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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-06-01-AC-min06/01/2017 AC Minutes; Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) June 1, 2017 Place and Time: Parker Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 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: Kate Colburn, School Committee (SC); Bob Pressman, Community Preservation Committee The meeting was called to order at 7:35 p.m. 1. Announcements Mr. Bartenstein reported the following: • Ms. Colburn will be serving as SC liaison to this Committee. • Deborah Brown, Town Meeting Moderator, will attend this Committee's July meeting to review the recent Annual and Special Town Meetings (ATM and STM -1), the use of the Town Meeting Members' Association's list -serve, and Open Meeting Law (OML) issues. • The Board of Selectmen (BoS) chair, Suzie Barry, is holding a June 5 Chairs+1 meeting at 9 a.m. Mr. Neumeier volunteered to join Mr. Bartenstein as the second AC representative. • In response to questions, the Attorney General's office has informally taken the position that the use of Google Docs to permit serial editing of meeting minutes by Committee members would be an OML violation. Mr. Bartenstein will review this issue further. In the meantime, Ms. Arnold will continue to circulate a Word version only and comments on draft minutes should be sent only to Mr. Bartenstein and Ms. Arnold. • Mr. Padaki is working on setting up a mailing list of committee members. • The next meeting will be held on July 11, 2017. • There was a recent article in Commonwealth Magazine stating that Eversource, the Town's electricity supplier, proposes to cut the net metering rate by 41%. This rate cut must be approved by the Department of Public Utilities. If approved, Lexington could lose $372,000 in annual revenue. This is a topic for further consideration. 2. Options Related to 20 Pelham Road The Committee reviewed and discussed the May 30 joint meeting of the BoS, SC, Capital Expenditures Committee, and this Committee regarding future use of the facility on the recently purchased Pelham Road property. At that meeting, it was noted that: • The current facility includes classrooms at one end and a gymnasium and cafeteria at the other end. • Three renovation alternatives have been identified for both the Lexington Children's Place (LCP) and an annex for the Lexington Community Center (LexCC). • The classroom portion could be demolished and a new LCP constructed on the property. 1 06/01/2017 AC Minutes; • The SC and the Superintendent of Schools have not taken a formal position but have indicated that the two least expensive renovation options for the LCP would be substandard. Members of this Committee discussed the feasibility of demolishing the entire facility and building only a new LCP. It was suggested that providing the LexCC with a gymnasium and cafeteria could be pursued at a later time, perhaps constructing the addition closer to the current LexCC building as originally envisioned. Other comments included the following: • The size of the anticipated fall 2017 debt exclusion referendum, which will include this project, is significant, and efforts should be made to minimize it. • LexCC renovation costs would be greater than the cost of demolishing that portion of the current facility, particularly if the classroom portion is going to be demolished. • Expanding the LexCC has not been included in lists of prioritized capital projects, but purchasing the Pelham property is viewed as an unexpected opportunity to do so. • When Town Meeting voted to support the purchase of the property, it was with the understanding that the LexCC addition would be included. • As interest rates are likely to increase, deferring projects would result in increased borrowing cost • The LexCC, which serves residents of all ages, has been successful and needs additional space. Ms. Colburn commented that if a new LCP is to be built, she personally would like it located on its current Harrington Elementary School site. She reported that the SC is meeting June 6. Other topics discussed, included: • The possibility of moving the school administration offices to Pelham Road. • Increased traffic and safety issues associated with Pelham Road/Massachusetts Avenue. • The potential number and make-up of the fall 2017 debt exclusion questions. After discussion, on a vote of 8-0-1, the sense of the Committee was that the most prudent course of action would be to defer the LexCC portion of the project for the time being, but to allow voter choice. There was preliminary support for having two items, for separate approval, on the debt exclusion referendum related to the Pelham property, as follows • Funds (not more than $15 million) to demolish the current Pelham Road facility and build a new LCP on that site; and • The funds needed for a LexCC addition. 3. Fall 2017 Debt Exclusion Referendum Mr. Bartenstein reviewed his proposal to consider using some or all of the $28 million currently in the Capital Stabilization Fund (CSF) to reduce the debt exclusion request. This would result in a net saving of interest costs; however, it would reduce the ability to level peaks of excluded debt service cost that would hit taxpayers in the immediate future. Ms. Kosnoff reviewed three options that she had modeled, as follows: • Base Scenario: Using the fund to mitigate the debt service and reduce peaks in tax increases; • Scenario 1: Using $12,443,000 million from the fund for a cash purchase of 20 Pelham Road and 173 Bedford Street, with the remainder being used to mitigate the debt service; 2 06/01/2017 AC Minutes; • Scenario 2: Using $12,443,000 million from the fund for a cash purchase of 20 Pelham Road and 173 Bedford Street, with the remainder being used pro rata to help fund construction costs for the remaining excluded debt projects. According to the model, Scenario 1 would result in savings of approximately $7.5 million in interest costs over the life of the borrowing and Scenario 2 would result in savings of approximately $15.5 million. Ms. Kosnoff emphasized, however, that her modeling did not include inflation, earned interest, new growth, or the possibility of additional funds being put into the CSF. In her opinion, the results indicate that there is value in refining Scenario 1 for additional consideration. Committee members expressed general support for this approach. Ms. Kosnoff said she would be discussing this with Carl Valente, Town Manager, and this could be a topic for the June 8 budget summit. 4. BoS Goal Setting Mr. Bartenstein distributed a list of suggested BoS goals submitted to him by individual Committee members. He asked for additional suggestions to be sent to him as soon as possible after this meeting so that he can prepare and submit a final list to the BoS by its requested deadline of July 16. 5. Minutes A motion was made and seconded to approve minutes for May 15, 2017, including one minor edit. The motion passed. VOTE: 9-0 6. Adjourn The Committee adjourned at 9:40 p.m. The documents used at the meeting are listed below. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary Approved: July 11, 2017 Exhibits • Agenda, posted by John Bartenstein, Chair • Use of CSF for Excluded Debt Projects; prepared by Ms. Kosnoff, for June 1, 2017 AC meeting • Draft Appropriation Committee Input; 2017 BoS Goal Setting; prepared by Mr. Bartenstein; June 1, 2017 3