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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-11-05-AC-min 11/05/15 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee November 5, 2015 Place and time- Hadley Public Services Building, Training Room, 7 30 p.m Members present Glenn Parker, Chair, John Bartenstem, Vice Chair and Secretary; Kate Colburn, Alan Levine, Eric Michelson, Richard Neumeier, Andrei Radulescu-Banu, Rob Addelson (non- voting, ex officio) Members Absent Mollie Garberg; Beth Masterman Others Present: Ian Dailey, Intenm Director of Finance and Operations, Lexington Public Schools, Elaine Ashton, Town Meeting member The meeting was called to order at 7 34 p.m. 1 Request to Increase Spending Ceiling for School Bus Transportation Revolving Fund. Based on action at the 2015 Annual Town Meeting, there is currently a cap of$850,000 on funds that can be used in FY 2016 from this Revolving Fund. Mr Dailey explained that school bus ndership is 9% greater than anticipated. It has been determined that the cap needs to be raised to $1.25 million to cover the shortfall generated by the need for three more buses Increasing the cap requires Appropnation Committee and Board of Selectmen (BoS) approval This request is scheduled to be presented to the BoS on Monday Because there is an adequate balance in the Revolving Fund, it will not be necessary to make any changes in the FY2016 school department budget. That budget was based on 45% of the school bus costs coming from ndership fees and 55% coming from the school operating budget. Approval of this request will change the percentages for FY2016 and there will be increased school bus costs in the FY2017 operating budget. In response to questions, Mr Dailey reported that the school buses carry about 50% of the students An individual bus pass costs $300, subject to a family cap of $750 The Town has a contract with C & W Transportation, the annual cost for the use of each bus is $80,000, including driver and maintenance A motion was made and seconded to increase the Revolving Fund cap to $1.25 million. The motion passed. Vote 6-0 2. Minutes. A motion was made and seconded to accept the minutes for October 14, 22, and 29, 2015, as amended. The motion passed. Vote 6-0 3 Committee Report to the November 2, 2015 Special Town Meeting #1. The report needs to be approved by this Committee on November 19 Preliminary drafts for each of the warrant articles were reviewed. It was noted that the articles include requests for design funds plus the acquisition of property on Pelham Road. Negotiations for the acquisition are in progress More information is needed to waste the report. Mr Radulescu-Banu plans to attend a meeting with Pat Goddard, Department of Public Facilities Director, Mary Czajkowski, Superintendent of Schools, and Rod Cole, Capital Expenditures Committee on November 9 to discuss the school facility issues Questions for Mr Radulescu-Banu to take to the meeting were identified as follows 1 11/05/15 AC Minutes • Pelham Road Property Purchase Largest estimated cost for purchase and renovations? Need for and process for taking by eminent domain? When will discussions become public information? How many prefabricated classrooms can be added without increasing core space? • Diamond and Clarke Middle School Projects Essential elements? Recommended elements? • Diamond Middle School Project: Capacity increase if the teaching model is changed without any space changes? • Clarke Middle School Project: Required site work to address capacity? • Lexington High School Capacity? • General Enrollment summaries? There was discussion about the process going forward and the financing model that is being developed for the large projects being contemplated in the next five years Comments included. • The motions for the articles will need to include funding amounts and their sources, in some cases identifying an override as a source, but will not address the term of excluded debt. • The terms for excluded debt should be based on the projects' life spans • The financing model will take into account the $16 0-17 0 million that is in the Capital Stabilization Fund, which may be used to help ameliorate tax increases • Mr Valente is the best source for explaining the chronology of events associated with purchasing the Pelham Road site and what happens if a debt exclusion request isn't passed in a referendum • Additional design funds will likely be needed in the spring. The Committee adjourned at 9 18 p.m The documents used at the meeting are listed below Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold Recording Secretary Approved November 19, 2015 Exhibit 1 Agenda, posted by Glenn Parker, Chair 2