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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-28-CEC-min Y Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting October 28, 2021 APRIL III' ��IN4i'47�r Location and Time: Remote Meeting; 8:00 A.M. CEC Members Present (remote participation): Charles Lamb, Chair; David Kanter, Vice—Chair & Clerk; Sandy Beebee; Rod Cole and Frank Smith CEC Members Absent: None Others Present (remote participation): Other Lexington Committees: Scott Bokun and Sara Cuthbertson, School Committee liaisons; Staff: School Department: Thomas Martellone, Director of Innovation and Technology for Lexington Public Schools (LPS); David Coelho, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, LPS; Fire Department: Derek Sencabaugh, Chief; Finance Department: Jennifer Hewitt, Budget Officer; Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Documents Presented: • Notice of Public Meeting/Agenda CEC Meeting, October 28, 2021 • Schools & Fire Departments FY2023—FY2027 Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs) • Schools Department responses to CEC Questions Provided Regarding the Schools Department's FY2023—FY2027 CIPs (Schools Q&A) • Fire Department responses to CEC Questions Provided Regarding the Fire Department's FY2023—FY2027 CIPs (Fire Q&A) Call to Order Mr. Lamb called this Remote (Virtual) Meeting, which had been posted as such, to order at 8:00 A.M. As all those present had been previously advised of the special conditions of this meeting, he passed on repeating them (i.e., the authority to not require a physical presence of a quorum and other selected terms under the Open Meeting Law is legislation signed on June 16th of this year by Massachusetts Governor Charles D. Baker). Mr. Lamb advised that materials provided electronically to the Committee or presented at the meeting, would be available upon request and are those listed in the Minutes as Documents Presented. Any votes during this meeting would be taken by a roll call. Further, this meeting would be recorded to assist in preparing Minutes, and the recording would be deleted once the Minutes is approved. Mr. Lamb took a roll-call attendance, determining that all five members were present. Review of the Schools Department FY2023—FY2027 CIPs Mr. Lamb asked each member for follow up questions to the responses that had been prepared by the Schools Department in response to this Committee's written questions and requests. There was uniform consensus that the responses were welcomed, thorough, and extremely helpful in this Committee understanding the needs. Mr. Kanter asked few clarifying questions to just a few of the responses, In all instances, Mr. Martellone provided additional, fulfilling clarifications in response. Some of those were him noting that some of the amounts are placeholders based on the best information currently available; he reported that he generally overestimates out-years to be conservative. He also noted that when preparing the budget, he assumes rebates will not become available, but if they do, the funds are returned. Page 1 of 2 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting October 28, 2021 Mr. Lamb had questions regarding security, but acknowledged that as this is an Open Session, the discussion must be carefully limited. Mr. Martellone explained that he could provide some permitted information—especially about what a contracted cyber-security assessment that resulted in incorporating some additional security measures and offered other allowable information that "keeps him up at night". Mr. Lamb urged that data recovery (DR) drills be a critical component of security efforts. Review of the Fire Department FY2023—FY2027 CIPs Mr. Lamb acknowledged that all our members had received Chief Sencabaugh's responses to all of the Committee's questions and requests. He asked Mr. Kanter to lead with any follow up to those responses. Mr. Kanter directed his first follow-up—a financing question—to Ms. Hewitt. Her response included: • It is premature to identify all of the funding sources at this time; staff will work to identify the funding sources prior to publishing the FY2023 Town Manager's Preliminary Budget & Financing Plan (the White Book). • There is a general effort to avoid bonding equipment, but because fire-fighting vehicles are especially expensive, they are usually bonded. • Remaining available funds from the FY2020 appropriation will be "cleaned up" in the near future. Continuing with Mr. Kanter's follow-ups, Chief Sencabaugh reported that the East Lexington Fire Station is outdated, has some mechanical issues, will eventually need to be replaced; and the current location is inadequate for a new facility. Ms. Hewitt added that Mike Cronin, Director of Public Facilities, is well-aware of this situation and plans to identify the needs in the 20-year plan, but a CIP has not yet been prepared. This Committee urged that this be brought to the attention of the Town Manager and Select Board, particularly because it seems to require a relocation. Among Chief Sencabaugh's responses to some of the other questions, he added that response demand is pretty evenly split between Fire Headquarters and the East Lexington Fire station; that the new headquarters is a morale booster and may help in retaining and hiring firefighters. Ms. Hewitt and this Committee discussed future efforts for getting updated material and information relating to the CIPs. Member Concerns and Liaison Reports Questions for the Recreation and Land Use Departments CIPs should be submitted to Ms. Beebee and Mr. Cole, respectively, by next Sunday afternoon to so responses from those Departments can possibly be available by next week's Thursday meeting on November 4. Adjourn A Motion was made and seconded at 9:07 A.M. to adjourn. Roll-Call Vote: 5-0 This Minutes was approved by the CEC at its meeting on November 4, 2021 Page 2 of 2