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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-05-12 SB-minSELECT BOARD MEETING Monday, May 12, 2025 A meeting of the Lexington Select Board was called to order at 6:30p.m. on Monday, May 12, 2025, via a hybrid meeting platform. Mr. Lucente, Chair; Mr. Pato, Ms. Hai, Mr. Sandeen, and Ms. Kumar, were present, as well as Mr. Bartha, Town Manager; Ms. Axtell, Deputy Town Manager; and Ms. Katzenback, Executive Clerk. PUBLIC COMMENTS Mark Lang, 2 Opi Circle, stated he feels the Lowell Street affordable housing project has veered away from 2024 Town Meeting vote. He expressed concern the current design includes buildings that are three stories and 42’ high, exceeding limits. He stated is clear that this site cannot support 40 units without violating wetland buffers, exceeding promised height limits, compromising emergency access, and worsening already dangerous traffic. He feels the Board must act now to rescale the project before it is too late. Rob Green, President of Lexington Firefighters Local 1491, expressed concern regarding the payroll realignment process Dawn McKenna, 9 Hancock Street, stated that she was very disappointed to learn about the concerns of the Fire Department. The Town has always worked hard for its personnel, and she is unhappy to see that there is an issue with a procedural realignment and the impact it is having on employee paychecks. A solution to this needs to be sought. SELECT BOARD MEMBER CONCERNS AND LIAISON REPORTS 1. Select Board Member Announcements and Liaison Reports Ms. Hai stated that the Cary Library Board of Trustees will meet on May 21st and to vote on the Historic District Commission nominees that are required from the Library to this Board. The children's room project is continuing and is still on budget. The goal is for a late summer or early fall reopening. Also, the Cary Library Foundation has hired a new executive director, Mary Ann Sorel. Finally, the Senate in its supplemental budget allocations, included $50M to address the inflationary costs impacts for currently pending MSBA projects, such as the high school project. Mr. Pato stated that every resident should have received a postcard regarding the next High School Open House Project Information Session, on May 21st at 6:30pm at Battin Hall. There will be subsequent meetings in June and August, and abutters meetings along the way as well. Mr. Lucente stated that the VO250 Arch arch/pillar project was approved by the Historic District Commission last week and will be installed tomorrow. This arch will track community service hours toward a goal of 250,000 hours. There will be a ribbon cutting at a future date. TOWN MANAGER REPORT 1. Town Manager Weekly Update Mr. Bartha spoke about the issue raised regarding the payroll realignment. The timing of the payroll realignment has been known since last year. Realignment was a necessary step to modernize the existing systems to utilize the financial systems and modules and to improve financial control.The payroll realignment was bargained in good faith with all of the collective bargaining units in Lexington. Next, Mr. Bartha stated that the Town had two employees apply for and be accepted into the MMA Suffolk program, which is a joint program run for many years by the Mass Municipal Association at Suffolk University. CONSENT AGENDA Mr. Lucente noted that Item #4 has been withdrawn by the proponents and that he would recuse himself from item #7. 1. Approve: Select Board Committee Appointments Design Advisory Committee - Zhu Liu Lexington Center Committee - Danit Netzer Tree Committee - Benjamin Fein-Cole Vision for Lexington - Tom Lin To appoint the committee members with terms as indicated in the attached list titled "Select Board Committee Appointments - February Recruitment, 2025". DOCUMENTS: Design Advisory Committee - Zhu Liu 02.20.25_Redacted, Lexington Center Committee - Danit Netzer_Redacted, Tree Committee - Benjamin Fein-Cole 02.28.25_Redacted Backup Material, Vision for Lexington - Tom Lin_Redacted Backup Material, Select Board Committee_Appointments_February_Recruitment_2025 Backup Material 2. Accept: Select Board Committee Resignations Economic Development Advisory Committee - Bridger McGaw Housing Partnership Board - Robert Pressman Transportation Advisory Committee - Mark Anderson To accept the resignation of Bridger McGaw from the Economic Development Advisory Committee, effective May 12, 2025; and to accept the resignations of Robert Pressman from the Housing Partnership Board and Mark Anderson from the Transportation Advisory Committee, both effective immediately. DOCUMENTS: 2025.04.30 Bridger E. McGaw - Economic Development Advisory Committee, 2025.04.28 Robert Pressman - Housing Partnership Board_Redacted 3. Approve: Water and Sewer Commitments and Adjustments To approve the Water & Sewer commitments adjustments as recommended by the Water Sewer Abatement Board: Water & Sewer Commitments Section 1 2025 $ 2,808.112.78 Water & Sewer Commitments Section 2 2025 $ 2,501,053.71 Water & Sewer Commitments Cycle 9 2025 $ 311,971.17 Water & Sewer Commitments March Finals $ 7,069.48 Water & Sewer Commitments February Finals $ 5,855.83 Water & Sewer Commitments January Finals $ 4,524.77 Water & Sewer Adjustments per WSAB 3/7/25 ($ 3,357.04) DOCUMENTS: SB Meeting 5-5-25 WS items 4. APPLICATION WITHDRAWN - Approve: Battle Green Use Request - Lexington Minute Men 18th Century Military Drill - Saturday, May 31, 2025 This application was withdrawn by the applicant after the agenda was posted as the event was no longer scheduled to take place. 5. Approve: (Special Event) Entertainment License - Lexington Farmers' Market 2025 Lexington Farmers' Market To approve an Entertainment License for Lexington Local Food Collaborative d/b/a Lexington Farmers' Market for the purpose of providing recorded music and live performances for patrons of the 2025 Lexington Farmers' Market to take place every Tuesday from May 27, 2025 through October 28, 2025 at the Worthen Road Practice Field from 2:00pm to 6:30pm. DOCUMENTS: 2025 Farmers Market Entertainment License Request Letter, Farmers Market MAP 6. Approve & Sign: Proclamation Pride Month - June To approve and sign a proclamation recognizing the month of June annually as Pride Month. DOCUMENTS: 2025 Pride Month Proclamation VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted 5-0 to approve Consent Agenda items 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. 7. Approve: Lexington Lions Club Request for 69th Annual Fourth of July Carnival Mr. Lucente recused himself from this item. To approve the following requests of the Lexington Lions Club for the 69th Annual Fourth of July Carnival, outlined in the Lexington Lions Club letter dated May 2, 2025, To approve the request of the Lexington Lions Club to use lighting as necessary until 11:30pm from Monday, June 30, 2025 through Sunday, July 6, 2025. To approve a fireworks display on Wednesday, July 2, 2025 at approximately 9:30pm subject to approval of the fireworks vendor, Pyrotechnico, and necessary safety precautions as required by the Fire Department. DOCUMENTS: Lexington Lions Club Carnival Request letter VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted 4-0 to approve Consent Agenda item 7. ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION 1. Update: Quarter 3 Budget Rosalyn Impink, Budget Officer, explained that the Q3 report covers the period for fiscal year 2025 starting July 1-March 31. A general rule when three quarters through the year, is to use 75% as a benchmark for the revenue anticipated to be collected and what expenses we'll have expended by this time. All of the items seem to be tracking well at this time and Staff expects a strong Q4 report. DOCUMENTS: Memo - FY 2025 Qtr 3 Budget Monitoring, Presentation - FY 2025 Qtr 3 Budget Moiitoring 2. Discussion: Review of 2024 and Preview of 2025 Farmers' Market Leslie Wilcott-Henrie and Drew Maggiore, Lexington Farmers' Market, explained that the market is opening in two weeks, on May 27th. Last year the Market hosted 18 community groups, including a number of Town offices, and 33 different farmers and vendors, seven of which were Lexington residents. Last year the Market also introduced a new program, the POP Club, which stands for Power of Produce Club. The purpose of this program is to encourage young children, aged 5-12, to try new fruits and vegetables. Almost 150 children signed up for this pilot program and the Market reimbursed $720 to its farmers as another boost in their income. Regarding SNAP and HIP, the food assistance programs at the Farmers’ Market, the overall amount of food assistance spent at the market was calculated to be over $61,000 last year. The Market is concerned about federal cuts that may be coming to the SNAP program. The SNAP Match program is privately funded.The Market is going into its third year with Food Link, an Arlington-based organization. This past year, almost 1,800 pounds of produce was rescued from the Farmers’ Market and brought to Food Link which then distributes it to hundreds of organizations around the Commonwealth. It was noted that Select Board members could consider holding hours during the Farmers’ Market. An average of 650 people visit the Market each day. Mr. Lucente asked if the Town can do anything to better support the potential food assistance program cuts. Ms. Wilcott-Henrie stated that any opportunities to help with the match portion would be important. Mr. Lucente suggested that the Fund for Lexington could be considered for this item. Ms. Hai asked about concerns regarding parking at the Market this year. Ms. Wilcott-Henrie stated that the Market will work closely with Town Staff on this item. Dawn McKenna, 9 Hancock Street, added her support for the Market and expressed how important it is for the Market to be located in the Center. DOCUMENTS: Farmers Market Update 3. Update: Lexington High School Project & Costs Mr. Bartha explained that there was a School Building Committee meeting today. The drawings will soon be submitted in order to get cost estimates moving into the summer. The process will likely culminate in the fall, when the MSBA is asked to accept a project budget. Mike Cronin, Public Facilities Director, explained that the group is in the process of finalizing the schematic design process. The schematic design will be submitted to the estimators on June 4th. They will then work for 4-6 to give their best understanding of what the market currently looks like. There are a series of community meetings, including one this month, one next month, and one in August. In August, there will be a schematic design vote with the School Building Committee, and this will then be submitted to the MSBA. At the same time, design development will begin. In November, there will be a Town Special Town Meeting to discuss the project, and Article 97. In December, there will be a debt exclusion vote to confirm the project. Ms. Kosnoff addressed the potential rebates for this project and how they will be used. Bond Anticipation Notes will be used as part of this project, but these are only used as short-term financing which can be more expensive overall. Mr. Pato stated that he has been projecting an idea of cost containment for this project. He would like to be able to have this conversation with the Board in order to accurately represent the view to the School Building Committee. Mr. Lucente stated that he and Mr. Bartha would discuss what steps there are next for the proposed schedule. The Board will have additional discussions on this topic at future meetings. DOCUMENTS: LHS slides (May 2025) 4. Discussion: Worthen Road School Safety Zone Ross Morrow explained that the proposal is to implement a School Safety Zone at the High School on Worthen Road. The Town has School Safety Zones at all its other schools. Until recently, high schools were not included in the State regulations for safety zones but that since has been changed. The current speed limit going past the High School is 35mph and the School Safety Zone would bring this down to 20mph during certain hours. The goal would be to have this in place before the start of the fall school year. Ms. Hai stated that, if the School Committee plans to keep an open campus, she would suggest this zone be in effect during all the school hours. Mr. Pato suggested that the hours could potentially be expanded due to afterschool activities. Mr. Sandeen asked about enforcement. Mr. Bartha stated that he will work with the Chief regarding selective enforcement during the change in policy. Dawn McKenna, 9 Hancock Street, suggested that the zone should be extended from Lincoln Street to the school. DOCUMENTS: Code Amend School Zone-High School, HS Worthen School Zone, Memo 5. Discussion: Town Meeting Article Submission Timeline Policy Mr. Lucente explained that the Board is being asked to review and discuss a proposed Town Meeting Warrant Article Submission Timeline Policy. The intended purposes of such policy are the following Establish a standardized timeline and procedures for developing and submitting warrant articles for Town Meeting. Ensure clarity, consistency, and accountability among boards, committees, and Town departments for Annual Town Meeting (ATM) and Special Town Meetings (STM). The problem this is trying to solve is avoiding late surprises for the Board and giving more structure to the Staff, boards, and committees to be prepared for items they may want to bring forward. This should also create a process for the public to follow for better transparency. The policy, as drafted, states that the Board would like for boards and committees to identify potential articles and notify the Board in late August. Draft concepts should then be submitted by mid-September to the Board for initial feedback. In late November, the Board would expect final article drafts submitted from Town boards, committees, and departments. In early December, the Board would review those warrant articles and make a determination as to whether to include them on the warrant. Ms. Kumar asked about urgent exceptions that arise during the process. Mr. Lucente explained that Special Town Meetings are generally used to address these items. These items can also be handled at the Board’s discretion. Ms. Hai expressed thanks for the clarification regarding legal review being at the discretion of the Town Manager's Office. Mr. Sandeen suggested that the key contact information include only the name of the Town Office instead of the names of specific individuals, who may change over time. Dawn McKenna, 9 Hancock Street, stated that she believes the policy should include wording that motions are not final until moved at Town Meeting. She would like to see a statement at the beginning of the policy, under the Purpose and Scope, that, under the bylaws, the Select Board is responsible for the Town Warrant and Town Meeting. She stated that some flexibility is important for changes that need to be made during the timeline. DOCUMENTS: Proposed Policy-Town Meeting Warrant Articles Timeline 6. Reorganization of the Select Board VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted 5-0 to elect Ms. Hai as Chair of the Select Board, to be effective on July 1, 2025. VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted 5-0 to elect Mr. Pato as Vice- Chair of the Select Board, to be effective on July 1, 2025. 7. Discussion: Select Board Committee Liaison Assignments The Board discussed its Committee liaison assignments. The Board agreed to record the Select Board Members committee liaison assignments as amended, to be effective on July 1, 2025. DOCUMENTS: Proposed 2025 Select Board Committee Liaison Assignments ADJOURN VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted 5-0 to adjourn at 8:55pm. A true record; Attest: Kristan Patenaude Recording Secretary