HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-05-04-AC-minMinutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee
May 4, 2009
Place and time: Ellen Stone Room, Cary Memorial Building, 6:30 PM
Members present: Alan Levine (Chair), John Bartenstein (Vice Chair), Richard Eurich,
Mollie Garberg, Pam Hoffman, Susan McLeish (Secretary), Eric Michelson, Glenn
Parker, Mike Kennealy, and Rob Addelson (ex officio, non - voting).
Also present: Ethan Solomon (for Patriot Partners) and Robert Buckley (counsel for
Patriot Partners)
The meeting was called to order at 6:40 PM.
Busa land. The CPC will have a meeting regarding the purchase of the Busa
property on Lowell St. at 6:30 in Estabrook Hall tomorrow evening.
2. Special Town Meeting Report. Pam Hoffman and Mike Kennealy voted on
Articles 4, 7, and 49 — the votes for each are now 9 -0.
3. Busa Land Purchase. A discussion of the status of the land purchase was
held. There is a handshake deal for the sale and a letter of intent is expected
to be finalized tomorrow. There is a CPC meeting tomorrow evening at 6:30
P.M. and a public information meeting at 7:30 P. M. The main question at
this point is the use of the property. There was a meeting last Thursday for
the abutters. Sasaki and Associates has been hired for the design of a soccer
field and affordable housing and pockets of community gardens are being
considered. The use of the land will not be specified at this point. There will
be a master plan study completed. Rob Addelson explained that, statutorily,
debt could be 20 years but it should be for a short period — 5 -7 years. The
committee had a discussion about the considerations of debt and for what
period. There were concerns expressed for a period exceeding 7 years and
one member was not in favor of the use of debt to finance the purchase at all.
4. Patriot Partners — Proposed Traffic Mitigation Package. The Selectmen
have not yet taken a position on the traffic mitigation. The Patriot proposal
includes funding for two up front studies — the first is $65,000 for a traffic
study to analyze the corridor. Another is for traffic calming measures on
Shade Street. Patriot will commit $15,000 to study this. They would also
expend up to $75,000 to implement changes. Additionally, there would be
general mitigation payments paid to the Town based on the number of
parking spaces added, which, in a worst case scenario, would be
approximately $1,400,000. There are 5 -6 identified projects that this funding
would be used to cover. Additionally, there is $12,000 annually (in
perpetuity) for Lexpress which is adjusted by the CPI. The Patriot Partners
representative, Robert Buckley, also indicated that they would not build the
building "on spec" but they were in a position to start the approval process
quickly.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:32.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan McLeish
Approved July 6, 2009
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