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10/22/15 AC Minutes
Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee
October22,2015
: ParkerRoom,Town OfficeBuilding,7:30p.m.
: John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Kate Colburn;Mollie Garberg; Alan
Levine;Beth Masterman; Eric Michelson;Andrei Radulescu-Banu;Rob Addelson (non-voting, ex
officio)
Members Absent:GlennParker, Chair; Richard Neumeier
Others Present: Elaine Ashton, Town Meeting member; Bob Pressman, Community Preservation
Committee (CPC)
The meetingwas calledto order at 7:35p.m.
Announcements:
1.Mr. Bartenstein reported that the first meeting of the Town Manager’s
th
Working Group on financial modeling will beheld on October 29,and that Ms. Colburnhas
agreed to serve as the Committee’s designated representative. The group willprovide advice and
feedback to Town staff in modelingthe potential impacton the taxpayer of the myriad schooland
town building projects currently being considered.
Articles forNovember 2, 2015 Special Town Meeting(STM)#2:
2.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 reported on
a meeting regarding Wayland’s request to withdraw from the Regional Minuteman School
districtthat he attended with Carl Valente, Lexington Town Manager, Dave Horton,
Lexington’s representative to the Minuteman board, and representatives from theTown of
Wayland.The positions of both Towns werediscussed.The issue is complex because it is
interconnected with a previous attempt to create a new regional agreement for the sixteen
member communities and the ongoing effort to rebuildthe school facility. Approval on
such items requiresa high degree of consensus that has beendifficult to attain.
Mr. Valente is concerned about the financial impacts if Wayland leaves the district, which
would resultinfewer participants covering certain financial obligations, including the
district’sunfunded Other Post Employment Benefits(OPEB) liability.The Board of
Selectmen (BoS) voted 3-2 to recommenddisapproval of this article.
It was noted that if Lexington votes no on Article 2, this stops the process for addressing
Wayland’s request because all sixteenmember communities must support a town’s
withdrawal. It was also noted that Wayland does not support a replacement facility for the
school, foreclosing the potential of getting unanimous approvalby all membertowns.The
replacement project can still be approved by a two-thirds vote of the residents of the member
communities in a district-wide referendum. Mr. Valente thinks the latter route for getting a
new building is feasible.
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Amotion was made and seconded to support indefinite postponement (IP)of this articleon
the ground that the issue could be brought up again at the spring 2016 Annual Town
Meeting when more information might be available. The motion failed. VOTE: 3-4.
A motion wasthenmade and seconded to support Article 2. The motion failed. VOTE: 1-4-
2.Mr. Michelson, who is preparing theCommittee’s report on this Article, will include in
his write-up a discussion of both the majority and minority positions.
STM #2; Article 3:Transfer of Property to LexHAB: TheCommitteewill not takea
position on this article, because it does not include a financial request.
STM #2, Article 4: Appropriation for Water System Improvements:Mr. Addelson
reported that the funding request for this article has been increased from $2.2 million to $2.5
million and that it will be financed by a combination of borrowing and $400,000 from water
enterprise fundretained earnings, which currently stand at approximately $1.8 million. A
motion was made and seconded to support the appropriation request as revised. The motion
passed. VOTE: 7-0
STM #2; Article 5: Appropriatefor Property Improvements –241Grove Street: Ms.
Garberg reported that the funding request for this article has been increased from$177,100
to $200,000 to include possible requirementsidentified by the Historical Commission.A
motion was made and seconded to support the article as revised.Themotion passed.
VOTE: 7-0
STM #2; Article 6: Appropriate Funds for Fire Station Site Study: Mr. Levine reported
that according to a previous study, it is possible to build a new fire station at the current fire
station headquarters site,butmore study is required because the site is very constrained. It
was clarified that the funding request is for $20,000.
STM #2; Article7: Amend FY2016 Operating, Enterprise Fund and Community
Preservation Budgets:Using a handout, Mr. Addelson reviewed the items that will be
included in Article 7.A motion was made and seconded to support Article 7, as described.
The motion passed. VOTE: 7-0
STM #2; Article 8: Appropriate to and from Specified Stabilization Funds: Using a
handout, Mr. Addelson identified amounts to be appropriated into stabilization funds under
Article 8.A motion was made and seconded to support Article 8, as described. The motion
passed. VOTE: 7-0
STM #2; Article 9: Appropriate for Authorized Capital Improvements: It is anticipated
that this article will be indefinitely postponed.
STM #2; Article 10: Appropriate for Prior Years’ Unpaid Bills: Mr. Radulescu-Banu
added his vote in support of this article,making the vote now 9-0.
November 2, 2015 STM #1:
3.In preparationfor STM #1, which includes funding requests
for school projects, Mr. Radulescu-Banu distributed a handout showing the rate of inflation in
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school building projectcostssince 1997based on the cost per square foot. He noted that the
average annual inflation increase has been 8.85%,which is significantly greater than general
inflation increases during the same period.Pat Goddard, Director, Department of Public Facilities,
has explained to him thatnew state regulations relatingto sub-contractors areonesignificant factor
leading to the inflation of publicbuildingconstruction costs. Mr. Levine noted thata number of
other factors, including increased world-wide demand for steel and other construction materials,
may play a role as well.
The meeting adjournedat 9:15p.m.
The documentsused at the meeting arelistedbelow.
Respectfully submitted,
Sara Arnold
Recording Secretary
Approved November 5, 2015
Exhibits
1.Agenda,posted byGlenn Parker, Chair
2.Handout on Proposed Action Under Articles7, 8 and 10, preparedby Mr. Addelson
3.Data on new construction costs in square feet for school projects in Lexington since 1997,
prepared Mr. Radulescu-Banu
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