HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-10-14-AC-min 10/14/2020 AC Minutes
Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC)
October 14, 2020
Place and Time: Remote Participation: in accordance with the Governor's March 12, 2020 Order
Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law; communication took place via a Zoom
teleconferencing session that was open to the public; 6:30 p.m.
Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary; John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson;
Meg Muckenhoupt
Member(s)Absent: Sanjay Padaki, Lily Manhua Yan; Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager,
Finance (non-voting, ex officio)
Other Attendees: Marilyn Fenollosa, Chair, Community Preservation Committee
Mr. Parker confirmed attendance by roll call, noted the authorization for meeting remotely, and
called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. He stated that the meeting was being recorded for the
purpose of creating minutes.
Final Positions for Articles for the Special Town Meetings (STMs) 2020-2 and 2020-3
Mr. Parker introduced Ms. Fenollosa, who reviewed the background for STM 2020-3 Article 7:
Land Acquisition. Her comments included the following:
• Property at 39 Highland Avenue in Lexington was added to the Priority Heritage Landscape
survey in 2006 and has been on the Conservation Commission's "wish list" for a long time.
• Negotiations for the purchase started in 2018. Placeholders for the purchase were included
in the 2018 and 2020 Annual Town Meeting warrants but had to be indefinitely postponed
because the negotiations were not yet complete.
• The area of the complete property is 5.09 acres, with 4.48 acres of open space and a lot
consisting of 0.61 acres on which a house is located.
• The house was built in the late 1880s.
• The property was appraised in 2018 and 2020 with and without the house.
• The Town's original plans included purchasing the house for affordable housing and the
open space for conservation land. The Town offered $3.8 million for the entire property in
2018 and $4.0 million in 2020.
• After inspections of the house, the Lexington Housing Assistance Board(LexHAB) and the
Select Board opposed its purchase. The Town then offered $3.5 million for the 4.48 acres
without the house, and this offer was accepted.
• The funding request for the STM includes the $3.5 million purchase price plus $60,000 for
auxiliary expenses, for a total of$3,560,000.
• If the property is not purchased for conservation land, it could accommodate six new
housing lots. It abuts the Upper Vine Brook Conservation area, which, in turn, abuts the
Lexington Children's Place, and is across Marrett Road from the Dunback Meadow.
• The land purchase and auxiliary expenses would be funded entirely under the Community
Preservation Act(CPA). The financing chart prepared by Carolyn Kosnoff proposes to use
$2,560,000 in cash and $1,000,000 in short term debt. This provides flexibility for future
CPA projects and would keep the total debt service borne by the Community Preservation
Fund below 50% of expected CPA receipts for this fiscal year.
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10/14/2020 AC Minutes
In response to questions, Ms. Fenollosa commented, as follows:
• Two factors likely influenced LexHAB's decision not to purchase the house.
➢ New housing is preferred over managing the uncertainties of rehabilitating older homes.
➢ LexHAB is currently focused on developing the Leary Land on Vine St. and was
concerned that its bandwidth would be insufficient to take on the project.
• The present owners would like to see the house preserved, but it is not known whether the
Purchase and Sale Agreement will include any restrictions to that effect. Without such
restrictions, the Town would not control the future of the house, although it would be subject
to the one-year demolition delay by-law.
• Mr. Bartenstein inquired whether the land appraisals contained a"before and after analysis,"
i.e., whether they take into account the potential for an enhancement of the value of the
house lot if the Town purchases the surrounding property for conservation land. Ms.
Fenellosa said that she would provide the Committee with copies of the appraisals.
• This article is scheduled to come before the STM on November 9.
It was decided to postpone taking a position until the Committee has had an opportunity to review
the appraisals and additional members are present. Mr. Parker reported that the Capital
Expenditures Committee is supporting this article with one opposing vote.
There was a brief review of the mechanisms for this Committee to communicate during the STMs.
The meeting adjourned at 7:07 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Sara Arnold
Approved: October 29, 2020
Exhibits
• Agenda,posted by Mr. Parker, Chair
• Remote Meeting Prologue
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