Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-01-13 SB-min SELECT BOARD MEETING January 13, 2025 A work session of the Lexington Select Board was called to order at 6:30p.m. on Monday, January 13, 2025, via a hybrid meeting platform. Mr. Lucente, Chair; Mr. Pato, Mr. Sandeen, and Ms. Hai, were present, as well as Mr. Bartha, Town Manager; Ms. Axtell, Deputy Town Manager; Ms. Katzenback, Executive Clerk; and Town Counsel Mina Makarios. EXECUTIVE SESSION 1. Exemption 6: To Consider the Purchase, Lease, Exchange, Value of Real Property - Parcel 68-44 Located on Lowell Street VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, by roll call, the Select Board voted 4-0 at 6:32pm that the Board go into Executive Session under Exemption 6: Exemption 6: To Consider the Purchase, Lease, Exchange, Value of Real Property - Parcel 68-44 Located on Lowell Street. Further, Mr. Lucente declared that an open meeting discussion on this item may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the Town. The Select Board exited Executive Session at 6:59pm and reconvened to open session. CONSENT AGENDA 1. 2025 Class II License Renewal To approve the 2025 Annual Class II License Renewals for the following businesses: CLASS II Auto and Diesel Sales - 75 Westview Street Lexington Auto Center, Inc. - 1095 Massachusetts Avenue Lexington Auto Sales - 542 Massachusetts Avenue Lexington Auto Service, Inc. - 39 Bedford Street 2. 2025 Common Victualler License Renewals To approve the 2025 Annual Common Victualler License Renewals for the following businesses: COMMON VICTUALLER When Pigs Fly Bread - 1756 Massachusetts Avenue 3. Approve: Battle Green Permit – MLK Day Commemoration Committee  12th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day of Service Unity Walk  Road Closure for Parade on Massachusetts Avenue To approve the request from the MLK Day Commemoration Committee to use the Battle Green on Monday, January 20, 2025, from 1:00pm to 2:00pm for the purpose of a gathering as part of a Unity Walk for the 12th Annual MLK Day of Service and 32nd Commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. To approve the request from the MLK Day Commemoration Committee for one lane of Massachusetts Avenue from the Battle Green to Cary Memorial Building, 1605 Massachusetts Avenue, be closed to all but resident emergency traffic from 12:45pm to 2:00pm on Monday, January 20, 2025, for the purpose of a Unity Walk as part of the 12th Annual MLK Day of Service and 32nd Commemoration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. DOCUMENTS: 2025LexingtonMLK- Day Flyer 4. Approve Town Celebrations Committee Request to Send the 2025 Patriots' Day Parade Sponsorship Letters To approve the Town Celebrations Committee request to send out Patriots' Day sponsorship letters, as proposed, allowing for any formatting and necessary edits. DOCUMENTS: 2025 Patriots' Day Parade Sponsor Request Letter, 2025SponsorshipForm, List for TCC mailing of Patriots' Day Sponsor request letter VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted 4-0 to approve the Consent Agenda. ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION 1. SELECT BOARD WORK SESSION - Lexington High School Project Update  Article 97 Discussion Town Counsel, Mina Makarios, explained that the key to Article 97 is that, if land is covered by the scope of the article, it cannot be conveyed or the purpose of it cannot be changed, except with a 2/3 vote of Town Meeting, and also with a 2/3 vote of both houses of the legislator. There was, however, a policy intended to essentially serve as an advisory basis to the legislator, to tell the legislator how to consider some of these parcels. Some of the items from the policy were codified into the Public Land Protection Act (PLPA). The Town has been working to meet the intent and goals of the 1:1 replacement policy in terms of the replication of the fields project. Town Meeting must decide whether to change the use of the land by a 2/3 vote, and there will also be a request for special legislation. MEPA is triggered by a variety of thresholds, including the need for Article 97 legislation. A project that has Article 97 also often has a MEPA process. Mr. Pato asked about the process for the Article 97 vote and the debt exclusion vote. Town Counsel Makarios stated that it is rare for Article 97 legislation to be disapproved by the legislature. The key is making sure that what the Town wants to do has substantial support both through the Town vote and the debt exclusion vote, before sending a request to the legislature, in order to not make a request of them twice. Ms. Hai asked if the legislative authority has an expiration. Town Counsel Makarios stated that this is not typical unless the facts on the ground change to be out of scope. Ms. Hai asked if a part of the land on which the High School itself sits was originally Article 97. Town Counsel Makarios stated that it appears to be, but this is not clear. There would need to be further due diligence into this item. Mr. Lucente asked if a unanimous vote of the Park Commissioners and of the Conservation Commission is required. Town Counsel Makarios stated that there is no case law on this. Unanimous means unanimous, however, the point of the policy to date has been to obtain these unanimous votes before making the request of the legislature. This is a policy and not likely an enforceable position. There seems to be plenty of time to obtain these votes. There was discussion regarding the alternative analysis. Town Counsel Makarios stated that the Town Manager, through the Department of Public Facilities is responsible for carrying this out, but that the alternative analysis has not yet been completed. Mr. Sandeen stated the alternative analysis language seems to set a high bar and he would like to understand more detail about how the Town intends to meet this standard. He specifically requested more information about the Town’s plan for securing and responding to public comment. In answer to a question, Mr. Makarios stated that the Town has already been in consultation with the EEA regarding the Article 97 process. In response to a question from Mr. Sandeen, Mr. Pato stated and Mr. Cronin concurred, that the School Building Committee has not yet taken a position on the Article 97 process. DOCUMENTS: Memo from Counsel (12.5.2024) 4. Special Town Meeting 2025-1 and Article 2 - Amend Section 7.5 of the Zoning Bylaw to Reduce Multi-Family Dwelling Unit Capacity Discussion The Board agreed to amend the order of the agenda to take up item #4 at this time. Mr. Lucente explained that this is an update to the Board regarding the Special Town Meeting schedule and to discuss Article 2 - Amend Section 7.5 of the Zoning Bylaw to Reduce Multi-Family Dwelling Unit Capacity. He addressed a potential appearance of a conflict of interest related to his participation in this matter. He consulted with Town Counsel, and as such filed the disclosure of an appearance of conflict of interest with the Town Clerk. He noted that his participation in this discussion is in line with the State’s ethics guidelines to ensure that the board can fulfill its advisory responsibilities to the community. The Board reviewed the Special Town Meeting calendar. Special Town Meeting 2025-1 is set for Monday, February 3, at 7:30pm. The article 2 will be taken up and a vote will be taken to recess until March 17, at 7:30pm. This is to allow for the statutory requirement of the Planning Board hearings and report to Town Meeting to take place. Mr. Bartha explained that the Planning Board has hearings scheduled for February 12, 2025 and February 26, 2025, with an anticipation to vote on recommendations on March 12, 2025. The proponents of Special Town Meeting article 2 will make a presentation to the Select Board at a future meeting. Jay Luker, 26 Ridge Avenue and Precinct 1 Town Meeting Member, asked about the extra beer and wine licenses there are to be awarded to the Town and expressed concern the licenses will be limited to only being assigned within the MBTA Zoning Overlay Districts. Mr. Lucente stated that the legislative body had not acted on it in the 2024 legislative session and is being refiled in 2025. As such there are no new licenses yet. DOCUMENTS: Copy of Special Town Meeting 2025-1 Warrant 2. FY2026 Budget - Health Insurance, Capital Plan, Follow-up Select Board Comments Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager for Finance, presented the FY2026 level service budget request for Employee Benefits and Insurance and the FY2026 Recommended Capital Plan. Regarding the contributory retirement item, the amount that is requested for FY26 is based on the existing funding schedule. The contributory retirement has been increased by $750,000 a year, plus 2.5% of the one-time, unexpected revenue the Town previously received from Takeda. It is likely that the total unfunded liability will increase, and currently the intention is to be fund fully funded for pension in 2030. She noted that Medicare is a 5% projection. Currently, health insurance is overall projected to go up 10.17%. Dental insurance is projected to go up 8.29% based off a 10% increase in premiums. Life insurance is level funded as is unemployment and workers compensation. Overall, the entire employee benefits and insurance budget is projected to be $53.3M. Mr. Lucente expressed concern regarding increasing health insurance trends. He asked how this can be sustainable in the long run. Mr. Pato asked how the existing incentive program for employees who do not take Town insurance is doing. Ms. Kosnoff stated a drop off in this has not been seen. The savings from this program are not quite as great as one would expect. In answer to a question from Mr. Sandeen, Ms. Kosnoff stated that the underlying health premium increase was approximately 11% this year, and that other factors had lowered the overall budget impact to approximately 8%. Ms. Hai suggested that there be an annual expectation of unexpected additional head count for new employees. Patrick Mehr, 31 Woodcliffe Road, asked about the percentage of health premium paid for School and Town employees. Ms. Kosnoff explained that this is 82% or 85% depending on the program. Mr. Mehr asked what large local employers pay for premiums for their employees. Ms. Kosnoff stated that the private sector is likely different from the public. Mr. Mehr stated he feels that these numbers would be far lower suggested that more consideration be given to lowering the percentage the Town pays. Ms. Kosnoff reviewed the capital summary. She stated that the total FY26 recommended capital budget is approximately $687,134,000. There are three non-government project requests. Outside of those non- Town requests, there are $683.5M worth of requests. Out of the $683M request, $654M of that is for the High School project. Outside of the High School project, there are $29.5M of requests, of which $21.5M are for the General Fund. It is believed that all of those projects should be able to be funded with cash capital this year, and the Town should not have to debt finance any of them. She reviewed each of the project requests. Regarding the Harrington fields capital item, Mr. Pato stated that he believes it will be essential for the Board to see the design work and the outcome of the community engagement. Ms. Hai stated that she would like to hear from the Recreation Committee and Recreation Department on this item. Ms. Kosnoff noted that there is also $3.5M in the budget for demolition of the Central Administration building. The demolition and the construction of fields was supposed to happen simultaneously. The intention is to move forward with the funding for the demolition, but it is possible that the demolition may have to be delayed until the outcome of the fields is determined. The demolition appropriation will simply leave a hole in the ground without any site work. Mike Cronin, Director of Public Facilities, explained that the cost for the demolition includes the abatement of all materials, leaving a rough site. DOCUMENTS: FY2026 Benefits & Insurance Budget Request, FY2026 Recommended Capital Plan 3. Review Draft 2025 Annual Town Meeting Warrant Kelly Axtell, Deputy Town Manager, reviewed the 2025 Draft Annual Town Meeting Warrant. There was discussion regarding on which dates the Articles will be presented to the Board. The Board discussed if the Article 97 Warrant Article should be included at this time. There was agreement to not place this item on the Warrant at this time. DOCUMENTS: 2025 ATM Draft Warrant ADJOURN VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted 4-0 to adjourn at 9:13p.m. A true record; Attest: Kristan Patenaude Recording Secretary