The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2015-10-14-AC-min 10/14/15 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee October14,2015 : ReedRoom,Town OfficeBuilding,7:30p.m. : Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Kate Colburn; Mollie Garberg; Alan Levine;Beth Masterman; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier;Rob Addelson (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent:Andrei Radulescu-Banu The meetingwas calledto order at 7:35p.m. th Announcements: 1.The next Budget Summit is on November 12. This Committee is ndth meeting on Thursday, October 22and Thursday, October 29. Minutes: 2.A motion was made and seconded to accept the October 7, 2015 minutes as edited. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0 Articles forNovember 2, 2015 Special Town Meeting(STM)#2: 3.In preparation for finalizing this Committee’s report to the STM, the articles were discussed as follows: STM #2; Article 2: Amend Minuteman Regional Agreement: Mr. Michelson discussed Wayland’s request to withdraw from the Regional Minuteman School district, which must be approved by all 16 member communities to be accepted. If this is approved, Wayland would not leave the district until 2017. Mr. Michelsonreported that David Horton, Lexington’s representative on the Minuteman school board, has not taken a position on this issue; Carl Valente, Town Manager, does not see the value in supporting the request, noting that Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) would have to be shared by 15 rather than 16 communities if Wayland leaves; and Norm Cohen, Board of Selectmen(BoS), does not support approving the withdrawal. There was discussion about the possible influence Lexington’s vote on Article 2 might have on the plans to rebuild the Minuteman School, aproject that has been approved for Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) funding. Mr. Michelsonexplained the three options for proceeding: Meet all MSBA criteria; the cost to the district will be approximately $87 million; Pursue the project without MSBA funding; the cost to the district will be approximately $100 million; Close the school. The Minuteman district members must inform MSBA by February 2016 as to whether they plan torebuild with State support, andall 16 district communities must support the projector a district-wide referendum on suchsupportmustpass with a simple majority. Because of the timing, Wayland will be part of thatdecisionirrespective of its request to leave the district. Mr. Michelson suggested that the decision being posed by Article 2 could be postponed until the spring 2016 Annual Town Meeting, which is when the other district communities are expected to vote on Wayland’s request.After discussing the issues, it was generally 1 10/14/15 AC Minutes agreed that nothing would be lost by waiting until spring, but this requires theBoard of Selectmentotake the necessary steps to support that approach. STM #2; Article 3:Transfer of Property to LexHAB: Mr. Neumeier reported that he spoke to Town Counsel, and it was agreed that this Committee should not take a position on this article, because it does not include a financial request. STM #2, Article 4: Appropriatefor Water System Improvements:Ms. Garberg added her support for this article, making this Committee’s position9-0. STM #2; Article 5: Appropriatefor Property Improvements –241Grove Street: Ms. Garberg reported that this article is expected to include an appropriation request of $177,100, which includes contingency funds for the project.This a Community Preservation Act request, which must be approved by the Community Preservation Committee.Although Ms. Garberg noted that there were some unanswered questions, it was generally understood that this appropriation was intended to be part of an article that was brought before the 2015 Annual Town Meeting(ATM), but was determined to be outside the article’s scope. This will correct that issue. A motion was made and seconded to support approvalof the article as described by Ms. Garberg. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0 It was noted that the previous week’s vote taken on this article was supersededbecause it had supported an appropriation of no more than $100,000. STM #2; Article 6: Appropriate Funds for Fire Station Site Study: Mr. Levine reported that Joe Pato, Chair, BoS, envisions approximately $12,000 of the$25,000appropriation request for this article being used to study the current site on Bedford Street for a replacement fire station. An alternative site has not been identified, but the balance will be available to pursue alternatives, if necessary. Ms. Garberg added her support for this article, making this Committee’s position 9-0. STM #2; Article7: Amend FY2016 Operating, Enterprise Fund and Community Preservation Budgets:Mr. Adelson provided background information regarding items that maybe included in this article, as follows: There have been revised FY2016 revenue estimates based on current information (including an increase in anticipated state aid) resulting inunallocatedrevenue of approximately $994,000now available for appropriation.At the annual town meeting, the Town Manager’s original proposed contribution to the OPEB Trust Fund was reduced by approximately $600,000, but none of the articles for this STM would allow anadditional contribution to the OPEB fund now.An option being consideredunder this articleis to restore$660,000 of the unallocated revenue to the Health ClaimsTrust Fund. Recommendations for using the balance may include funding requests for a platform and ramp for the Patriots’ Day reviewing stand, for designing sidewalks around Cary Memorial Library, and for supplemental resourcesfor the Town’s electricity.It was generally agreed that this Committee would look favorably on allocating any remaining balance of unallocated revenueto the Capital Projects Stabilization Fund. Steps may be taken to use the $480,000 settlement associated with a fire engine purchase to retire the note that was used to purchase the fire engine. The settlement funds flowed to “free cash”, which has now been certified and can be accessed. If the CPA state funds for Lexington are greater than the Town estimated, those funds may be allocated into the different categories used for the CPA projects. There may be several housekeeping adjustments to the Water/Sewer Enterprise Fund budgets. 2 10/14/15 AC Minutes It was agreed that this Committee would wait until more information is available before votingon this article. STM #2; Article8: Appropriate to and from Specified Stabilization Funds: A vote was deferred until dollar amounts for this article are available. STM #2; Article9: Appropriate for Authorized Capital Improvements: It is anticipated that this article will be indefinitely postponed. STM #2; Article10: Appropriate for Prior Years’ Unpaid Bills: Mr. Addelson reported that there is an outstanding FY2015 invoice for traffic signal maintenance for $15,076. The invoice could not be paid because it was not issued until after the closing of the books for the fiscal yearand no encumbrance was made.The Department of Public Works is able to cover this expense with FY2016 operating funds. A motion was made and seconded to support approvalof the article. The motion passed. VOTE: 8-0 Adjournment: 4.The meetingadjournedat 9:02p.m. The documentsused at the meeting arelistedbelow. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold Recording Secretary ApprovedNovember 5, 2015 Exhibits 1.Agenda,posted by Glenn Parker, Chair 3