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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-01-10-CPC-min Minutes of the Community Preservation Committee Thursday, January 10, 2019 Parker Meeting Room Town Office Building 1625 Massachusetts Avenue 4:00 PM Committee Members Present: Marilyn Fenollosa (Chair); Dick Wolk (Vice-Chair), Charles Hornig, David Horton, Jeanne Krieger, Joe Pato, Bob Pressman, Lisah Rhodes, Melinda Walker. Administrative Assistant: Gina Federico Other Attendees: Wendy Manz, Capital Expenditures Committee liaison to the CPC; Melissa Battite, Director of Recreation and Community Programs; Christopher Filadoro, Superintendent, Tree Warden; Phil Hamilton, Chair, Conservation Commission (arrived at 4:04 PM); Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager for Finance (arrived at 4:06); Karen Mullins, Conservation Administrator (arrived at 4:04 PM); Charles Wyman, Conservation Commission Land Acquisition Committee (arrived at 4:04 PM); Tom Shiple, Town Meeting Member. Ms. Fenollosa called the meeting to order at 4:OO13M. 1) FY20 Funding Requests- Ms. Battite came before the CPC as a follow up to Mr. Coleman's initial presentation of the Inter Municipal Agreement (IMA) with Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical School District (Minuteman) on 11-8-18. Ms. Battite explained that the IMA has been a 6-plus year conversation with Minuteman that has transitioned into a sole partnership with the Town of Lexington. The funding source has not been identified yet. The total cost of the project is estimated at $20.5 million with Minuteman bonding $12 million of the cost. Approximately $8.5 million would be the Town of Lexington's portion with most of the cost eligible for CPA funding. Ms. Battite explained that Recreation is working with Minuteman's finance director, Ms. Kosnoff' and bond counsel. Both the Town of Lexington and Minuteman use the same bond counsel. The agreement would highlight the minimum number of hours of usage each organization would have, the maintenance responsibilities of each organization, and the anticipated operating budget. This document is a living document that would be reviewed annually. Ms. Battite explained that Minuteman would have priority use of the fields from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM and their athletic department would have priority from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM. The Town of Lexington would have secondary use of the fields and complex from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM and on weekends as long as Minuteman does not have a scheduled sporting event. Ms. Battite explained that the Recreation department grants approximately 17,000 hours of field use during the year. Approximately 2,500 hours are denied each year, 2,000 of which are from Lexington United Soccer or 1 youth lacrosse. An increased number of fields will help reduce the amount of denied hours each year. Ms. Battite explained that Minuteman is responsible for overseeing maintenance but the costs will be shared. Ms. Fenollosa asked Ms. Kosnoff how the Committee would pay for the IMA. Ms. Kosnoff explained that $8.5 million would be a challenge and that she does not recommend that Committee take on that amount of debt since 50% or more of new CPF income is already earmarked for debt service for the next 3 years. Mr. Pressman referenced a recent briefing by the Town Manager that discussed the life of certain elements of the IMA. Ms. Battite explained that 10-12 years would be the life of the bond, 25 years is the maximum legal length of time for an IMA, and 50 years would be the term of the lease agreement on the land. Mr. Pressman asked about CPA eligibility. Ms. Battite stated that Town Counsel is still reviewing the eligibility of the project but preliminary data shows that most of the project is eligible. Mr. Hornig commented that during the first presentation on 11-8-18 the CPC requested a term sheet or a sheet with a cost breakdown. Ms. Battite stated that a term sheet is not yet available and that right now all they have is a draft of the $20.5 million total project cost detailing Lexington's share and Minuteman's share. Mr. Hornig then followed up with a question about the business arrangement. Ms. Battite said that the arrangement is still being reviewed by Town Counsel and then the Town Manager will review it before it is submitted to Minuteman. Ms. Battite stated that both legal counsels believe that the agreement will be ready before Town Meeting. Ms. Fenollosa stated that the CPC cannot wait until March to decide on the project and that appropriating money to this project will affect the rest of the projects requesting funding. Ms. Battite stated that the $8.5 million project request has been unchanged and that they are presenting the entire amount and requesting that some or all of it be considered and supported. Ms. Fenollosa stated that the CPC does not have the funding ability to appropriate $8.5 million to the IMA. Ms. Walker stated that typically large projects have a breakdown between CPA and tax levy funding and that since the project was not presented this way it would be hard for the CPC to determine how much to appropriate. Mr. Wolk asked whether the project as drawn is permitted by the Conservation Commission, because according to the drawing a portion of the complex is in wetlands. Ms. Battite stated that Conservation did attend a Design Review Team (DRT) and it was discussed that a road does abut conservation land. Mr. Hamilton stated that a permit was granted for the road and he is not certain if other permits have been granted or denied. Ms. Krieger stated that the Committee is being asked to consider$8.5 million for 25 years of access of fields that we need but only can be used on nights and weekends. Ms. Fenollosa asked Ms. Kosnoff how much she would recommend that the CPC bond and what would the Committee be able to do if the CPA tax surcharge were reduced to 1%. Ms. Kosnoff stated that she would recommend borrowing $4 million at the most and if the surcharge was reduced to 1%the Committee would not be able to fund any future projects. Mr. Hornig suggested that a policy be put in place stating that the debt incurred on CPC projects should not exceed 50% of annual revenues. 2 Mr. Filadoro left the meeting at 5:04 PM and did not return. Mr. Shiple left the meeting at 5:04 PM and returned at 5:54 PM 2) Executive Session Under Exemption 6-The CPC discussed if Melissa Battite, Carolyn Kosnoff, and Wendy Manz should be permitted to join the Executive Session under Exemption 6. The purpose of the session would be to discuss two land acquisitions. It was decided that Ms. Battite, Ms. Kosnoff, and Ms. Manz would be allowed to stay. After a motion duly made and seconded, it was voted by roll call (9-0) to enter into Executive Session at 5:05 PM under Exemption 6 to consider the purchase, exchange, lease or value of real property and to reconvene in open session; the Chair declaring that an open meeting might have a detrimental effect on the negotiating position of the Town. At 5:26 PM, after a motion duly made and seconded, the CPC voted in a roll call vote (9-0) to exit Executive Session and return to Open Session to attend to the remain agenda items. 3) Debt Service- Ms. Kosnoff stated that for FY20 the amount of debt is approximately 55%to 56% of new income and that she does not recommend going over 50% debt. Mr. Hornig suggested that a guideline be put in place similar to the guideline that the CPF endeavors to maintain a fund balance of $2 million after each year's projects. The proposed guideline would be that the CPC should not take on debt of more than 50% of its annual revenues in a year. The Committee agreed with Mr. Hornigs statement and decided to make the request an agenda item and vote on the guideline at the next CPC meeting on 1-17-19. After reviewing the CPF balance it was decided to allot $2 million dollars to Recreation for 4 projects including the IMA, Old Reservoir Bathhouse, Parks Improvements-Athletic Fields, and Park Improvements- Hard Court Resurfacing. The Committee decided to let Recreation prioritize their projects. 4) 2019 ATM Citizen's Article-The proposed citizen's article to reduce the CPA tax surcharge from 3%to 1%was discussed briefly. Ms. Kosnoff stated that if the CPA surcharge were to be reduced to 1%then the CPC would not be able to fund any new projects and all revenues would be applied to debt. Due to time constraints the agenda item was not fully discussed. The agenda item will be addressed at the next meeting on 1-17-19. Ms. Battite left the meeting at 5:50 PM and did not return. 5) Vote for FY20 CPA Funding-The Committee decided to vote to approve projects for FY20 funding but not on the actual dollar amount. It was decided to send a draft of the 2019 Warrant to Ms. Axtell with "TBD" as the dollar amount for each project. The CPC issued votes on the projects as follows: 3 Conservation Land Acquisition-TBD- (9-0) Willard's Woods Site Improvements-TBD- (9-0) Archives & Records Management-TBD- (9-0) Battle Green Master Plan- Phase 3-TBD- (2-7) Center Streetscape Improvements-TBD- (1-8) 9 Oakland Street Renovations and Adaptive Re-Use-TBD- (9-0) Inter Municipal Agreement with Minuteman-TBS- (8-0-1) Old Reservoir Bathhouse Renovations-TBD (9-0) Park Improvements- Hard Court Resurfacing-TBD (9-0) Park- Improvements-Athletic Fields-TBD (9-0) Playground Replacement Program- Bridge-TBD (9-0) LexHAB Preservation, Rehabilitation, and Restoration-TBD- (9-0) CPA Debt Service-TBD- (9-0) Administrative Budget-TBD- (9-0) Mr. Wolk left the meeting at 6:18PM and did not return. 6) Review and Approve-The Committee did not address the agenda item to "Review and Approve" "Guidelines for the Use of CPA Funding by LexHAB for the CPC Report to 2019 Annual Town Meeting" due to time constraints. The agenda item will be addressed at the next meeting on 1-17-19. 7) Committee Business-The Committee did not address the agenda item "Committee Business" due to time constraints. The agenda item will be addressed at the next meeting on 1-17-19. 8) Minutes-After a motion duly made and seconded, the minutes from the Public Meeting on 12-13-18 and the Public Hearing on 12-13-18 were approved as submitted (8-0). After a motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned at 6:23 PM. The following documents were used at the meeting: 1) Community Preservation Fund Balances excel spreadsheet dated 1-7-19 2) Melissa Battite IMA memo dated 1-10-19 3) Conceptual Site Plan- Athletic Facility 4) Anderson Kreiger Confidential Memorandum dated 1-9-19 (Town Counsel Review of Eligibility of Lexington CPA Project FY 2020) 5) Guidelines for use of CPA Funding by LexHAB- Original 6) Guidelines for use of CPA Funding by LexHAB- Edited Version 7) Minutes from 12-13-18 Public Meeting 8) Minutes from 12-13-18 Public Hearing 4 9) Email from Mina Makarious, Esq., Anderson Kreiger, regarding reduction in CPA surcharge Respectfully submitted, Gina Federico Administrative Assistant Community Preservation Committee 5