HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-03-27-CEC-ATM-rpt (Spoken Report to TM under Article 2) Capital Expenditures Committee Spoken Report to the 2019 Annual Town Meeting
Under Article 2
Madam Moderator. I move that the report of the Capital Expenditures Committee be
accepted and placed on file with the Town Clerk.
Madam Moderator. Town Meeting Members. Members of the Board of Selectmen.
As you can see, my colleagues have produced yet another extensive report. As always, a
huge thanks to our editor and Vice-Chair Mr. Kanter, the rest of the Committee members,
and our recording secretary Sara Arnold. I want to give a shout out to Mr. Parker and the
Appropriation Committee—our partners in Town Meeting financial review—for their
collaboration and good work on the capital-related articles. Thanks to the School
Committee and the school staff. And finally, welcome to our new Town Manager,
Mr. Malloy. We thank you and your staff, especially Carolyn Kosnoff and Jennifer Hewitt,
for their extensive assistance with our report.
We anticipate that Mr. Malloy will continue to refine the annual capital-budgeting process,
all the way from departmental preparation, creating the Town's Preliminary Budget,
advising the Board of Selectmen, presenting the Budget to Town Meeting, and on through
to long-range strategic planning and the all-important, comprehensive, debt-service
modellings.
On the topic of planning, some citizens have criticized the Town for not having a strategic,
long-range, capital plan. By statute and charter, this Committee is tasked annually with
producing exactly such a plan, a challenge we eagerly undertake. You will find our
recommended plan starting on page 10 of our report. It's the big spreadsheet printed in
landscape mode with lots of footnotes. Our five-year plan is built from the Brown Book's
five-year plan. The differences between ours and the Brown Book's are generally
infrequent in the current budget year, more frequent in the out-years, but always explained
in the table's footnotes.
Focusing on this budget year, you might think that if we were doing our job, then there
would be more disagreements between our capital recommendations and the Town's. And
you might expect to see those disagreements playing out with debate and amendments on
this floor. But you don't. Rather, you generally observe consensus on the capital articles.
This is because every year, budget discussions among Town staff, boards and
committees, begin six months before the Annual Town Meeting. Starting in the fall, all
proposed capital projects come to us directly from the staff in written form, each with a
purpose and justification. Sometimes we find that projects need more refinement or
justification, and after direct discussions with proponents, they tune their plans, budgets,
and estimates. Those refinements are then discussed in a series of summit meetings with
the Town Manager, finance staff and the other boards and committees. All of the many
hours of meetings, summits, and presentations typically lead to a strong consensus. That,
in turn, should give Town Meeting members more confidence when it comes to voting
millions of capital dollars at Town Meeting.
I want to mention a few of the many Articles before you this year. First, Article 4, which
seeks to roll back the Community Preservation Act surcharge from 3% to 1%. Even though
we understand that this Article will be indefinitely postponed, we still call it to your
attention. This is an important debate and it is not the first time it has arisen in the 13 years
since Lexington adopted the Community Preservation Act. Our Committee supports
periodic surcharge review; however, evaluation of each of the Community Preservation
Committee's projects is the responsibility of this Committee and all Town Meeting
Presented, 27 Mar 2019,by Charles W. Lamb, Chair Page 1 of 2
Capital Expenditures Committee Spoken Report to the 2019 Annual Town Meeting
Under Article 2
members every year. Our collective and consistent endorsements of the Community
Preservation Committee's recommendations validate the Town's choice to participate at
the current surcharge level. As you will see in our report, our Committee would have
strongly opposed any surcharge reduction both now and in the near future.
Next, Article 20(g), the Westview Cemetery Facility Construction money. I'll be brief: it is
high time to get this project done. Related to this is Article 6, design funding for a
crematory. It is premature to appropriate money until the ad hoc committee has completed
its report. We'll have more to say about these Articles when they come to the floor.
Article 16(e), the Center Streetscape, is another project that has been at Town Meeting for
many years. This Committee believes that despite the many views about design choices,
this project needs to get done. The Town Center, its users, and its merchants deserve the
safety enhancements and upgrades to be undertaken by this project.
One capital project you did not find in this Town Meeting's Warrant, but you will find in your
Brown Books, is the construction money for the Lexington Police Headquarters. Recall that
you approved design money for this facility at a previous Town Meeting and this work is
proceeding as planned and on schedule. You can expect to see a request for construction
money at a Special Town Meeting later this calendar year. We are also anxious for you to
hear a future request for design funds for a new Police firing range. We owe it to our police
to provide them with the proper training needed for modern weapons and contemporary
threats.
From this bully pulpit we have long called attention to the 800-pound gorilla in the room:
the Lexington High School renovation, rebuild, or replacement. The Town's debt modeling
now includes projections of the fiscal impact of that project. While we believe the numbers
used in those projections are still too low, and while of course there will be a significant
taxpayer impact, we are nevertheless gratified that there are now some projections for all
of us to discuss.
We invite you to find more information on any of the Articles or topics I just mentioned in
our report. Our Committee's charter is to advise you, Town Meeting, and we take that
charter seriously. If you need help finding something in our report, or have a question, we
are here to help.
Thank you Madam Moderator.
Presented, 27 Mar 2019,by Charles W. Lamb, Chair Page 2 of 2