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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-28 BOS-min 1/28/19 Page 1 of 7 SELECTMEN'S MEETING Monday, January 28, 2019 A meeting of the Lexington Board of Selectmen was called to order at 6:03 p.m. on Monday, January 28, 2019 in the Selectmen's Meeting Room of the Town Office Building. The Board immediately entered Executive Session under Exemption 6 to consider the value of real property Minuteman High School Recreation Fields, 758 Marrett Road. Upon exiting Executive Session at 7:02 p.m., a short recess was called and Open Session reconvened at 7:08 p.m. Present were Ms. Barry, Chair; Mr. Pato; Mr. Lucente; and Ms. Hai. Also present were Mr. Malloy, Town Manager; Ms. Axtell, Assistant Town Manager; and Ms. Siebert, Recording Secretary. Selectmen Concerns and Liaison Reports Ms. Hai: • Keeping with the Selectmen's goal to review the charge of Boards and Committees, Ms. Hai said she and Mr. Pato will meet to discuss merging the committee charges of the Sustainable Lexington Committee and the Energy Conservation Commission. Affected parties are amenable to the concept of merger. The topic will come before the Selectmen at a future meeting. Ms. Barry: • The 150'h anniversary of Cary Memorial Library was celebrated on Sunday, January 27, 2019. Mr. Barry reported that the event was well-attended. A gala will take place in March. Tickets are available on the Library website. Mr. Lucente: • The Tourism Committee is working on a revised advertising policy for the Liberty Ride trolley; the Selectmen will receive a presentation of recommendations at a future meeting. • The Town Celebrations Committee is having a Patriots' Day 2019 stakeholders meeting on Thursday, January 31, 2019. • The Human Services Committee continues to spread the word about the Town's newly contracted William James Interface mental health referral service. Town Manager Report • Mr. Malloy introduced Public Information Officer, Sean Dugan, who started in the newly- created position on January 22, 2019. Grant of Location for Underground Electric to Service Liberty Ridge Maureen Carroll, Eversource Representative, presented a request from NSTAR Electric Company d/b/a EVERSOURCE ENERGY for the purpose of obtaining a Grant of Location 1/28/19 Page 2 of 7 to install approximately 6.5 feet of conduit in Grove Street. The reason for this work is to provide electric service to a new residential development on Grove Street called Liberty Ridge. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 4-0 to grant permission to NSTAR Electric Company d/b/a EVERSOURCE ENERGY to construct, and a location for, such a line of conduits and manholes with the necessary wire and cables to be located under the public way on Grove Street northeasterly from pole 85/65, opposite McKeever Drive, a distance of 6.5 + or - feet of conduit. Presentation1001h Anniversary of the Ending of WWI Event George Gamota and Barry Cunha, Lexington Historical Society members, provided a recap of events held in remembrance of the End of WW1. The Selectmen were presented with a copy of a commemorative booklet marking the variety of events the Historical Society organized. Request from the Lions Club for the 63rd Annual Carnival Mr. Lucente recused himself from the discussion because he is on the board of the Lexington Lions Club. Colby Crogan, Lexington Lions Club President, asked for permission for the Lions Club to hold its annual 4h of July Carnival at Hastings Park. Set-up would take place on Monday July 1, 2019; the Carnival would be held from Tuesday, July 2, 2019 to Saturday, July 6, 2019; breakdown and clean-up is scheduled on Sunday, July 7, 2019 to be completed by 7:00 p.m. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 to approve the request of the Lions Club to hold the July 4 1 Carnival from Tuesday, July 2, 2019 to Saturday, July 6, 2019 with the times as requested in the Lions Club letter dated January 23, 2019 Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 to approve the request of the Lions Club to have lighting turned on until 11:30 p.m. from Monday July 1 st through July 6, 2019. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 to approve a fireworks display on Wednesday, July 3, 2019, at approximately 9:30 p.m., subject to approval of the fireworks vendor and necessary safety precautions required by the Fire Department. FY2020 Preliminary Budget and Financing Plan Mr. Malloy, Town Manager; Ms. Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager for Finance; and Jennifer Hewitt, Budget Officer, presented the preliminary FY2020 Operating and Capital Budget recommendations. The FY2020 budget is balanced. Revenue sources are projected to total $229,136,434, a $8,011,622 change over FY2019. The recommended expenditure totals $229,136,434, a $8,029,397 change over FY2019, 1/28/19 Page 3 of 7 Mr. Malloy highlighted a set-aside new line item in the summary: "Transition Free Cash Out of Operating Budget" for $700,000. He noted that the FY2019 Operating budget included $3.7M in Free Cash but he recommends that the Town reduce its reliance on one-time revenue use in the Operating budget and make the shift incrementally over the next 5 years. A second set-aside line item, "Appropriate from Capital Stabilization Fund" for $69,000, is expected to be eliminated in the coming weeks. Mr. Malloy noted two new anticipated sources of revenue: a 6% short-term rental room tax, from Airbnb-type properties, in the form of Local Receipts from the State; and a fee from third party reviews of proposed residential development and the effects on abutting properties. Mr Malloy said for FY2021 he will recommend the creation of an Enterprise Fund using an additional development fee. The Fund will assist the Town with stormwater management costs and National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) compliance. Mr. Malloy noted several recommended expenditures that furthered identified Selectmen goals: Police Station Facility Construction Funds (Goal 3): $25,651,792; Pedestrian, Bicycle and Vehicle Safety on Town Roads (Goals 7 and 10): $9,273,880; Collaboration with Minuteman on Recreation Fields (Goal 1) $4,900,000; Cemetery Building Construction and Review of Crematorium (Goal 12) $2,800,000; Community Mental Health Programs (Goal 10) with funds from the School Department budget in FY2020. Mr. Malloy presented breakdown summaries of budget allocations and shared expenses for FY2020. He recommended that $1,885,486 be appropriated into the Reserve Fund for Post- Employment Benefit and $1,600,000 into the Reserve Fund for Capital Stabilization. On the subject of Debt, Mr. Malloy stated that, by using funds from the Capital Stabilization Fund, the Residential Tax impact of the FY2020 budget will be between 3.2% and 3.7%. Excluded Debt Service for FY2020 is projected to be $11.3M (net). Continuing policy issues center around: the Capital Stabilization Fund; OPEB; unallocated revenues for contingencies; Hartwell Avenue re-development; Personal Property New Growth; reduction of Free Cash use for the Operating budget; reduction of debt service reliance for Capital projects; and a re-evaluation of the Liberty Ride. Some key upcoming dates in the pre-annual Town Meeting budget process include: February 22, 2019: approval of final recommended Operating and Capital Budget; March 1, 2019: distribution of Selectmen's recommended budget to financial committees/town meeting members; April 1, 2019: earliest date Town Meeting will consider financial articles. The Selectmen and Mr. Malloy reviewed edits to be made to the document. Mr. Lucente asked Mr. Malloy to check into why Lexington appears to be receiving a lower Cherry Sheet increase than comparable communities. 1/28/19 Page 4 of 7 Mr. Lucente asked why Health Insurance costs under Shared Expenses are relatively small at .77%. Ms. Hewitt and Mr. Malloy said percentage projections are based on actual FY2019 GIC premium costs and the enrollment base is being reset to a lower number of subscribers. Mr. Pato noted that there is a Citizen's Petition article that asks the Town to fund a Sustainability Director, which relates to Selectmen's Goal 48. He asked how funding this position would be handled. Mr. Pato said he prefer not to move the $1M in unallocated funds for possible use into the Stabilization Fund for the time being. He would also like the Town to consider not taxing residents to the full extent possible, as a way of providing some tax relief. Mr. Pato agreed with the approach of lowering the Health Care subscriber base to a number closer to historical trends. Ms. Hai asked if the new residential permit review fee was limited to groundwater assessment or if other concerns would be included. Mr. Malloy said the fund provides support for a third-party engineering review and will include a bigger checklist, although Tree Bylaw compliance has not been considered as yet. Ms. Hai said she would like to make progress on Town-wide Master Planning in order to be in sync with the Schools' Master Plan initiative. Ms. Hai asked for an overview of the Program Improvement Requests (PIRs)that Mr. Malloy has not recommended in the White Book budget. She also noted that the Westview Cemetery project has, before now, been slated to be self-funding, not as a General Fund debt-funded project. Mr. Malloy said that the PIRs are rated on a system by the Senior Management team, which informs the Town Manager's budget prioritizations. Ms. Kosnoff said the Westview fee increase revenue will be split into the General Fund and into the Revolving Fund. The debt service for the project will be paid for out of the General Fund. Mr. Malloy said that bonding agencies want to see communities make progress toward funding their OPEB liability, even if they are, like Lexington, close to fully funding the pension program. In 2025, the payments that have gone into the pension can be redirected to OPEB to make faster progress. Ms. Barry asked that the sidewalk allocations be clarified in the budget to avoid confusion. Ms. Barry also asked how funding for the mental health initiative would move forward. Mr. Malloy said the Town and School staffs would meet to discuss the funding; Joint meetings of the Board of Selectmen and School Committee are also planned for twice a year to keep the issue in the forefront. Ms. Barry asked about the reference to grant funding under the Center Streetscape project description. Mr. Malloy said that there may be funds available under the Mass Works program. If Town Meeting funds the project, but construction is postponed for a year, the grant application can be submitted, possibly for the whole cost. The timing for debt would be more advantageous 1/28/19 Page 5 of 7 as well if the project were postponed. Mr. Pinsonnault stated that, if the project waits a year, it would still be completed by November 2024. Ms. Barry asked about how well propane has been able to heat the temporary Fire Headquarters apparatus tent. Mr. Malloy said costs have been higher than anticipated, due to cold weather, but there were few alternatives since the tent cannot be insulated. Additional portable heaters are being used but the result has been imperfect. Mr. Malloy said he would talk to other senior management members about possible garage locations. There are adequate funds in the budget to pay the higher heating costs. David Kanter, Capital Expenditures Committee, noted that the FY2020 Town and School budgets both use all their allocations, unlike prior years. He asked if anything had philosophically changed with the budgeting process. He asked further if Town Meeting must accept the 6% short-term rental tax. Mr. Malloy said Town Meeting does not have to formally accept the tax but another 3% on top of the 6% is allowable; there are no plans to bring the 3% question to Town Meeting at this time. Review and Approve 2019 Fee Schedule for Recreation/Community Programs As changes are still being made, this item was postponed. Annual Town Meeting Discussion Preview Draft Warrant Ms. Axtell and the Board reviewed the Annual Town Meeting 2019 articles, making changes as warranted. Visitors Center Design Update Mike Cronin, Director Public Facilities; and Don Mills, Architect for the Visitors Center project, provided an update of the design for the new Visitors Center. Mr. Mills said the cost estimate was updated in early January 2019; including contingency, it totals $4,575,000. The Historic Districts Commission held a Certificate of Appropriateness hearing on January 3, 2019 and has scheduled a continuation on February 7, 2019 for follow-up questions; the Permanent Building Committee will hold its final review meeting on February 14, 2019; bidding is expected to open on February 28, 2019. Demolition and construction are anticipated between May 2019 and April 2020. Mr. Mills reviewed the project parameters, which are unchanged. The site plan has been further developed. The building features (including LEED Silver qualifications), materials, and floor plans were described. Mr. Mills noted that a construction fence with a dust scrim will encircle the construction site for the duration of the project. Ms. Barry asked if it would be possible for construction crews to park within the site, not at the street meters. 1/28/19 Page 6 of 7 Mr. Mills reported that the Historic Districts Commission is not in favor of using trailers on the site to be used as a temporary Visitors Center. Mr. Malloy said that the alternative of using the Cary Memorial Library is not appropriate and that no responses were received to the Town's RFP requesting use of privately-owned space. Mr. Malloy believes that the Stone Room in the Cary Memorial Building is a likely viable temporary location. Ms. Barry noted that the use of the Cary Memorial Building for Early Voting might complicate this plan. Special Permit Residential Development(SPRD) Ad Hoc Committee Update Ms. Hai said the SPRD Ad Hoc Committee has met twice so far; another meeting is scheduled for February 7, 2019. LexMedia taped the second meeting and will tape all subsequent meetings. Consultants who have worked on similar projects will speak to the Committee to inform its work. Public outreach sessions are being planned for the spring. Ms. Hai will update the Board of Selectmen twice monthly. Ad Hoc Crematory Study Committee Update Mr. Lucente reported that the Ad Hoc Crematory Study Committee has had 4 meetings so far and it is meeting twice a month. The Committee members are looking at issues such as applicable legislation; building options; operational feasibility; and environmental review. Data gathering has focused on evaluating the level of need. Faith leaders, area funeral homes, and other area crematories are the focal points of inquiry. No decisions have been reached to date and it is unclear whether a recommendation will be made by Town Meeting. More will be known after the Committee holds its Public Hearing on February 7, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in Battin Hall in the Cary Memorial Building. The next Committee meeting is February 6, 2019. Approve Patriots Day Events Mr. Lucente was recused as he is one of the submitters of one of the requests. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 to approve the Patriots' Day activities as presented, subject to working out the details with Town Departments. Accept Terms of the Alan S. Fields Community Enrichment Fund Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 4-0 to accept with terms of the Alan S. Fields Community Enrichment Fund that will be managed by the Trustees of Public Trusts. Accept Selectmen Committee Resignation Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 4-0 to approve the resignation of Mark Ferri from the Council of the Arts Committee. 1/28/19 Page 7 of 7 Consent Agenda 0 Water & Sewer Commitments Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 4-0 to approve Water and Sewer commitments for the December 2018 Finals for $6,850.05; and for the December Cycle 9 for $245,460.62. • Approve One-Day Liquor Licenses Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 4-0 to approve two (2) requests from the Lexington Historical Society to serve beer at the Tavern Night event being held at Buckman Tavern, 1 Bedford Street, on Saturday, February 23, 2019 from 6:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m.; and to serve beer, wine and alcohol at the Wicked Revelry Theatrical Performance event being held at Depot Square, 13 Depot Square, on Saturday, March 23, 2019 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 P.M. • Approve Minutes Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 4-0 to approve and release the minutes of August 20, 2018; October 1, 2018; October 15, 2018; October 29, 2018; November 13, 2018; and November 14, 2018; and to approve, but not release, the Executive Session minutes for October 15, 2018. • Approve and Sign Eagle Congratulation Letter—Nicholas Keim Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 4-0 to send a letter of commendation congratulating Nicholas Keim for attaining the highest rank of Eagle in Boy Scouting • Approve Request for Water& Sewer Deferral Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selectmen voted 4-0 to approve the application for deferral of FY2019 water and sewer payments for the resident of 15 Tucker Avenue. Adjourn Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board of Selection voted 4-0 to adjourn at 10:02 p.m. A true record; Attest: Kim Siebert Recording Secretary