Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-04-09-AC-min 4/9/2025 AC Minutes 1 Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) April 9, 2025 Place and Time: Ellen Stone Room, Cary Memorial Building; 7:00 p.m.–7:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; Anil Ahuja; John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson; Sean Osborne; Vinita Verma; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Members Absent: Lily Yan Other Attendees: Tom Shiple; Suzanne Lau; Kathryn Roy; Jay Luker; Dr. Julie Hackett, Superintendent of Schools At 7:04 p.m. Mr. Parker called the meeting to order. Announcements and Liaison Reports Mr. Padaki reported on a meeting of the Recreation Committee that was held on April 8, 2025. The Town Sustainability Officer presented a draft policy at the meeting that is intended to provide guidance as to the sites that may be appropriate for solar power canopies. At that same meeting, the consultant hired to assist with the project for the new playing fields at the old Harrington School described three options for turf that could be used which is the subject of Article 10(h). The consultant provided information on life-cycle costs and annual serviceable hours for each option. The Recreation Committee voted unanimously to support a higher grade natural grass option with lighting. Discussion of Draft Consultants’ Report on MBTA Housing Impacts Mr. Parker distributed his summary of comments on the report that had been distributed by Mr. Levine to the Committee via email. Mr. Padaki stated that the report makes an estimate of additional school costs that may occur from the enrollment increase equal to the estimated number of students that will reside in the 1,117 multifamily units considered in the report, and then “corrects” the cost increase for a projected decrease in the enrollment of students in currently existing housing. He preferred the uncorrected cost estimate as being more reflective of the potential impacts of new MBTA housing. Mr. Bartenstein noted that consideration of only those units that may be developed in ten projects currently in the development pipeline is not sufficient to understand the overall effects of MBTA housing development. Mr. Michelson said that it would be of interest to understand at what points capital projects may be needed as the number of units grows beyond the 1,117 considered in the report. Mr. Bartenstein said that per-pupil annual costs should include some amount for facilities expenses above the purely operating costs cited in the report. Some discussion followed about the per-pupil costs reported for Lexington on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) web site and whether those costs included capital or facilities expenses. Mr. Osborne stated that since any development beyond the 1,117 pipeline project units is speculative, any costs that may be necessary for such developments would also be speculative. 4/9/2025 AC Minutes 2 Future Meetings The sense of the Committee was that another 25-minute meeting to discuss the consultants’ report would not be sufficient time for discussion, so that the Committee should plan to continue the discussion of the consultants’ report at a to-be-scheduled full-length meeting. Mr. Parker recommended that the Committee aim to issue a written commentary on the consultants’ draft report. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 7:29 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Alan M. Levine Approved: April 24, 2025 Exhibits ● Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker ● Email message with comments on the draft report from Mr. Levine ● Mr. Parker’s summary of comments from Mr. Levine