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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-03-09-AC-min RECEIVED 03/09/2022 AC Minutes 2022 22 IIIVI", 9��04 auin Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) TOWN W 16 E R March 9, 2022 LEM14GTON MA Place and Time: Remote Participation: in accordance with Section 20 of Chapter 20 of the Acts of 2021 "An Act Relative to Extending Certain COVID-19 Measures Adopted During the State of Emergency", communication took place via a Zoom teleconferencing session that was open to the public; 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; Anil Ahuja; John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson; Meg Muckenhoupt; Lily Manhua Yan Member(s)Absent: Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Other Attendees: Mark Andersen, Town Meeting member Mr. Parker called the meeting to order at 7:33 p.m., reviewed the authorization for meeting remotely, and stated that the meeting was being recorded for the purpose of creating minutes. Announcements and Liaison Reports Mr. Levine reported that he had just been watching the in-progress Select Board (SB) and School Committee joint meeting on Zoom. They were discussing the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA)process for Lexington High School (LHS)that will be starting in the near future. A series of scheduling modules were identified, starting with the eligibility period, followed by a feasibility study, which takes about one year, and then schematic design. The feasibility study is expected to determine whether the school is to be renovated or a new facility is to be built. It was reported that the MSBA apparently would prefer to see a School Building Committee created from scratch rather than having an existing committee, such as the Permanent Building Committee, act in that role. The estimated cost for the feasibility study has not changed from the previously identified $1.8 (rounded) million, which will likely be requested at a 2022-2 Special Town Meeting (STM)to be held in conjunction with the Annual Town Meeting. The MSBA does not object to such an appropriation being approved prior to the June 1, 2022 start date for the eligibility period. Discussion of Articles with Financial Implications for the 2022-1 STM and the 2022 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) that Need Additional Information and/or Need a Vote There were updates and discussions relating to the use of WDesk for creating this Committee's report to the 2022-1 STM and the 2022 ATM. Mr. Parker reported that he has entered a placeholder into the report for a 2022-2 STM article requesting an appropriation for the LHS feasibility study. The following 2022 ATM articles were discussed. • ATM Article 5: Appropriate FY2023 Enterprise Funds Budgets: Mr. Bartenstein reviewed the material he had prepared for the report, explaining that the combined water/sewer budget increase over last year is less than 3%, so rate increases to be adopted in the fall of 2022 should only be 24%, which is in contrast to the 6.6%increase adopted in the fall of 2021. The low budget increase results primarily from a significant decrease in the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority assessments. He also reported that the retained earnings for both water and wastewater were greater than usual. These have traditionally been used for capital projects, which helps reduce debt service expenses. Mr. Levine reported that the Recreation Department's enterprise fund was severely impacted by COVID-19, but the FY2023 budget 1 03/09/2022 AC Minutes assumes programs mostly consistent with pre-pandemic levels with fee revenue recovering to near pre-pandemic levels. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of this article. The motion was approved. VOTE: 8-0 • ATM Article 8: Appropriate for Comprehensive Plan Implementation: Mr. Michelson reported on the effort to implement comprehensive plan initiatives that meet the plan's housing priorities and goals. He noted that he is still trying to determine the breakdown of study costs versus implementation costs. He also reported on the need to create an affordable housing zone which allows higher density housing than is presently allowed; this is needed to respond to the MBTA's housing choice directive to create such a zone in communities that have MBTA bus service. This would require a zoning by-law change. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of this article. The motion was approved. VOTE: 8-0 • ATM Article 18: Rescind Prior Borrowing Authorizations: There was a review of five items being presented to the ATM under this article. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of this article. The motion was approved. VOTE: 8-0 • ATM Article 19: Establish, Amend, Dissolve and Appropriate To and From Specified Stabilization Funds: Mr. Levine described the three transfers being recommended in this article. He added that Ms. Kosnoff plans to provide relatively recent balances for the stabilization funds. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of this article. The motion was approved. VOTE: 8-0 • ATM Article 25: Appropriate for Worthen Road Recreation and Education District Land Use Concept Plan (Citizen Petition): It was agreed to wait for the SB to vote on this article before taking a position on it. There is some indication that it may be indefinitely postponed. • ATM Article 26: Appropriate for Nexus Studies (Citizen Petition): It was questioned whether this study should be recommended for approval if the legislature has not yet acted on Lexington's home rule petition to allow the Town to impose linkage fees associated with commercial and residential development. Because the motion for this article is not conditioned on such action by the legislature, the Town could spend the funds without, or prior to, approval of the home rule petition, which seems inadvisable. A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of this article. The motion was not approved. VOTE: 0-7-1 (Mr. Parker abstained) Mr. Ahuja volunteered to inform Matt Daggett, proponent of this article, of this Committee's concerns, as demonstrated by its vote. It was agreed that in the event that the legislation is enacted prior to the article coming to a vote at town meeting, this committee would reassess its position; this will be explained in the report. Ms. Kosnoff arrived at approximately 8:50 p.m. She responded to some questions and provided updates. The following articles were discussed, as follows: • ATM Article 10: Appropriate for the FY2023 Community Preservation Committee (CPC) Operating Budget and CPA Projects: 2 03/09/2022 AC Minutes (e) Center Playground Bathrooms and Maintenance Building Renovation: The SB has not yet taken a position on this article because of issues associated with the potential location of a new high school. If the project does go forward, the facility would be renovated—it would not be a modular building or reconstructed—and the cost would probably be less than the current$915,000 appropriation request. It was agreed to defer taking a vote in view of these uncertainties. (k)LexHAB – 116 Vine Street Construction Funds: Because the cost estimate for this project has increased from $5.3 million to $5.7 million, LexHAB is considering whether to postpone the project at this time. The Community Preservation Committee is meeting next week, at which time LexHAB could request the additional funds if it chooses to do so. It was agreed to defer taking a vote because of uncertainties. After identifying the sources for the funds being put into the stabilization funds under Article 19, Ms. Kosnoff provided additional information, as follows: • She will provide official stabilization fund balances as of the end of the most recent fiscal year, together with a list of other amounts that have been deposited into them since that date; together, these should closely approximate current fund balances. • The School Committee voted to request that a special town meeting be called (which would be STM 2022-2)to address the need for an LHS feasibility study, with a funding request of $1.825 million. The SB has not yet acted on this request. • The appropriation requested under STM 2022-1 Article 2: Police Station Replacement is being reduced from $32.8 million to $32.4 million. • Under existing legislation, public meetings can be held remotely until July 15, 2022. The SB has decided to hold the 2022-1 STM and ATM remotely. Mr. Parker reviewed the articles for which votes still need to be taken. These should be addressed at this Committee's March 16 meeting. It can be decided at that time whether another meeting the following week is needed. Mr. Parker also said that he would post 7:00 p.m. meetings for each evening before town meeting sessions, to be held only if necessary. Minutes of Prior Meetings A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes from February 23, 2022 and March 3, 2022, with edits. The motion was approved. VOTE: 8-0 A motion was made and seconded to adjourn at 9:07 p.m. The motion was approved. VOTE: 8-0 All votes at this meeting were taken by roll-call vote. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold Approved: March 16, 2022 Exhibits • Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker • Town of Lexington ATM Warrant, March 7, 2022 3