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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-04-24-AC-min04/24/2017 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) April 24, 2017 Place and Time: Ellen Stone Room, Cary Memorial Building, 6:30 p.m. Members Present: John Bartenstein, Chair; Alan Levine, Vice -Chair & Secretary; Ellen Basch; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Andrei Radulescu-Banu; Sanjay Padaki; Lily Manhua Yan; Jian Helen Yang; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Member(s) Absent: None Other Attendees: Tom Griffiths, Treasurer, Munroe Center for the Arts The meeting was called to order at 6:37 p.m. 1. Announcements Mr. Bartenstein reported the following: • This Committee's report to the 2017 Annual Town Meeting (ATM) on Article 44: Amend Zoning Bylaw Brookhaven (Owner Article) was completed and printed. • He and Mr. Michelson met last week with John Livsey, Town Engineer, about future funding for stormwater management projects. Currently the Town spends approximately $1.5 million annually on such projects, and costs are expected to increase with the implementation of additional regulations under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit program. Options for funding the additional costs include, but are not limited to, absorbing initial increases in the general fund; creating a Special Revenue Fund; and/or creating a new Enterprise Fund. The average cost per household could reach $75-$100 annually. • A Budget Summit has been tentatively scheduled for June 8, 2017. • Approval of Minutes for April 3, 5, and 12 needs to be postponed until the next meeting. 2. Financially Related Warrant Articles for 2017 ATM Article 10 Appropriate for the FY2018 Community Preservation Committee Operating Budget and CPA Projects: • (i) Munroe School Window Restoration: Mr. Griffiths reported that it was recently brought to his attention that the cost for the window project triggered an Americans with Disability Act (ADA) requirement to include accessibility into the building and to provide an accessible bathroom. A previously installed ramp was not ADA compliant. The funding request included in the motion for this project is now $55,000 greater than originally anticipated because of the ADA requirements. A motion was made and seconded to support approval of the project, including the additional $55,000, as discussed. The motion passed. VOTE: 7-0-2 Mr. Levine abstained because of a potential conflict of interest. • (g) Wright Farm Supplemental Funds: Town staff has advised that the New Hampshire landfill identified for taking contaminated soil from the Wright Farm project site is unable to accept the soil because testing has identified hazardous waste material in it. Now the soil 1 04/24/2017 AC Minutes must be shipped to a site in Canada at a greater cost than originally anticipated. The funding request is increasing from $37,900 to $87,701. Ms. Kosnoff reported that the CPA fund would be left with $1.7 million, assuming approval of the FY2018 CPA -related funding requests brought to ATM. She added that there is a general effort to keep approximately $2.0 in reserve in this fund. A motion was made and seconded to support approval of the project, as discussed. The motion passed. VOTE: 7-0-2 Article 28: Amend FY2017 Operating, Enterprise and CPA Budgets: Ms. Kosnoff reported that the motion for this article has been amended to include a shift of $36,000 from the FY2017 budget line item for Uninsured Losses to the FY2017 budget line item for Property and Liability Insurance to cover title and property insurance costs for the property on Pelham Road. The Town closed on the purchase last week. Carl Valente, Town Manager, will announce the completion of the purchase and review the associated costs when discussing Article 28 at ATM. A motion was made and seconded to support approval of this article, as amended. The motion passed. VOTE: 9-0 Article 43: Amend Zoning Bylaw Economic Refinements: It was generally agreed that the financial implications of this article would be difficult to ascertain, and no position would be taken. Article 16 (d): Appropriate for Public Facilities Capital Projects: Facility and Site Improvements: The Capital Expenditures Committee is planning to present an amendment that would separate the funds appropriated for each of these components. Ms. Kosnoff reported that Mr. Valente would be explaining to ATM his logic for combining the Building Flooring Program, School Paving Program, and School Traffic Safety Improvements in this item. It was agreed to listen to this presentation during ATM before taking a position. 3. Next Meeting There was discussion about holding two regular meetings in the month of May and the possibility of scheduling one or more of those meetings on Wednesdays. The following potential agenda items were suggested: providing input to the Board of Selectmen's annual goal -setting; hiring in-house legal counsel; using Google docs to facilitate document -sharing by the Committee; a briefing on the work of the Real Estate Tax Exemption working group; review of Fair Housing Act issues in connection with the fiscal analysis of zoning policies; and a meeting with the Moderator to review the Annual Town Meeting, Open Meeting Law and communication issues. 4. Adjourn The Committee adjourned at 7:24 p.m. The documents used at the meeting are listed below. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Approved: May 15, 2017 Exhibits • Agenda, posted by John Bartenstein, Chair 2