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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-04-26-CEC-min Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting April 26, 2016 Location and Time: Town Office Building, Reed Room 7:30 .. AM Members Present: Jill Hai, Chair; David Kanter, Vice-Chair & Clerk; Elizabeth Barnett; Rod Cole; Wendy Manz Members Absent: None Others Present: Elaine Ashton, Town Meeting Member; Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Documents Presented: Notice/Agenda of CEC Public Meeting, April 26, 2016 Statement read by Joe Pato, Chair, Board of Selectmen (BoS), at the April 25, 2016, BoS meeting Pending Final Minutes of the Lexington CEC Meeting, April 19, 2016 Call to Order: Ms. Hai called the meeting to order at 7:36 .. AM Discussion on matters included in Special Town Meetings (STMs) 2016-2 & 2016-4: th Ms. Hai read a statement shared by Mr. Pato during the BoS April 25 meeting (after the BoS’ Executive Session) regarding the purchase of 20 Pelham Road (STM 2016-2, Article 2). Because this Article will now be brought to Town Meeting for consideration, this Committee must prepare a supplemental report to STM 2016-2 with its position regarding an $8.0 million request for the purchase and associated design and engineering of possible uses of that property. The Town has appraisals of the property for both residential and commercial use. The purchase will be contingent on acceptable due-diligence findings which cannot be prepared until after a Purchase and Sale agreement is finalized and the Town has been able to make a thorough inspection of the property—most importantly of the building. Discussion points included the following: Town Meeting already approved funding for engineering analysis associated with connecting this property to Marrett Road. There are many options for using the property that might well address current and already foreseen needs. It is expected that there will be an evaluation of specific future uses of the property for school and municipal purposes; it was noted that should include affordable housing. This approach could amount to “banking” the property, although the land could be sold if an appropriate use isn’t identified. If the Town doesn’t purchase the land, the opportunity would be lost as the sale to another party would be likely. Financing models prepared in recent months have included this amount within the debt-service expense for debt excluded from the limitations of Proposition 2½ (if approved to do so by the Board of Selectmen, Town Meeting, and the voters in a referendum). Page 1 of 2 Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting April 26, 2016 It was agreed that Ms. Hai would share the following questions/requests with Mr. Pato: How can this fit into our existing project list; could it solve any of the stated municipal or school needs? Would it fit into the open-spaces or recreation plan? We would like to see affordable housing, possibly senior housing, considered among the possible uses. We would like to receive a map of the lot (preferably identifying abutters within 500' of the property), including the description, plot plan and list of abutters. We would like to see receive the results of the engineering studies and any preliminary schematics done to date. thrd Could a vote on this Article be postponed until May 16 or 23 to allow time for a more-in-depth review of the proposed purchase and writing the report by this Committee to that STM? Ms. Barnett expressed concern about rushing into this purchase without designating uses for how the building and property would be used. It was noted that this Committee’s position on the Article could reflect support for some uses and not others. It was generally agreed that it would be difficult to garner support for a future debt-exclusion vote on this purchase without knowing its intended use. Ms. Hai will discuss these issues with Bill Hurley, School Committee Chair, because of the current school-facility needs. Ms. Barnett and Ms. Manz agreed to draft an input to the Committee’s report on this Article. As a result of Town Meeting’s approval of STM 2016-4, Article 4, Amend General Bylaws— CEC, Deborah Brown, Town Moderator, will be appointing two additional members to this Committee. It was generally agreed that this Committee could use additional members to help spread the workload of both the departmental assignments and the report preparation. Being a quick study, having vision, not being aligned with any group that supports particular positions relating to Town projects or politics, and being available for early morning meetings (as that reduces the impact on Town staff) were also identified for consideration as selection criteria. Ms. Hai agreed to share this information with Ms. Brown. BoS Goal Setting Plans: The BoS is looking for input for its June goal-setting session. Ms. Hai plans to distribute last year’s input from the Committee to facilitate discussion at a future meeting regarding this year’s input. The BoS has asked that input be submitted by the end of May. Approval of Minutes: A Motion was made and seconded to approve the Pending Final Minutes for the April 19, 2016, meeting, as presented. Vote: 3–0–2(Ms. Barnett and Mr. Cole abstained because they were not at the meeting.) ndth Future Meetings: It was agreed that this Committee would meet on May 2 and May 5, th both at 7:30 .., to discuss and finalize a report to STM 2016-2. May 18 was targeted for AM discussing the goal-setting recommendations for the BoS. Adjourn: A Motion was made and seconded at 8:39 .. to adjourn.Vote: 5–0 AM These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its meeting on May 6, 2016. Page 2 of 2