerald Paul, Tree Committee The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. 1. Announcements and Liaison Reports: Mr. Parker reported having attended the Ad hoc Community Center Advisory Committee (CCAC) meetings, one of which was this morning. Of particular concern to the Appropriation Committee is the anticipated request for an appropriation at the November 4, 2013 Special Town Meeting to renovate enough of the main building at 39 Marrett Road to allow occupancy in early 2014. The Selectmen do not want the building sitting empty for an extended period of time. Mr. Parker said that after the meeting he and David Kanter, Capital Expenditures Committee, reviewed with Michelle Ciccolo, chair of the CCAC, their committees' information needs with respect to the fall Special Town Meeting. 2. Fiber -optic Communication Line: Mr. Addelson and Ms. Goodman discussed a request for approval of an increase in the spending ceiling of a revolving fund. Using a handout describing the needs, Ms. Goodman explained that it has been determined that the Town's network infrastructure is at high risk for service disruption incidents because it uses a hub and spoke topology and depends primarily on overhead cables, i.e., cables supported by utility poles, for connectivity between facilities. She is recommending that the Town transition to a network loop or multi -loop underground system. The cost for Lexington to install its own conduits along Bedford Street was estimated earlier to be approximately $70,000, and, in that case, the Town would also be responsible for the conduit's maintenance. The Town currently has an opportunity to partner with Verizon in beginning this transition. Verizon will allow the Town to use at no charge its underground conduits between the Police Station and 201 Bedford Street. Under this arrangement, if the conduit or cables therein are damaged in the future, Verizon will repair the conduit and the Town will be responsible for repairs to its cables. Installation of the Town's fiber -optic cable in the Verizon conduit will cost approximately $30,000. Break points to connect to municipal facilities along the route are included in the estimate. Later development of the network will involve the installation of redundant links. There will be choices for the pathways of the redundant links; these will be determined based on recommendations from the Public Safety Radio Study. Mr. Addelson reported that he recommends funding this project from the Public, Education and 9/12/13 Minutes Government (PEG) Access Fund, which is a revolving fund and currently has a balance of $542,000. The PEG Fund is able to support the $30,000 expenditure, but because of a ceiling on the total annual expenditures from this fund set at the Annual Town Meeting, supporting votes from the Board of Selectmen and Appropriation Committee are required to raise the ceiling in order to allow this project to be financed through this mechanism. There was a motion and second to approve raising the ceiling on the PEG Access Fund by approximately $30,000 to accommodate this expenditure. The motion passed. VOTE: 5 -0 During the discussion, Mr. Bartenstein and Mr. Neumeier urged the Town to explore options for beginning to put all of its overhead wires into underground conduits. This may require a long range study of telecommunication requirements for the town and residents to address the vulnerability of overhead lines and research on strategies for putting the lines underground. Conduit use would not only provide protection from inclement weather, it would be more aesthetically pleasing. 3. Tree Committee: Mr. Paul shared a handout describing the challenges the Tree Committee is experiencing. Despite passage of the Tree By -Law in 2001, over the past 14 years the Town has removed on average 130 trees annually while planting only 60 each year. There are two issues: funding and implementation. Tree planting is being done on a "best efforts" basis; there are no specific goals, and there are competing demands within the Public Grounds division of the Department of Public Works (DPW). The Tree Committee would like to transition away from its current practice of assisting with the details of each tree planting project. Ideally, the Tree Committee would make recommendations and support projects, while the Town would assume implementation responsibilities. This may require additional staff support or hiring contractors. Mr. Paul reported having talked to Carl Valente, Town Manager, and Chris Filadoro, Public Grounds Superintendent, about these issues. It was agreed by this Committee and Mr. Paul that additional conversations should be pursued with William Hadley, Director of Public Works, and David Pinsonneault, DPW Manager of Operations, to find a better strategy for the tree planting program. Committee members suggested documenting the problems with an analysis that shows the current approach isn't working adequately. The next steps are to identify the most appropriate strategies for moving forward, and then to determine costs for reaching a long term goal and the disaggregated costs to support annual goals. The traditional funding process involves a Town department, in this case DPW, submitting a request for additional funding. It was noted that unused operating funds are turned into the general fund at the end of a fiscal year while capital funds can be carried forward. Mr. Paul commented that trees are a Town asset, and planting trees might be considered a capital expenditure because doing so is an investment in the asset. Committee members expressed reservations about calling tree plantings a capital project, but agreed that in a particular situation that might be appropriate. 4. Funding of Minuteman Regional High School Capital Projects: Mr. Parker reported that a new agreement for funding capital projects at the regional high school is being developed, but it is premature for this Committee to spend time discussing it. 5. Fall 2013 Special Town Meeting: Four financial articles are anticipated for the November 4, 2013 Special Town Meeting: Funding for modular units for Lexington High School; funding for 2 9/12/13 Minutes preliminary renovations at 39 Marrett Road; supplemental funding for the operating budget; and an amendment to the water and sewer budget. The warrant will be published by October 7. It is anticipated that approximately $7 million will be requested for the modular units and that cash and non - exempt debt will be the source of the funds, avoiding the need for an override. The project will be presented to the Selectmen on September 23 and the Capital Expenditures Committee on September 24. Mr. Parker will distribute a schematic design for the location of the units, and he will ask School Superintendent Dr. Paul Ash and Pat Goddard, Director of Public Facilities, to attend the September 25 Appropriation Committee meeting to discuss the proposal. A funding request for 39 Marrett Road is not yet available. It is anticipated that most of the funding for this project will be requested from the Community Preservation Fund. The Community Preservation Committee has indicated that it could consider a funding request outside of its normal timelines. Mr. Parker reported that the CCAC is meeting on September 16 and plans to report to the Selectmen on September 23. They could potentially report to this Committee on September 25, but it might be better to have them come on October 10 or 17. 6. Future Meetings: The following schedule was discussed: • September 25 Meeting: Officer election; High School modular unit presentation (tentative) • October 3 Meeting: Budget Summit; a meeting will be posted for after the Summit • October 10 Meeting: Town Meeting Report assignments; possible 33 Marrett Road renovations presentation • October 17 Meeting: Preliminary review of Town Meeting Report; possible 33 Marrett Road renovations presentation • October 24 Meeting: Final review of Town Meeting Report • October 28: Publish the Town Meeting Report • October 30: TBD • November 4 Meeting: at 6:30 p.m. before Town Meeting The meeting was adjourned at 9:02 p.m. A list of documents and other exhibits used at the meeting is set forth below. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold Recording Secretary Approved September 25, 2013 Exhibits 1. Meeting Agenda posted by Glenn Parker, Chair 2. "Town Network Infrastructure Redundancy Project," prepared by Dorinda Goodman 3. "Appropriating for Planting of Street Trees," prepared by Gerry Paul, Lexington Tree Committee, September 12, 2013