Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-10-13-AC-minMinutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) October 13, 2022 Place and Time: Remote Participation: in accordance with “An Act Relative to Extending Certain State of Emergency Accommodations”, signed into law by Gov. Baker on July 16, 2022, 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; Anil Ahuja; John Bartenstein; Alan Levine, Secretary; Eric Michelson; Sean Osborne; Lily Manhua Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (nonvoting, ex officio) Member(s) Absent: None Other Attendees: David Kanter, Capital Expenditures Committee; Suzie Barry, Select Board member; Steven Conners, Lexington Semiquincentennial Commission (Lex250) Reenactment Community representative At 7:39 p.m. Mr. Parker confirmed attendance by roll call and stated that the meeting was being recorded for the purpose of creating minutes. Mr. Ahuja agreed to take minutes in the absence of a recording secretary. Announcements and Liaison Reports None Article 8 – Battle of Lexington 250th Celebration Ms. Suzie Barry, Chair of Lex250, and Mr. Steven Conners attended to present the case for an appropriation of $75,000 from the tax levy for the Battle of Lexington 250th Celebration to be held primarily in April 2025. There will be various events held starting in the fall of 2024 through July of 2026. Funding for the celebrations will be sought from the Town and in private fund raising as well as State grants although there is no guarantee that such grants will be awarded. There is also a possibility of receiving money from the Federal America250 program. The present intention is that several VIP guests will be invited, including the President; this would likely result in security costs that will need to be borne by the organizers. Earlier, State Representative Michelle Ciccolo obtained a grant of $50,000 for initial planning activities, of which only $37,000 was spent in the time allotted. Ms. Yan asked if any money spent in the future would be reimbursable. Ms. Barry and Ms. Kosnoff stated that the grant had expired and would not be available for reimbursements. Ms. Kosnoff noted that future Town expenditures could be reimbursable depending on whether additional grants are awarded and what the grant terms are. Ms. Barry said that the money raised will help generate tourism and will assist local businesses indirectly. Various towns will be organizing events, so there will be some level of coordination via a working group to avoid major event conflicts. There is a possibility that the Commission may come back with additional requests for funds. A motion was made to recommend approval of Article 8 for the 250th Anniversary of the Battle celebrations for $75,000. The motion passed with a roll call vote of 8-0. Article 5 - Appropriate for Center Playground Bathrooms and Maintenance Building Funding for this project will be coming from the Community Preservation Fund. There was a discussion about escalating costs for projects in the current environment and how this project cost has risen so much in the current environment. The Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) has not yet voted on the article and the Community Preservation Committee (CPC) has not yet taken a position on it, which will happen on this coming Thursday. Mr. Levine stated that we need to make sure that the report is attuned to the positions of the two committees on this article before the report goes out. A motion was made to recommend approval of Article 5. The motion carried by a roll call vote of 8-0. Articles 2, 6, and 7 A motion was made to raise no objection to the indefinite postponement of Articles 2,6, and 7. The motion carried with a roll call vote of 8-0. Article 3 – Specified Stabilization Funds Ms. Kosnoff said that the Town had received two payments from National Development, the developer of the senior living facility at 55 Watertown Street, namely 1) $100,000 that is slated for the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Stabilization Fund, and 2) $250,000 for the Ambulance Stabilization Fund. The Debt Service Stabilization Fund has a balance of $494 which will be appropriated and the Fund will be closed. The Transportation Management Overlay District (TMOD) Stabilization Fund, which concerns the Hartwell corridor, is slated to receive payments made by the developers of 3 Maguire Road and 91 Hartwell Avenue, for a total of $107,000. Mr. Bartenstein asked whether Town Meeting has to vote to dissolve the Debt Stabilization Stabilization Fund and Ms. Kosnoff responded in the affirmative. Article 9 - Opioid Settlement Ms. Kosnoff said that we have received $76,256.29 from the State which the Stat received from the drug manufacturer and the distributor. She expects the Town will soon receive a lump sum payment of about $250,000 covering 5 years of annual payments and would then not expect additional payments in the next 4 years. This money will be going into a newly created continuing balance account, the Opioid Settlement Account, in the General Fund. The Health Director will be in charge of expenditures of these funds for purposes related to opioid health issues. There was a motion to recommend approval of the appropriation of $76,256.29 or a higher amount under Article 9. The motion carried by a roll call vote of 8-0. Article 10 - Appropriate for Public Facilities Capital Projects (Town Pool Domestic Hot Water Heater) The Select Board has not yet voted on this article. Article 11 - Appropriate for Center Streetscape Sidewalk Extension This is essentially a change order to match the existing granite curbing and bricks in additional sidewalks. The Commission on Disability has also approved moving forward with this article. Ms. Kosnoff said that this will be funded by tax levy and/or debt financing, more likely just the tax levy (new growth), to the amount of $700,000. Article 12 - Creation of Housing Trust and Article 14 - LexHAB Reorganization A motion was presented to recommend approval of Articles 12 and 14. The motion carried by a roll call vote of 8-0. Report General Discussions Article 13 was removed from the table of contents of the report as it is deemed not to be a financial article. There was a brief discussion of the overall revenues and the appropriations for the special town meeting. The increase in the new growth of the tax levy will be at least $3.3 million. Staff are looking to put $1.2 million into the Capital Stabilization Fund, and $1.1 million into the pension fund. These actions would leave just over $1 million remaining which will be appropriated for other projects. There is also $260,000 in unanticipated revenue from state aid. Minutes of Prior Meetings A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the AC meeting held on September 27, 2022. The motion was approved by a roll call vote. VOTE: 8-0. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned by roll call vote at 9:38 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Anil Ahuja Approved: November 1, 2022 Exhibits Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker