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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-03-16-AC-min 03/16/2023 AC Minutes 1 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) March 16, 2023 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, communica- tion took place via a Zoom teleconferencing session that was open to the public. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Anil Ahuja; John Bartenstein; Alan Levine, Secretary; Eric Michelson; Sean Osborne; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Lily Manhua Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent: None Other Attendees: None At 7:36 p.m. Mr. Parker called the meeting to order, confirmed attendance by roll call, and noted that the meeting was being recorded for the purpose of creating minutes. Announcements and Liaison Reports With respect to Article 34, proposing a zoning amendment to create districts for multifamily hous- ing or mixed-use development by right, Mr. Padaki noted a recent advisory by the Massachusetts Attorney General that the relevant statute is mandatory for MBTA communities and cannot be avoided by forgoing state funding. Mr. Parker announced that beginning the following Monday at 7:00 p.m., and for the duration of the Annual Town Meeting (ATM) as necessary, the Committee would be meeting in person in the Rob- bins Room of the Cary Memorial Building. He also confirmed that financial articles would not be taken up until the second week of the ATM in order to give the finance committees adequate time to complete their reports. Finally, he stated that the primary purpose of this meeting would be to take or supplement votes on remaining articles and to approve preliminarily the committee’s final report to the ATM, pending final edits, so that the report could be issued the following Monday, April 20, one week before financial articles are taken up. Supplemental Votes Article 16(i) (Solar Canopy & System – Police Station). Mr. Ahuja requested to change his vote from abstain to yes, making the final vote 8-0-0. Article 8 (Evaluation of Archaeological Resource Potential – Citizen Petition). Mr. Parker noted that he had spoken with Jeff Howry, a Town Meeting Member and the sponsor of this citizen’s arti- cle, about the timing of this article in relation to the budget cycle, and that if the motion fails, Mr. Howry may resubmit the article at a future town meeting. Ms. Yan requested to change her vote from abstain to no, making the final vote 2-6-0. Article 10(a) (Stone Building Design and Repairs). Mr. Levine requested to change his vote from abstain to yes, making the final vote 1-7-0. Article 10(c) (Hancock-Clarke Barn Restoration). There was a brief discussion of this article. Mr. Bartenstein described a visit he had made to the site and reported that he had drafted a minority statement to include in the report. No votes were changed. 03/16/2023 AC Minutes 2 Article 10(m) (Transforming Trees into Art). There was further discussion of the project, including the durability of the sculptures, maintenance costs, and the amount of foot traffic in the location. Several members who had previously abstained from voting on this item pending the receipt of more information indicated that they were now prepared to change their votes. Mr. Ahuja requested to change his vote from abstain to no; Mr. Bartenstein requested to change his vote from abstain to yes; Mr. Levine requested to change his vote from abstain to yes; and Mr. Padaki requested to change his vote from abstain to no, making the final vote 4-4-0. Article 18 (Rescind Prior Borrowing Authorizations). Ms. Kosnoff stated that the Select Board would seek indefinite postponement of this article as Town staff have not identified any prior au- thorizations that are appropriate for rescission at this time. A number of major rescissions will likely be proposed next year, including borrowing authorizations for Hastings School, the main fire station and Lexington Children’s Place, as it is expected that these projects will then be complete. A mo- tion was made to support indefinite postponement of Article 18. VOTE: 8-0-0. Article 21 (Amend FY2023 Operating, Enterprise and CPA Budgets). Ms. Kosnoff reported that the motion under this article had now been finalized, though not yet posted to the Town’s website. She reviewed proposed changes to the FY2023 operating budget, noting that the motion will have two parts. The first will address two changes to the General Fund operating budget: (1) the addition of $25,085 to the Property and Liability Insurance line item to cover higher than expected increases in premiums; and (2) the addition of $130,000 to the Law Enforcement Personal Services line item, primarily due to increases in overtime costs. The second part will address revenue adjustments to the Community Preservation Fund, allocating state matching funds received in excess of the amount originally budgeted, a little more than $150,000, to each of the three 10% “buckets” reserved for housing, historic preservation and open space. Each “bucket” will receive $50,000, with a small re- maining balance to go to the undesignated fund balance, which may be used for any CPA project. A motion was made to recommend approval of Article 21. Vote 8-0-0. Review of Draft Report to the 2023 ATM Mr. Parker reviewed with the Committee the latest draft of the report to the 2023 ATM, article by article, which he said should be in close to final form. He summarized the introduction he had pre- pared, went through edits which he and others had made to various article write-ups, and took com- ments and suggestions from Committee members for the final version of the report. It was agreed that Mr. Parker, with the assistance of Mr. Levine, would work over the next several days to prepare a definitive draft, then circulate it to Committee members for a final review. This would allow the Committee to vote to approve the report at the meeting scheduled for Monday evening, March 20, before the first session of the ATM, and Mr. Parker to publish the report one week before financial articles are taken up. Miscellaneous Ms. Kosnoff informed the Committee that Mr. Livsey, the Town Engineer, would like to start dis- cussions with the financial committees about the possible creation of a new Stormwater Enterprise Fund, which is expected to be taken up at a special town meeting next fall. It was agreed that a meeting should be scheduled for this purpose at a time after the ATM has concluded. Ms. Kosnoff also advised that she and the Town Manager were concerned about the potential im- pact of Article 40, a citizen’s zoning article seeking to reduce the permitted gross floor area of newly constructed homes, on the Town’s new growth revenue. She explained that they had per- formed a rough analysis suggesting that the impact could be substantial, reducing new growth 03/16/2023 AC Minutes 3 revenue by as much as $600,000, and thought the Committee should be aware of this issue in case it comes up during debate on the article at the ATM. She agreed to circulate the analysis, which is in the form of a spreadsheet. Mr. Levine reported that no minutes were ready to be approved at this time. All votes were taken by roll call. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned by roll call vote at 9:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, John Bartenstein Approved: May 11, 2023 Exhibits ● Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker ● Vote Summary as of 3/9/23 ● Email from Ms. Kosnoff dated 3/15/23 re Article 21 Motion