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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-02-21-AC-min 02/21/2019 AC Minutes Minutes Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC) February 21, 2019 Place and Time: Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m. Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; John Bartenstein; Ellen Basch; Eric Michelson; Richard Neumeier; Nick Nichols; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager, Finance (non-voting, ex officio) Member(s)Absent: Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Lily Manhua Yan Other Attendees: David Kanter, Vice-Chair & Clerk, Capital Expenditures Committee (CEC) The meeting was called to order at 7:40 p.m. Announcements and Liaison Reports Mr. Michelson reported that the Town of Belmont (Belmont) has expressed preliminary interest in rejoining the Minuteman Regional Technical High School(Minuteman Tech) consortium. Belmont had previously voted to withdraw from the Minuteman Tech Region, effective in 2020, thus avoiding the debt service payments associated with financing a new facility. New member towns will be assessed for debt service payments going forward, but it has not been determined whether Belmont would be responsible for such payments retroactively if it rejoins. Mr. Bartenstein noted that the FY2020 Recommended Budget and Financing Plan (White Book) assumed a 10% increase in water/sewer assessments as compared to FY2019, but the assessments have come in at 4%. This could reduce water/sewer rates. Ms. Basch reported that the School Committee plans to discuss the proposed inter-municipal agreement (IMA) with Minuteman Tech in regard to new athletic facilities at its meeting on March 12. Minuteman has recently issued a Request for Interest (RFI) to other municipalities. It is unclear at this point whether Lexington will continue to negotiate funding and sharing of the facilities on a reduced basis or whether Minuteman Tech will proceed with a full build option without financial support from Lexington. CEC Status Report Mr. Kanter distributed a list of FY2020 warrant articles that the CEC expects to discuss in its report to the 2019 Annual Town Meeting (ATM). The list included a summary of the CEC's current positions on the articles, CEC comments, and whether the CEC recommends including the article in the Board of Selectmen's recommended consent agenda for the ATM. He reviewed this material, noting that in some cases, the CEC is waiting for additional information before taking a position. Additional comments, responses to questions, and/or discussion included the following: • Article 6: Appropriate for Cremation Facility at Westview Cemetery (citizen article): The CEC strongly supports appropriating funds at the 2019 ATM for building a maintenance facility at Westview Cemetery and does not want that project delayed because of the potential interest in adding a crematory at Westview. Ms. Kosnoff noted that there could be some financial efficiencies if certain project details that support a crematory are incorporated into the maintenance building plans. 1 02/21/2019 AC Minutes • Article 8: Funding for Sustainability Actions (citizen article): Ms. Kosnoff reported that this may be indefinitely postponed (IPed) because there isn't a legal mechanism for accomplishing the desired goal. • Article 9: Sustainability Director(citizen article): Mr. Parker reported that the motion for this article may be presented to the ATM as a resolution. • Article 10: Appropriate to Post-Employment Insurance Liability Fund: It is anticipated that the subject of future contributions to this fund will be discussed at a summit to be held after completion of the ATM. • Article 14: Appropriate the FY2020 Community Preservation Committee (CPC) Operating Budget and CPA Projects: ➢ (e) 9 Oakland Street- Renovation and Adaptive Re-Use: Mr. Kanter noted that although this is for a non-Town facility, it serves residents. The CEC has deferred to the CPC's decision to support this request for funding support. ➢ (f) Athletic Field Complex at Minuteman Tech: Mr. Kanter noted that, in response to the complexities associated with this project, the CEC recently inquired whether using the requested funds to enhance athletic fields on property owned by Lexington would be a more cost-effective alternative than helping to fund facilities that will be owned by Minuteman Tech. ➢ (k) LexHAB- Preservation, Rehabilitation, and Restoration of Affordable Housing: The request is for capital repairs at 11 LexHAB facilities. • Article 16: Appropriate for Municipal Capital Projects and Equipment: ➢ (f) Automatic Meter Reading System: In response to questions/comments, Ms. Kosnoff said that the Town annually abates approximately $500,000 in water/sewer bills associated with leaks, use of water for irrigation, etc., of which perhaps $200-300,000 could potentially be avoided by prompt notification of leaks. The new system would enable daily monitoring that could identify usage increases associated with leaks and would allow one staff person to be re-purposed. Installation involves replacing all water meters that are more than five years old, and new meters could be retrofitted with a sending device. • Article 20: Appropriate for Public Facilities Capital Projects: ➢ (e): LHS Field House Track Resurfacing: Mr. Kanter noted that this project had not been included in previous five-year plans and was a surprise. • Article 27: Appropriate for Authorized Capital Improvements: Ms. Kosnoff noted that no such improvements have been identified. • Article 35: Amend III of Chapter 118 (citizen article): Mr. Kanter noted that the CEC is commenting on this article because it would affect the way Town Meeting addresses all articles, including those associated with capital expenses. • Article 36: Implement an Outcomes-Based Approach to Town Building (citizen article): Mr. Kanter noted that this proposal has three elements, one of which he supports, but the other two elements, which deal with a project's sequencing, resulted in the CEC opposing this article. It was noted that Town Manager Jim Malloy plans to develop a system for prioritizing capital projects during the review process. This should help differentiate between wants and needs. 2 02/21/2019 AC Minutes Appropriation Committee Report to the ATM Mr. Parker reported that draft material for the report should go to the assigned reviewer for edits. When a draft is ready for Committee review it should be sent to himself and Mr. Padaki for public posting. Committee members should bring edits to the next meeting. Mr. Parker is developing a skeleton of the report and shared an outline for the introduction. Minutes A motion was made and seconded to approve the January 30, 2019 draft minutes and the February 7, 2019 draft minutes, both as amended. The motion passed. VOTE: 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:20 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sara Arnold Approved: March 7, 2019 Exhibits • Agenda, posted by Mr. Parker, Chair • Capital Expenditures Committee's Status Regarding Articles in the Warrant to the 2019 Annual Town Meeting on which it currently plans to report, as of 21 Feb 2019 • Outline of AC Report Intro, 21 February 2019, Glenn Parker 3