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Home My WebLink About2015-10-29-AC-min 10/29/15 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee October29,2015 : ParkerRoom,Town OfficeBuilding,7:30p.m. : Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary; Kate Colburn; Alan Levine;Beth Masterman; Eric Michelson;Andrei Radulescu-Banu;Rob Addelson (non- voting, ex officio) Members Absent:Mollie Garberg; Richard Neumeier Others Present: Jessie Steigerwald, Chair, School Committee; Margaret Coppe, School Committee; Elaine Ashton, Town Meeting member The meetingwas calledto order at 7:32p.m. Liaison Report: 1.Ms. Colburn reported on the first meeting of the Town Manager’s Working th GrouponSchool Capital (School CapitalWorking Group) held on October 29.The group discussed parameters for afinancial analysis that wouldhelpevaluate the potential impacton the taxpayer of the myriad school and town building projects currently being considered, as follows: The Term of the Debt: The Town usually issues 20 year bonds; a longer term could impact the Town’s AAA credit rating and would increase the interest rate. Regarding the former, the Towns of Newton and Concord recently issuedbondsfor school projects, 30 years and 23 years respectively. Their bond ratings were not affected, indicating that Lexington’s risk is minimal. The potential impact on the interest rate will be explored.The Finance Working Group agreed that 20 and 30 year bondsshould be modelled. The Specific Projects to be Included: TheSchool Capital Working Group agreed that the following projects should be included: Diamond and Clarke Middle School renovations/additions,the purchase and renovations of the Armenian Sisters Academy on Pelham Road(a secondary access road was not discussed), the Lexington High School heating, ventilation, and air conditioning upgrade, remodeling at Minuteman Technical High School to accommodate the pre-kindergarten program, remodeling at HarringtonElementary School, a new Hastings Elementary School(Hastings)without MassachusettsSchool Building Authority(MSBA)funds, a new fire station,and a new police station. It was agreed that anew high school wouldnot be included because the date is unknown and will bemore than fiveyears hence, but aprominently displayed referenceto this potential project will be included. TaxpayerTolerance: There is general agreementthat there shouldn’t be sudden, large, tax increases.The School Capital Working Group agreed thatinitial models will attempt to limit thetax increases attributable to excluded debtat1%annually. Drawing on the Capital Stabilization Fund: The School Capital Working Group considered the strategy for drawing on this fundto control peak tax rate increases or to control the annual rate of increasegenerated by the school and town building projects being contemplated. 1 10/29/15 AC Minutes In response to questions, Ms. Colburn noted that: The Working Group did not discuss the possibility ofreducing the Community Preservation Act surcharge to mitigate tax increases resulting from excluded debt. th It is anticipated that the model wouldbe available for presentation at the November 12 Budget Summit. There was discussion about including as alternativescenariosin the model rebuilding Hastings with and without MSBA funding. It is anticipated that the Town will learn in December or January whether MSBA support will be offered. If the project proceeds with MSBA funding, it would take approximately one additional year to build the schoolthan without State assistance. Articles forNovember 2, 2015 Special Town Meeting(STM)#2: 2.Ms. Masterman reported on the Moderator’s meeting held in preparation for the opening of STM #2. It was agreed that Mr. Parker will speak briefly about this Committee’s position on all articlesexcept Article 2: STM #2; Article 2: Amend Minuteman Regional Agreement: Mr. Michelson will report on this article. He noted that there may be new representation from the Town of Wayland on the Minuteman Regional High School Board, which could affect that Town’s requestto leave the district. The Committee discussed an Addendum which Mr. Parker prepared tothe discussion of Article 2 in the previously published report to the STM #2.A motion was made and seconded to approve the Addendumsubject to a few edits whichwill be incorporated. The motion passed. VOTE: 7-0 Update of Votes:Mr. Parker added his “no” vote to the existing voteson Article 2 and his “yes” vote to the existing votes for Articles 4,5,7 and 8. November 2, 2015 STM #1: 3.It was noted that the total funding request being considered for this STM has been increased from $132 million to $164 million. The following comments were made during discussions aboutthe articles: STM #1, Article 2: Appropriate for School Facilities Capital Projects:This includes projects at multiple schools, including the rebuilding of Hastings Elementary Schoolwith 30 classrooms. Ms. Steigerwald described an anticipatedphased redistricting effort. It is expectedthat some redistricting will take place in the fall of 2016to more evenly distribute elementary students among the elementary schools. STM #1, Article 3: Land Purchase and Improvements –20 Pelham Road: Pat Goddard, Director, Department of Public Facilities, has estimated an amount needed to open andsafely operate the Armenian Sisters’ Academy. Ms. Steigerwald reported that Mr. Goddard believes the heating system and roof shouldlast for another five years. Ms. Steigerwald noted that if polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs) arefound,theywill be mitigated. Several years ago, the discovery of PCBsat Estabrook Elementary School led Lexington to rebuild the school but that was because the school was slated to be rebuilt anyway and the PCBs put pressure on the Town to do soas soon as possible. 2 10/29/15 AC Minutes More detailed information about environmental issues will becomeavailable when the Town owns the facility. STM #1, Article 4: Appropriate for Engineering Study –20 Pelham Road:This funding request is for designing a second access road to 20 Pelham Road and to create a sidewalk connection to the Lexington Community Center and Marrett Road. Itwas noted that there will beaTown Meeting Members Association Information Meeting to th discuss the Articles on the Warrant for STM#1 on November 16. The Committee adjournedat 9:28p.m. The documentsused at the meeting arelistedbelow. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold Recording Secretary ApprovedNovember 5, 2015 Exhibits 1.Agenda,posted by Glenn Parker, Chair 2.Addendum to the Appropriation Committee Report to the November 2015 Special Town Meeting 3