HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-05-05-AC-minMay 5, 2010
Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee
May 5, 2010
Place and time: Room 207, Town Office Building, 7:30 p.m.
Members present: Alan Levine (Chair), Glenn Parker (Vice - Chair), John Bartenstein
(Vice Chair and Secretary), Rick Eurich, Mollie Garberg, Susan McLeish, Eric
Michelson, Joe Pato, Rob Addelson (ex officio, non - voting)
Also present: Charles Hornig, Dawn McKenna, Joyce Miller, Charles Wyman, Todd
Cataldo, Peter Kelley
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m.
1. Reconsideration of CPA Budget (Article 8). Rob Addelson reviewed with
the Committee proposed amendments to the motion previously passed under Article 8
(FY2011 CPA budget), on reconsideration, to reflect Town Meeting's vote on April 28 to
reduce the amount of CPA funds appropriated for the Town Office Building restoration
project from $1,500,000 to $1,185,000. The amendments would reduce the amount
originally appropriated to the historic resources reserve by $315,000 and shift those funds
to the unbudgeted reserve, bringing the total unbudgeted reserve appropriation to
$431,551. From the unbudgeted reserve, $160,000 would then be applied to the
Minuteman Bikeway preservation project and $271,551 to the Center Playfields
Preservation Drainage project. Administrative expenses of $150,000 would be
appropriated from the CP Fund's undesignated fund balance (the equivalent of free cash)
instead of from the unbudgeted reserve. The Committee voted to support these
amendments by a vote of 8 -0.
There was a consensus that the procedure that has been followed to date of voting
to appropriate CPA revenues into various reserve "buckets" (open space, historical
preservation, community housing, and unbudgeted reserve) in anticipation of subsequent
favorable action on proposed CPA expenditures from those reserves should be revisited
before next year to avoid similar difficulties in the future.
2. Cotton Farm Purchase (Article 9). Charles Wyman and Joyce Miller of the
Conservation Commission, Selectman Peter Kelley, and Town Meeting member Todd
Cataldo made an extensive presentation to the Committee on the history of the
negotiations that had led up to the proposal currently before Town Meeting for the
acquisition, using CPA funds, of the Cotton Farm property on Marrett Road and certain
other property owned by Todd's parents, Robert and Edith Cataldo, for $3.8 million; the
results of two appraisals of the property that the Town had obtained; and reasons they
believed the purchase should go forward. Dawn McKenna also spoke in favor of the
acquisition. Charles Hornig, speaking on his own behalf and not as a member of the
Planning Board, made a presentation on a proposed alternative acquisition involving the
purchase of a smaller amount of land and certain easements and restrictions that he
believed would represent better value for the Town.
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May S, 2010
The Committee asked a number of questions and engaged in a lengthy discussion
of the pro's and con's of the proposed acquisition, the adequacy of the appraisals to
support the negotiated purchase price, potential alternatives for preserving or protecting
this property from development, and the effect that this acquisition would have on the
long -term availability of CPA funds for other projects valued by the community. On a
motion duly made and seconded to support this article, the Committee voted 3 -4 against,
with one abstention, based on the information currently available. Several members
noted that they felt this was a very close question and that their votes might change
depending on further information and arguments presented before the matter was taken
up by Town Meeting on the following Monday, May 10.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:20 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
John Bartenstein
Approved September 22, 2010
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