HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-12-12-AC-min 12/12/2024 AC Minutes
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Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC)
December 12, 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; Anil
Ahuja; John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson; Vinita Verma; Lily Yan
Members Absent: Sean Osborne; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting,
ex officio)
Other Attendees: Charles Lamb, Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC); Lisah Rhodes, CEC;
Melissa Battite, Director of Recreation and Community Programs; Vineeta Kumar; Dawn McKenna
At 7:34 p.m. Mr. Parker called the meeting to order and took attendance by roll call.
All votes recorded below were conducted by roll call.
Minutes of Prior Meetings
Minutes from the Committee meetings on October 24, October 30, and November 13 were
approved by a vote of 8-0. Minutes of the meetings on November 6 and December 4 have not yet
been submitted.
Announcements and Liaison Reports
Mr. Padaki attended the most recent Recreation Committee meeting. That committee sees a funding
gap of $2.982 million for FY2026 projects, including renovations to the Center Playground, new
fields at Harrington, and replacing field no. 3 at Lincoln Park. Funding for these projects would
ideally be primarily funded by the CPA Unbudgeted Reserve, but the state CPA match is especially
low this year, and a large amount from the CPA Unbudgeted Reserve is proposed to be committed
to the Affordable Housing Trust (AHT).
Mr. Padaki reported that Carolyn Kosnoff advised Recreation to prioritize their projects and expect
that some might have to be deferred.
The Recreation Department also requested $4 million for parking lot improvements at Lincoln Park
that is not CPA-funded, and that will be deferred.
Mr. Levine attended a meeting of the School Building Committee (SBC), which voted to approve
the Preferred Schematic Report, selecting the “Bloom” high school design, and to forward it to the
MSBA. They also approved hiring a Construction Manager at risk from Turner Construction. From
January to May, SMMA will be developing the schematic design under the oversight of the SBC.
The SBC is working on scheduling future meetings that will include design reviews and choices for
the SBC to weigh in on.
Ms. Verma reported on discussions of the Community Preservation Committee (CPC). That
committee was voting on a draft for its capital requests (Article 10) at the 2025 Annual Town
Meeting. The draft article included nine requests plus the administrative budget and a contribution
to the AHT. The requests were:
● Cotton Farm Community Center connector: $300,000
● Simond’s Brook Conservation Area trail design and engineering: $75,000
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● Document Conservation: $21,000
● Hancock-Clarke House roof replacement: $57,800
● LexHAB affordable housing support, restoration, preservation and decarbonization:
$494,140
● New fields at Harrington: $2,687,000
● Lincoln Park field renovation: $860,000
● AHT contribution: $3,000,000
● Administrative expenses: $150,000.
Review FY2026 Department Requests for Capital and Program Improvements
Mr. Parker walked through a summary of the FY2026 Capital Improvement Projects (CIPs) and
Program Improvement Requests (PIRs). The CIPs were previously reviewed by the Capital
Expenditures Committee, and the PIRs were the subject of three days of public hearings held by the
Select Board.
The PIRs total to about $2.2 million, including many recurring expenses. A small number of the
PIRs require funding from an enterprise or revolving fund, and, according to Ms. Kosnoff, only
those PIRs are likely to advance.
Mr. Bartenstein responded positively to the PIR for a new Police fraud investigator, noting that he
had personally been a victim of a check-washing scheme. Mr. Michelson explained that patrol
officers always respond to an initial report of a crime, collecting information that is forwarded to the
Detective Bureau.
The discussion moved on to CIPs.
Ms. Battite explained that the fields at Harrington were projected to cost $6.18 million, expected to
be covered by $2 million from the General Fund and $4.18 million from the CPA. However, the
CPA may not be able to support $4.18 million, so some of the burden may be shifted to the General
Fund.
Mr. Parker noted that the demolition of the Central Administration building, which currently
occupies the site identified for new athletic fields, will cost more due to the unexpected discovery of
a large amount of asbestos in the building.
Mr. Lamb commented that the cost and lead time of firefighting equipment, especially vehicles, has
escalated dramatically over the past few years. The cost of a new pumper truck is 50% higher now,
and lead times are two to three years. The cost of a new ladder truck in FY2027 is expected to be
$2.5 million, which is more than double the previous cost. Ambulances also have long lead times.
Mr. Levine commented that the Town may need additional firefighting vehicles to handle the influx
of new housing.
Mr. Michelson asked about the status of the East Lexington Fire Station. Mr. Lamb noted that a
recent study of the fire station had not been made public yet, but he could confirm that the current
site is too small to host a new fire station.
Future Meeting Schedule
The Committee agreed to meet on December 18, 2024.
Adjourn
The meeting was adjourned at 8:34 p.m.
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Respectfully submitted,
Glenn P. Parker
Approved: December 18, 2024
Exhibits
● Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker
● Summary table of Program Improvement Requests
● Summary table of Capital Improvement Programs