HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-11-08-CEC-min Minutes of the
Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting
November 8, 2017
Location and Time: Town Office Building, Parker Room (G-15); 7:30 A.M.
Members Present: Jill Hai, Chair; Charles Lamb, Vice-Chair; David Kanter, Clerk;
Sandy Beebee; Rod Cole (arrived 7:45 A.M.)' Wendy Manz (arrived 7:39 A.M.); Frank Smith
Members Absent: None
Others Present: None
Documents Presented:
• Notice of CEC Meeting, November 8, 2017
• Revised Lexington Board of Selectmen Remote Participation Policy & Guide
(Mr. Kanter's e-mail October 30, 2017, to the other CEC members and to Sara
Arnold, our Recording Secretary)
Call to Order: At 7:35 A.M., Ms. Hai called the meeting to order.
Discussion of Committee Responsibilities under the State's Amended Open Meeting
Law (OML):
Ms. Hai briefed the Committee on the training session by the Town Clerk and Town
Counsel she just attended. Some, but not all, of the matters she covered and the
Committee discussed were:
• Town Clerk desires having meeting-posting requests provided to her Office at least
72 hours in advance of the start of the meeting.
• The posted Agenda is to have as specific information as is known when posted about
just what matters will be discussed at the meeting so the public is properly informed.
Only a matter of an emergency nature, as deemed by the person chairing the meeting,
can be discussed without having been listed in the posted Agenda. However, when
approved by that person and to the extent provided for in the posted Agenda, the
public body can entertain public comments on matters that are not on the posted
Agenda. It was pointed out that in that case, our Board of Selectmen has chosen only
to ask questions to clarify those comments and deferred any discuss of those matters
until included on an Agenda for a subsequent meeting.
• Draft Minutes for other than Executive Sessions are subject to release upon a request
from the public until the Minutes have been approved—at which time the drafts can be
deleted.
• Minutes should avoid becoming transcripts.
• Approval of Minutes by the public body must be accomplished within 30 days or three
subsequent meetings, whichever is later. Non-substantive changes can be made after
the Minutes have been approved.
• Deliberations cannot be held by using serial discussions between the public-body
members, even if each discussion involves less than a quorum. Further, do not have
substantive discussions by a quorum of the members before or after a meeting as
those would constitute deliberations that must be done at a formally posted meeting.
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Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting
November 8, 2017
• The person chairing a meeting should inquire if anyone will be recording (other than
taking notes) at the meeting so others in attendance will properly be forewarned.
• Lexington's Policy and Guide for Remote Participation has been revised by
eliminating the locally imposed restriction against Remote Participation in an Executive
Session and adopting the State's simplified definition of the circumstance under which
Remote Participation may be authorized by the body's Chair or the person designated
to chair the meeting. (The red-lined revision was previously provided to this
Committee's members.)
Review of the FY2019-FY2023 Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs) Process:
The Committee discussed how the preparation for, and the initial review of, the
departmental CIPs went for the last meeting (on the 1St)
• It was agreed that the Committee's liaison for the department will continue to be
responsible for assembling, as the liaison saw fit, the questions & comments that all
Committee members had input on that department's CIPs and to provide that assembly
to the department's director as soon as practical.
• To allow the liaison some reasonable time to do the assembling, the other Committee
members are to provide their inputs on the CIPs next to be reviewed to the liaison not
later than the Friday before the review scheduled for the next week.
• The last departmental review is scheduled for this Committee's meeting on this
December 5th; however, this Committee will also need to review any non-departmental
applications that the Community Preservation Committee has recommended be
presented to the 2018 Annual Town Meeting. Ms. Manz will coordinate those reviews.
• Ms. Hai advised that this Committee is planning to provide its initial positions on the
CIPs including FY2019 funding to the Town Manager and Assistant Town Manager for
Finance at the December 20th meeting of this Committee—for their consideration as
they prepare the FY2019 Town Manager's Preliminary Budget & Financing Plan (the
"White Book")—and then this Committee's presentation at the Budget Summit IV
(scheduled for January 25, 2018) of this Committee's position on the Capital Plan in the
FY2019 White Book—for consideration in the preparation of the FY2019 Approved
Budget & Financing Plan (the "Brown Book").
Discuss the Committee's Organization with regard to the On-Going Budget Process:
Ms. Hai announced that she had to step down as the Chair due to personal commitments.
The Committee expressed its great appreciation for all that Ms. Hai has done as the Chair.
Mr. Lamb, as the Vice-Chair, called for nominations for being the Chair. After a discussion,
a Motion was made and seconded that Mr. Lamb be the Chair. Vote: 7-0
Mr. Lamb, then as the Chair, called for nominations for being the Vice-Chair. After a
discussion, a Motion was made and seconded that Mr. Kanter would be the Vice-Chair
(and continue as the Clerk). Vote: 7-0
Discuss Matters Related to the Debt-Exclusion Referendum Scheduled for
December 4, 2017
Mr. Lamb announced he wishes to write a letter, as both previous and current Chair of this
Committee, for publication in the Lexington Minuteman newspaper that would address his
past and present positions with regard to the matters that will be addressed in that
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Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) Meeting
November 8, 2017
Referendum—including that the Committee unanimously supports all three questions in
that Referendum. A Motion was made and seconded to endorse his action and to reaffirm
that the Committee does support all three questions in that Referendum. Vote: 7-0
Adjourn: A Motion was made and seconded at 8:38 A.M. to adjourn. Vote: 7-0
These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its meeting on November 15, 2017.
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