Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-01-05-AC-min 01/05/2017 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) January 5, 2017 Place and time- Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7 30 p.m Members present John Bartenstem, Incoming Chair, Alan Levine, Incoming Vice-Chair& Secretary; Enc Michelson, Richard Neumeier, Sanjay Padaki, Andrei Radulescu-Banu, Lily Manhua Yan, Jian Helen Yang; Rob Addelson (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent None Membership Note There is an opening for one more member Others Present Mollie Garberg; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance The meeting was called to order at 7 30 pm 1 Announcements Mr Bartenstem reported that he was serving as acting chair as a result of Glenn Parker's recent resignation from the Committee to run for the Board of Selectmen. He introduced Ms Yan and Mr Padaki as newly appointed members of the Committee Ms Garberg reported that she had submitted her resignation from the Committee earlier in the day and thanked the members of the Committee for their hard work and support. Ms Kosnoff was introduced as the replacement for Mr Addelson, following his January 20 retirement. Mr Bartenstem noted that Mr Neumeier had agreed to sit in as a liaison on stakeholder meetings, hosted by Pat Goddard, Director of Public Facilities, to consider an updated Sustainable Buildings Policy Committee representation had been requested in view of potential budgetary implications It was noted that Mr Goddard had recently announced his intention to retire in August of 2017 after ten years of service to the Town. Mr Michelson reported that the Center Streetscape Ad hoc Design Review Committee is holding a public meeting next week in Estabrook Hall to present its recommendations for Lexington center infrastructure improvements Mr Neumeier reported that the December 19, 2016 Lawyers ' Weekly publication recently listed a part-time (24 hours/week) position, salary $62,400, for an assistant solicitor in Melrose He recently met with the Board of Selectmen (BoS) chair to discuss having the Town of Lexington hire in-house counsel to reduce outside legal services costs, currently $800,000-900,000 annually He would like this issue on a future Appropriation Committee agenda. 2. Minutes A motion was made and seconded to approve the draft December 8, 2016 minutes with the identified edits VOTE 8-0 3 Liaison Reports Mr Bartenstem reported that he will attend a meeting of the Tax Exemption Study Committee scheduled for next week. 01/05/2017 AC Minutes 4 Committee Reorganization, Election of Officers Observing that he had received no response to his solicitation of interest in officerships, Mr Bartenstem volunteered to serve as Chair through the conclusion of FY2017 if the committee so desired. He reported that Mr Levine would be willing to take over the role of Vice-Chair and Secretary A motion was made and seconded to approve the officer slate as proposed. VOTE 8-0 Mr Bartenstem encouraged the Committee to continue its high standard of cordial debate and high quality documentation. Noting the town's efforts continually to incorporate sustainable economics in its financial planning and decision-making, he presented a resolution commending Mr Addelson for his years of service to the Town, as follows It is hereby RESOLVED That the Appropriation Committee expresses its deepest appreciation to Rob Addelson, on the occasion of his retirement,for his eleven years of dedicated service to the Town of Lexington and to this Committee With his comprehensive knowledge and mastery of the inter workings of municipal finance, his indefatigable work ethic, his wise and prudent management of the Town's finances, his creative and can-do approach to making complex policy and financial planning analyses simple and understandable, and his patient, cordial and collegial manner, Rob has brought distinction to the Town and greatly facilitated the work of this Committee, setting a bar which will be hard to surpass For your friendship and wise counsel, we thank you Mr Addelson thanked the Committee for its commitment to high standards and accountability The resolution was adopted. VOTE 8-0 Mr Bartenstem then presented a resolution commending Mr Parker on his service to the Town and to the Committee as Chair, as follows It is hereby RESOLVED That the Appropriation Committee expresses its gratitude and thanks to Glenn Parker for his six plus years of service to this Committee as Chair Glenn's cahn and steady leadership have guided this Committee through some its busiest seasons and most difficult challenges to date His patient demeanor, dedication to inclusiveness and the building of consensus, incisive analytical talents and masterful writing style combined with the many, many hours he has devoted to coordinating with staff and other committee chairs,preparing for meetings and polishing and producing our written reports have enabled the Committee to do its best work and made it a pleasure to serve The resolution was adopted. VOTE 8-0 5. Budget Summit Preparation Noting challenges associated with increasing school enrollment and aging facilities, Mr Addelson reviewed the budget process used to prepare the Town's budget for the Annual Town Meeting (ATM) The Town Manager holds a senes of budget summits starting in September Summit IV is scheduled for January 12 01/05/2017 AC Minutes The FY2018 Town Manager's Preliminary Budget & Financing Plan ("White Book"), to be reviewed at Summit IV, will be available on the website on Fnday Members of this committee will receive a binder with the document next week. In about six weeks, modifications to the "White Book", based on continued policy discussion, will be incorporated into the FY2018 Town Manager's Budget & Financing Plan ("Brown Book"), which goes to Town Meeting members 6. Preparing for Town Meeting—Future Meetings Because this committee is responsible for presenting budget recommendations to the ATM, there was a review of the process for preparing a wntten report. Each member will be assigned several Town Meeting warrant articles on which to report, incorporating this committee's position and the issues of concern. A draft list of anticipated warrant articles should be available on Fnday Committee meetings will be scheduled for Thursday evenings in the Parker Room, starting January 19, until the ATM begins There was a brief discussion of the Open Meeting Law and Public Records Law; it was noted that a comprehensive Open Meeting Law booklet is provided by the Town Clerk's office It was also noted that committee members serve as non-voting liaisons to other committees, and that this committee has had a policy with respect to public involvement in local campaigns which will be discussed at a future meeting. 7 Adjourn The Committee adjourned at 9 05 p.m The documents used at the meeting are listed below Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Approved January 19, 2017 Exhibits Agenda, posted by John Bartenstem, Acting Chair 3