HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-02-10-AC-min 02/10/2021 AC Minutes
Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee (AC)
February 10, 2021
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; 7:30 p.m.
Members Present: Glenn Parker, Chair; Sanjay Padaki, Vice-Chair; Alan Levine, Secretary;
John Bartenstein; Eric Michelson; Meg Muckenhoupt; Lily Manhua Yan(arrived 8:06 p.m.);
Carolyn Kosnoff, Assistant Town Manager,Finance (non-voting, ex officio)
Member(s)Absent: None
Other Attendees: Julie Hackett, Superintendent, and David Coelho, Assistant Superintendent for
Finance and Operations, Lexington School Department; Eileen Jay, Vice-Chair, and Deepika
Sawhney: Lexington School Committee; David Kanter, Vice-Chair and Clerk: Capital Expenditures
Committee; Sara Arnold, Recording Secretary
Mr. Parker confirmed attendance by roll call, reviewed the authorization for meeting remotely,
noted that the meeting was being called to order at 7:34 p.m. on February 10, 2021, and stated that
the meeting was being recorded for the purpose of creating minutes. He also noted that materials for
the meeting were available on-line.
Announcements and Liaison Reports
Mr. Levine reported on a recent Zoom panel discussion that gave background information related to
Article 29: Clean Heat—Authorize Special Legislation to Regulate Fossil Fuel Infrastructure and
Adopt Bylaw Amendment Enabling Legislation. The panel included members from a realtors'
association and developers, who reported instances where the use of air-source heat pumps and
other energy saving features resulted in faster sales. Mr. Levine added that new Town-owned
facilities, such as the Fire Station, the Fairview/Farmview projects, Hastings Elementary School,
and the Lexington Children's Place have conformed to the goals of this article.
Mr. Padaki reported that the Select Board(SB) is asking for an ex-officio AC liaison for a 250th
Anniversary Committee, which will be planning a 2025 celebration. Mr. Michelson volunteered.
Ms. Kosnoff reported that there had been some internal discussions about the funding for school
COVID-19 testing, as discussed at this Committee's meeting on February 4th. She said that because
the use of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding had been
extended beyond 2020, staff are exploring the possible use of this funding for the testing. She added
that there are still many unknowns about relief funding, and it will be important to look at school
and municipal COVID-19 needs jointly. Ms. Jay noted that donations will cover at most a small
fraction of the costs.
Mr. Parker reminded AC members to ensure they are up to date with their State-mandated ethics
training.
Recommended Consent Agenda
Mr. Parker shared an updated proposed Consent Agenda list and identified articles that were now
being suggested by the SB and the CEC but had not been on the SB's original list,plus one article
that had been accidently left off of this Committee's previous discussion of Consent Agenda items.
If no one objected, the following additional articles would be included:
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• All of the sub-articles under Article 10: Community Preservation Act projects
• Sub-articles (b) Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus Replacement, (f) storm drainage
Improvements and NPDES Compliance, and (g) Comprehensive Watershed Stormwater
Management under Article 12: Appropriate for Municipal Capital Projects and Equipment.
• Sub-article (c)Public Facilities Mechanical/Electric System Replacements under Article 16:
Appropriate for Public Facilities Capital Projects
There were no objections at this time to including any of the newly identified articles on the
Consent Agenda.
Use of General and Specified Stabilization Funds
Mr. Parker reported that he had drafted a document, which he had recently shared with the Town
Manager, Ms. Kosnoff, and Mr. Padaki, that was designed to generate discussion about the future
use of stabilization funds. While his document focuses on the Capital Stabilization Fund, the
general Stabilization Fund, the Special Education (SPED) Stabilization Fund, and the Reserve Fund,
Mr. Parker's document acknowledges the existence of many other stabilization funds that were
created for specific purposes. In response to comments, Ms. Kosnoff pointed out that the Pension
Fund and the other post-employment benefits trust fund have specific purposes for which
withdrawals are already being made; their use is not really flexible. Mr. Levine mentioned that there
was a previous report about the use of these funds; Ms. Kosnoff agreed to forward it to Mr. Parker.
Minutes of Prior Meetings
A motion was made and seconded to approve the draft minutes, with one minor edit, for the
February 4, 2021 meeting. There was a roll call vote. The motion was approved. VOTE: 6-0
(Ms. Yan had not yet arrived.)
Planning for Committee Report to Annual Town Meeting 2021, including FY2022 School
Department Budget
Dr. Hackett and Mr. Coelho gave responses to a list of questions previously submitted by
Mr. Levine. This included information about special education enrollment and the impact this has
on the budget, the use of the Circuit Breaker, general enrollment impacts, reasons for the 4.2%
increase in the budget, reasons for decreases in non-appropriated revenue, the status of curriculum
reviews and professional training, and budget impacts on a return to in-school teaching. Dr.
Hackett added that they would transmit their answers in written form after the meeting.
Mr. Parker agreed to invite David Pinsonneault, Director of Public Works, to the next AC meeting.
Ms. Kosnoff agreed to forward a breakdown of the CPA budget items to Mr. Michelson and
Mr. Parker.
The meeting adjourned at 9:23 p.m. by a roll call vote. VOTE: 7-0
Respectfully submitted,
Sara Arnold
Approved: February 18, 2021
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Exhibits
• Agenda,posted by Mr. Parker
• AC Consent Agenda, v. 2, prepared by Mr. Parker
• School Department Responses to AC Questions,prepared by Dr. Hackett
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