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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-03-11-AC-min 3/11/2024 AC Minutes 1 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) March 11, 2024 Place and Time: Remote participation via a Zoom teleconferencing session that was open to the public; 7:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; John Bartenstein; Anil Ahuja; Eric Michelson; Sean Osborne; Lily Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent: none Other Attendees: none At 7:35 p.m. Mr. Parker called the meeting to order and took attendance by roll call. All votes recorded below were conducted by roll call. Announcements and Liaison Reports Ms. Kosnoff reported that she had contacted the MSBA and can confirm that the $10 million appro- priation for design work on the LHS project would be reimbursable by the MSBA for expenses in- curred up until the date when the schematic design is submitted to the MSBA. After that date, any further expenses using this appropriation would be at risk. Mike Cronin, Director of Public Facili- ties, would like to continue design work after the MSBA receives the schematic design, meaning that a portion of the design expenses might be ineligible for reimbursement. If the Town success- fully completes a funding agreement with the MSBA, including a favorable vote on a debt exclu- sion referendum, then all design expenses for the LHS project will be reimbursable at a rate speci- fied in a contract between the Town and the MSBA. Ms. Kosnoff reported that Article 21 Amend FY2024 Operating, Enterprise and CPA Budgets, which currently has no actions anticipated, will not be on the Consent Agenda and will be taken up towards the end of the town meeting to allow for last minute updates. Mr. Parker reported that he had worked with Mr. Bartenstein and Mr. Levine to create a consensus report on Article 33, which the Committee would review during its walkthrough of the report. Warrant Articles for Annual Town Meeting Mr. Parker voted to recommend approval of Article 18 and to recommend indefinite postponement of Article 21. The report for Article 23 Appropriate for Opioid Settlement was updated to reflect that there will be no actual appropriation in the motion, only a request for permission to create a special revenue fund that would receive settlement payments with no need for appropriation by town meeting. Approve Committee Report to Town Meeting Mr. Parker scrolled through the report asking for comments from the members. Various minor edits and corrections were made. Mr. Padaki asked about $396,000 in funding under the DPW budget for “Expanded Food Waste Collection Program”. Ms. Kosnoff stated that the Town was currently paying for composting ser- vice for about 2,000 households, and the Town intends to expand the program to 4,000 households 3/11/2024 AC Minutes 2 and to continue offering this service for free to residents. This expense will be partially offset by a reduction in tipping fees, since heavy organic waste is being diverted from the trash waste stream. Mr. Bartenstein commented that the Town had recently received initial MWRA estimates for water and wastewater assessments, but these estimates were not used in the Brown Book nor in the motion under Article 5 Appropriate FY2025 Enterprise Fund Budgets. As a result, the initial appropriation will be roughly 10% larger than needed but, as always, these appropriations will be adjusted at a fall special town meeting after the final MWRA assessments are received and before the water and sewer rates are set. Under Article 9 Establish and Continue Departmental Revolving Funds, Mr. Parker asked whether the revolving fund for the MEMA cache at Hartwell Ave. needed to be included in the motion, even though the spending limit will be zero. Recent changes in legislation removed the need to re-author- ize revolving funds every year, so it can be left out of the motion. Ms. Kosnoff stated that the Moderator will be asked to hold Article 10(d) Lincoln Park Fitness Sta- tions Equipment until later in the meeting calendar in order to give the Trustees of Public Trusts a chance to vote on providing partial funding for this request. Several edits were made to the report on Article 33. Aspects of the all-affordable housing develop- ment financing model were clarified by Mr. Bartenstein. Ms. Yan expressed concern that, if an all-affordable development operator became insolvent at some future date, the Town could then be required to provide financial support. This support might entail rent subsidies for tenants, or direct funding for maintenance and capital needs at the develop- ment. Mr. Bartenstein and Mr. Parker agreed that the Town would not be obligated to provide sup- port. While the Town might become temporarily involved, the private operator would need to re- solve the issues, either by refinancing or transferring the management to another operator. If this were not possible, the Town could elect to assume responsibility for the project at a future date, for example by exercising a right of first refusal to repurchase the property. Mr. Levine reported that Select Board Member Mark Sandeen said that a local architect had pro- duced a rough design that fits 48 units on the site. Mr. Osborne asked why the report discussed the “fallacy of composition” under this article when the idea is not mentioned in other articles where it might also apply. Mr. Bartenstein replied that he felt it was relevant to this request because the Town will face numerous challenges from a growing population. Mr. Parker stated that the discussion about the impact of growth was relevant here, but it was just as relevant for all the other anticipated growth that the Town will be seeing in the next decade. Mr. Osborne noted that we cannot predict the timing of the impact being discussed. Con- struction on this development could be delayed until well after other large by-right developments are already completed under the new MBTA zoning. The Committee discussed the expected tax revenue from the development. Mr. Parker stated that the operator of the development would most likely pay property taxes, that the amount would be de- termined by the Town Assessor, and that this was not a negotiable item in the financing of the de- velopment. Mr. Bartenstein accepted this point, but pointed out that the Town’s contribution should be compared to the present value of the future property tax. Mr. Parker agreed that any direct finan- cial benefit from this development to the Town would be limited but noted that the Town would re- ceive a significant benefit in the form of affordable housing at a discounted price. He added that there were other intangible benefits that could result from having more affordable housing in the Town. 3/11/2024 AC Minutes 3 The Committee voted to approve the report with minor edits by a vote of 8-0. Minutes of Prior Meetings Minutes from the Committee meetings on February 29 and March 7 were both approved by a vote of 8-0. Future Meeting Schedule Mr. Parker suggested that the Committee have a hybrid meeting at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, prior to the start of the second night of the 2024 Annual Town Meeting. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 9:43 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Glenn P. Parker Approved: April 3, 2024 Exhibits ● Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker