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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-02-20-AC-min 2/20/2025 AC Minutes 1 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) February 20, 2025 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; Vinita Verma; Lily Yan (8:00 p.m.); Eric Michelson; Sean Osborne (7:43 p.m.); Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent: none Other Attendees: David Kanter, Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC); Marilyn Fenollosa, Com- munity Preservation Committee (CPC); Deepika Sawhney, School Committee; Ravneet Grewal 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 There were no announcements or liaison reports. Article 10 of the 2025 Annual Town Meeting (Community Preservation Committee) Ms. Fenollosa presented a slideshow covering budgeted revenue and spending for the CPC under Article 10. For budgeting purposes, the CPC is projecting a state match for CPA funds of 15% in FY2026, which would be a rate slightly below the 18.73% received for FY2025. Discussion of spe- cific items under Article 10 is summarized below. Article 10(d) Hancock-Clarke House Roof Replacement The current roof was installed less than 20 years ago but the pine shingles have deteriorated from weathering sooner than expected. Cedar shingles will be installed in place of the pine shingles. Article 10(e) Affordable Housing Trust Funding The AHT is requesting $3.0 million from the CPC for FY2026. The FY2027 request is expected to be $2.5 million. The requests in the following four fiscal years would be in the range of $2.5 million to $2.7 million. The AHT five-year budget projection shows expenditures that may be compared to these requests for funding from the CPC which currently yield nearly all of the funding for the AHT. Committee members expressed interest in receiving annual reports on AHT fund balances and spending. Ms. Fenollosa noted that the AHT requests are beginning to impact other requests for CPC funding. Article 10(f) LexHAB Preservation and Rental Assistance In September 2024, LexHAB transitioned from its quasi-government status to become an independ- ent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so their spending is not under direct Town control. CPC funding of Lex- HAB initiatives is transferred in the form of reimbursements based on itemized monthly spending reports from LexHAB. Town staff indicated that LexHAB has done a good job managing its budget. Town Counsel has confirmed that CPA funds may be used for rent subsidies under the CPA afford- able housing category. The practical effect of rent subsidies at LexHAB is to provide support for 2/20/2025 AC Minutes 2 their operating budget that would otherwise be lost due to the inability of some tenants to meet nominal minimum rent requirements. Article 10(g) Community Center Playground Replacement The Recreation Department is requesting $1.5 million for the Center Playground after the determi- nation that it is at the end of its lifespan and must be replaced. Otherwise the Town will have to close it due to safety concerns. The CPC has been assured that high school construction will not im- pact the Center Playground. Article 10(h) Harrington Fields Project The Committee is concerned about the Town’s commitment to provide $2 million from the General Fund in addition to the CPC’s funding under this article of $1,197,904 for the construction of the new Harrington Fields. In the past, the Town has relied on the CPC to fully fund recreation fields and playground projects, except when portions of a project would be ineligible for CPC support. The original budget for Har- rington Fields assumed a cost of $6.2 million, of which $2 million would come from the General Fund to pay for artificial turf, which the CPC is not permitted to fund. If the design chosen for Har- rington Fields uses natural grass instead, the Town would normally have expected the CPC to cover the full cost, which has been estimated at $4.2 million. Based on feedback from the CPC, the Recreation Department put funding for the Center Playground at highest priority and reduced its original request under this item from $4.2 million to about $1.2 million. It may also reduce the initial scope of the Harrington Fields project to reduce amenities such as lights, a grandstand, and permanent restrooms. However, it seems there may be an assump- tion that $2 million in General Fund support would be provided regardless of the design chosen at Harrington Fields. The Town has set aside $2 million from the General Fund for this project, but funding for artificial turf is not included in the FY2026 budget. The requested $1.2 million would pay for some initial field work but it would be insufficient to complete construction of new fields. Mr. Parker stated that the project would not be fully funded by $1.2 million from the CPA and $2 million from the General Fund, noting that artificial turf fields would require more CPA funds in addition to the $2 million from the General Fund. Natural grass fields would also require more CPA funds, and the Town has not set aside any funding for a design using natural grass fields. Ms. Kos- noff agreed that the project will require supplemental funding from the CPC and possibly the Gen- eral Fund, but the Recreation Department expects to bring additional projects forward in the coming years that will compete for limited CPC funding. Mr. Michelson asked how the choice of playing surface would impact availability of recreation fields. Ms. Kosnoff replied that a field project using artificial turf would fit smoothly with the ex- pected downtime for other fields, while using natural grass would incur a one-year delay. Ms. Kosnoff noted that the demolition of the School Administration Building (old Harrington) will not proceed without a successful debt exclusion override for the high school project. The field work following the demolition will cost less if the contract is bid in time for work to be done during the winter season, directly after the anticipated debt exclusion referendum. Fiscal Planning and Future Requests The Committee discussed the Town Manager’s intent to better coordinate CPC funding requests from the Recreation Department, Affordable Housing Trust, and other applicants. The goal is to 2/20/2025 AC Minutes 3 make a plan covering recreation, affordable housing, etc., that can guide funding requests in ad- vance of the main budgeting process. Article 2 of Special Town Meeting There was a detailed discussion on Article 2 and its implications. The Committee expressed con- cerns about rapid housing growth and financial impacts. Most members felt that new residential de- velopments were coming faster than the Town could handle them. Mr. Parker noted that over the last 50 years the annual growth rate of Lexington’s population aver- ages out to 0.6% per year. Residential developments already in the pipeline will raise the annual growth rate to 2-3% over the next three to five years. Additional developments will raise the growth rate even more and/or extend the duration of that growth. The Committee discussed the potential need for additional public safety facilities, in particular a third fire station and/or another school building. Mr. Osborne urged the Committee to avoid conflating capital projects already on the five-year capi- tal plan, such as the East Lexington Fire Station, with the potential response to the new residential developments. Mr. Levine observed that during its rapid growth period in the 1950s, the Town did not have an easy time creating the new infrastructure that was needed, citing the multi-year political battle to fund the current high school in 1952. A straw poll showed 7-1 in favor of supporting Article 2 and Mr. Parker leaning in favor. Minutes of Prior Meetings Minutes of the meetings on January 23, 2025, and February 6, 2025, were approved by a vote of 9- 0. Future Meeting Schedule The next Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, February 27, 2025. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 9:52 p.m. by roll call vote. Respectfully submitted, Glenn P. Parker Approved: March 10, 2025 Exhibits ● Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker