HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-03-17-BFC-min.pdf TOWN OF LEXINGTON
AD HOC BUILDING FINANCE COMMITTEE
Minutes of Meeting March 17 1995 in Conference Room, School Administra-
tion Building, as approved March 24, 1995
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Kelley at 8 07 a m with the
following others present Committee members Eagle, Garber, Jenkins and
Kennedy Also attending were Town Engineer Fields and Director of
School Building Operation Moynihan
Minutes of March 10 1995 were VOTED approved as amended Copies of
corrected Minutes of February 10 and March 3 , 1995 were passed out
Further discussion of school capital articles financial planning and
the committee' s role in town meeting deliberations ensued in the course
of discussing minutes amendments Some salient points
Regarding the significance of program change dynamics , Moynihan assured
that flexibility will be a key consideration in all future upgrading
"You never catch up in education, " he commented, citing the high school
and Clarke built for campus and open classroom concepts now outmoded
A high percentage of the $1 6 electrical and technical plan preparation
renovations in the FY96 capital proposals is simply "plain upgrading" of
old wiring that is required for safety reasons
The upcoming "Five Year Technology Plan" is well supported, did consider
many alternatives and highly prioritized networking The plan has
been stretched to eight years, and will be updated annually as new
technology warrants
{ Following a discussion of Hastings School financing, with State' s 59
percent reimbursement to arrive in FY97 and FY98 , it was noted that
although the building was financed by $1 8 of 10-year bonding the town's
ultimate cost would be about $500 ,000
Regarding Articles 17 (for $1 35 million) and 18 (for $654,000 ) , the
school 's capital proposals for FY96, it was noted that Town Manager has
not recommended any capital expenditure To the question what if the ad
hoc BFC opposed the proposal it was responded, "Discussion would be
interesting "
Among the leading other contenders for town capital investment are the
DPW barn needing a $2 million rebuild (21E study within building
footprint will be part of a design package proposal ) and the library,
with $20 ,000 now in the town meeting process for preparation of schema-
tic studies for expansion and renovation
Chairman' s Report to Town Meeting was discussed in relation to current
and
proposals whether or not the committee' s first report should
constitute a wake-up call on building maintenance Recommendations on
current proposals should be based on their long-range effects , the
discussion concluded In addition, it was agreed to praise building
maintenance "in spite of the buildings ' maintenance budgets being
considerably less than what they should be "
Ad Hoc Building Finance Committee Minutes 3/17/95, p 2
Chairman will present alternative drafts to next week' s meeting so they
can be finalized The fact that financial articles will not come up
until April 10 gives some leeway on the timing of the report
In revisiting the committee' s continuing delineation of its role - how
to thread in the priority vs financing controversy, someone said, "We
can' t be all other town committees " Noted that the Capital Expendi-
tures Committee will present its ten year capital improvement plan next
week and in Town Meeting They will be recommending about $3 million a
year capital expenditure, all within Proposition 2 1/2
The meeting adjourned at 9 13 a m to a tour of Cary Memorial Building
Next week, March 24, the meeting will adjourn at approximately 9 a m to
a 9 15 tour of the Harrington School
Respectfull submitted,
Erna S Greene, Secretary
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