HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-01-07-AC-minMinutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee
January 7, 2009
Place and time: Room G -15, Town Office Building, 7:30 PM
Members present: Alan Levine (Chair), John Bartenstein (Vice- Chair), Susan McLeish
(Secretary), Richard Eurich, Pam Hoffman, Mollie Garberg, Glenn Parker, Eric
Michelson, Rob Addelson (ex officio, non - voting)
This meeting was called to order at 7:35 P.M.
Minutes. Approved minutes of 8 -7 -2008. The vote was 7 -0 in favor with 1
abstention.
2. Mission. Discussion of the mission of the Appropriations Committee.
Report to 2009 Annual Town Meeting. It was agreed that for the AC report to TM,
individual contributors would send their items to an editing sub - committee composed
of Susan and Pam.
4. Conduct of Meetings. Discussion of how meeting guests are accommodated. We
encourage guests with a specific area of interest to contact the committee in advance
in order to arrange a slot on our agenda. It was suggested that we send a memo to the
TMMA mailing list about this.
Committee Assignments. Liaisons to other town committees, and other possible
areas of interest and /or specialization for committee members were discussed:
Pam — Schools
Eric — Three -year projections, CPC, Minuteman
Glenn — Liaison to Capital Expenditures Committee
Alan — Health Insurance
Mike — Health Insurance
Susan — Municipal Budget ( ?)
Rick — CPC, Shared Expenses
Mollie — Planning Board ( ?), Schools
John — Enterprise Funds, Tax Relief
6. FY10 Budget Status. Rob Addelson discussed the upcoming publication of the
preliminary budget (aka the "white book "). Budget summit #3 (to be held on 1/15)
will include a discussion of the allocation of new revenue between the school system
and the municipal side, as well as the possible use of stabilization funds.
7. Executive Session. Entered executive session for the purpose of discussion of
possible criminal misconduct (Exemption 5) of the Open Meeting Law at 9:00 p.m.
by a unanimous roll call vote and concluded at 9:04 p.m.
8. Shire Expansion. Rob Addelson will provide the committee with a copy of the Tax
Increment Financing (TIF) agreement for Shire, so that we may understand the
possible tax revenue implications of their latest expansion request.
9. Stimulus Financing. Rob Addelson will provide a list of "shovel- ready" projects in
the town that will be presented to the state for potential state or federal stimulus
financing.
10. Munroe School Building Appraisal. Susan discussed the issue of an appraisal for
the Munroe School building.
- Charles Lamb of the Capital Expenditures Committee has urged that the Town
obtain a valuation for the building.
- A statement of the Appropriation Committee was proposed supporting the need for
an appraisal of the building's value.
- Voted 8 -0 to approve the following statement:
"As financial advisory committees to Town Meeting, we believe it is important
that the town understand the financial consequences of a decision to sell the
Munroe School and that this necessarily requires a real estate appraisal of the
building's fair market value as currently zoned, the appraisal to include, among
other things, consideration of the building's highest and best use, of other possible
uses, and of its capital needs."
11. School Budget. Pam circulated a hand -out from Paul Ash regarding the school
budget and his plans to close the budget gap. We agreed to ask Mary Ellen Dun to
address the committee at an upcoming meeting.
12. Member Reports. Susan reported on the Selectman's Meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Glenn P. Parker
Approved July 6, 2009