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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-11-06-AC-min 11/6/2024 AC Minutes 1 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) November 6, 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; Sean Osborne; Vinita Verma; Lily Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent: none Other Attendees: Charles Lamb, Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC); David Kanter, CEC; Mi- chael Cronin, Director of Facilities; Lisah Rhodes, CEC At 7:33 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 Mr. Michelson suggested that Peter Kelley be invited to address the Committee in advance of the start of the special town meeting. Mr. Parker agreed to invite him and put Article 8 of the Special Town Meeting on the agenda. Ms. Kosnoff reported that the Select Board will meet on Friday morning. The Board will set water and sewer rates and hold the first public hearing on the fiscal 2025 tax rate. Mr. Bartenstein asked whether the Town’s tax rate would be affected by declining commercial as- sessments. Ms. Kosnoff replied that commercial values have fallen slightly, but the addition of 440 Bedford St brought a significant amount of new revenue. She expects that FY2026 property tax rev- enue could shift towards the residential side reflecting the present weakness in the commercial real estate market. Special Town Meeting 2024-1 Article 5 - Appropriate for Authorized Capital Improvements — Mike Cronin, Director of Facilities Mr. Parker summarized the Committee’s report on Article 5, which requests borrowing authority for the construction of the Police Headquarters solar canopy and battery system. The borrowing author- ity will be rescinded at a later date if a federal funding earmark is received, but there is currently some uncertainty about the earmark. Mr. Cronin stated that the main goals for the solar canopy and battery system are to generate power that could be sold back to the power utility, to reduce peak utility power usage, and to ensure power continuity during outages until the large diesel generator comes online. Mr. Cronin noted that the Town uses a variety of power management options to proactively shave peak demand at its facili- ties, and battery storage would be a very effective option for shaving peak demand at the Police Sta- tion. Mr. Bartenstein asked if other Town buildings generate excess solar power that can be sold to the power utility. Mr. Cronin replied that some buildings do sell excess power, but the utility reim- bursement is less advantageous than generating power that is used at the same location. 11/6/2024 AC Minutes 2 Mr. Michelson asked how the Town would pay for a four-hour battery when the requested appropri- ation was only large enough for a two-hour battery. The additional cost for a four-hour battery would be $400,000. Mr. Cronin replied that the Town had engaged new solar vendors who were able to eliminate $400,000 from the cost of the steel construction, and this design is being presented to the HDC. The Town also reorganized the bidding documents to enable an integrated design with interoperating parts that requires fewer custom-designed components. Also, the market price for battery storage has fallen since the initial bid. Mr. Ahuja asked if the Town would be able to request federal reimbursement after the project is completed if the earmark is not delivered. Ms. Kosnoff responded that the Town would have to fund the system without the earmark support, but the Town would still be eligible for other reimburse- ments provided as federal incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act that would cover up to 40% of the cost. Mr. Osborne asked if the Police Headquarters had any electric vehicle chargers installed. Mr. Cro- nin replied that the building has no chargers yet. Chargers will be installed once the solar power system moves forward. There would be a total of three Level 3 chargers and six Level 2 chargers, but only two Level 3 and three Level 2 chargers would have generator backup. Mr. Cronin sug- gested that, if all his expected cost savings work out, he will be able to cover the cost of the vehicle chargers with no additional appropriation. He is hopeful that the structure could be completed by April 15, 2025. Electric police cruisers would be phased into the fleet under the normal vehicle replacement pro- gram. The replacement rate will vary from two to four vehicles per year depending on market pric- ing and availability. Mr. Bartenstein asked if losing the federal earmark would greatly affect the return on investment. Mr. Cronin replied that the solar canopy project would ultimately be revenue-positive, with an ROI window of 7 to 10 years at $3.4 million. Mr. Cronin offered to return to the Committee once he had bids for the project, at which time he could offer a new ROI projection. There was some further discussion about the economic viability of the project. The Committee voted to recommend approval of Article 5 by a vote of 7-2. Review Appropriation Committee Report to Special Town Meeting 2024-1 Ms. Yan voted in support of all articles, except for abstaining on Article 8. A question was asked about whether the Committee should make a recommendation on the pro- posed amendment to Article 7 from Jeanne Krieger, which would require the production of two sep- arate designs (turf and natural grass) at the new fields at Harrington. The Committee discussed the revised report for Article 9, in response to changes in the motion re- garding the design for a new crematory. The Committee voted to recommend approval of Article 9 by a vote of 9-0. The Committee discussed the need to rewrite the Committee’s report on Article 5. The Committee indicated support for Mr. Parker to make edits needed to reflect the Committee’s new position, and to publish the report without further review. 11/6/2024 AC Minutes 3 The Committee voted to approve the report to the 2024-1 Special Town Meeting with edits to the write-up on Article 5 that reflect the sense of the Committee expressed during this meeting by a vote of 9-0. Minutes of Prior Meetings No minutes were ready for approval. Future Meeting Schedule The Committee agreed to hold Wednesday, December 4, as a possible meeting date. The Committee discussed the need to address MBTA zoning issues at a future meeting, preferably with the Town Manager. The Committee agreed to meet in-person before the special town meeting on November 13th at 6:45 p.m. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 9:13 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Glenn P. Parker Approved: January 9, 2025 Exhibits ● Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker