HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-03-08-CEC-min Minutes of the Lexington Capital Expenditures Committee Meeting
Date, Place and Location 3/8/11, 8.00 a.m , Town Office Building, Room 111
Members Present Charles Lamb, Chair, Shirley Stolz, Bill Hurley, David Kanter,
Ted Edson, Vice-Chair
Other Attendees Dawn McKenna, Chair, Tourism Committee (and principal proponent of
2011 Annual Town Meeting Article 34), Glenn Parker, Chair, Appropriation Committee
Document Presented "D RAFT for CEC Consideration for Article 17", March 8, 2011
(extract from pending draft of CEC Report to 2011 Annual Town Meeting)
Mr Lamb called the meeting to order at 8.05 a.m
Article 34 - Approve Battle Green Master Plan
Reference was made to the "Lexington Battle Green Area Draft Master Plan" (Approval
Pending) ("Plan') from Past Designs LLC, dated 3/1/11 Ms McKenna said the Board of
Selectmen (BOS) will discuss the Plan on 3/14/11 and she said a Motion should be ready
this week and she will forwarded it to Mr Lamb Mr Lamb said the Committee's vote is on
the process whereby this Plan is being brought to Town Meeting, not on the Plan
Ms McKenna asked that the Committee rescind their vote recommending Town Meeting
disapprove Article 34 and change the Committee's position to "Pending" While
Ms McKenna said she is working with Selectman Cohen on the wording of the Motion, she
explained her intent is that it include Town Meeting endorsing the general outline of, and
the process proposed in, the Plan and it will include having the Board of Selectmen (BoS)
retain jurisdiction for details of the plan Funding decisions would come back to a future
Town Meeting and no funding is being requested for this year
There was discussion about the project, whether it was effectively nothing more than a
resolution, and what is binding about it. Ms McKenna suggested this is like a policy
statement from Town Meeting
Mr Parker stated the Appropriation Committee decided not to take a position on this
Mr Edson suggested the Committee defer action until it has the Motion The consensus of
the Committee was to leave the matter of a re-vote until its next meeting, March 10th, at
which that Motion is expected to be available
Minutes
Mr Kanter moved to accept the minutes of 3/1/11 as amended Mr Edson seconded the
motion Vote Approved 4-0-1 Mr Kanter will forward final minutes to the Town Clerk.
Committee Report to the 2011 Annual Town Meeting
There was discussion regarding the status of the report and future action for its completion
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Discussion included, among other things, how to present the Committee's position as to the
Town's 5-year capital plan It was agreed that deferred efforts will have their amounts all
slipped one year, without attempting any adjustment for inflation—but that approach would
be footnoted All members were asked to review the Town's version of that plan and advise
where they felt it was incomplete
Article Discussion and Votes
Article 7(b)—Compost Facility Green Waste Study A Motion was made to recommend just
the $16K for field investigation out of the $52K requested, but it was not seconded This
was deferred to Thursday's meeting
Article 8(c)—Leary Property Planning Funds A Motion was made and seconded to
recommend disapproval if this sub-element stays active and, if not, to recommend approval
of Indefinite Postponement. (LexHAB being the developer and covering all future costs is
the issue ) Vote 5-0
Article 8(d)—LexHAB Set-Aside for Housing Acquisition A Motion was made and seconded
to recommend approval Vote 5-0
Article 8(f)—Battle Green Master Plan Implementation A Motion was made and seconded
to recommend approval of $35K, out of the $50K requested, and exclude restoring at this
time the fountain in the Hayes (Minuteman) statue The Committee discussed the merits of
the fountain project for this year Ms McKenna said that if the vote was not made in
support of this funding [and Town Meeting supported that decision], no progress could be
made on the fountain if the BoS should give their approval of the full amount. She
requested the matter be left as pending Vote 2-3 A Motion was made and seconded to
recommend approval of the full $50K. Vote 3-2
Article 8(h)—Muzzey High Condo Association—Window Replacement A Motion was
made and seconded to recommend Indefinite Postponement and if not so moved, to
recommend disapproval Vote Approved 5-0
Article 13(k)—Repair of Fire Station Floor A Motion was made and seconded to
recommend approval conditioned upon CEC being included in the evaluation of the results
from the on-going study before expending any of the funds Vote 5-0
Article 15—Appropriate for Community Center A Motion was made and seconded to
recommend approval of Indefinite Postponement. Vote 5-0
Article 27—Amend General Bylaws—Private Ways Discussed that this applies only to
unaccepted roadways A Motion was made and seconded to recommend approval
Vote 5-0
Article 17—Reduce CPA Surcharge The Committee discussed at length the issues
involved and the draft language proposed to describe them The Committee agreed its
responsibility is to make an objective, non-political recommendation to Town Meeting from
the Committee's perspective regarding what is best for the Town's Capital projects A
Motion was made and seconded to recommend disapproval Vote 5-0
The Committee reviewed existing votes and, unless listed above, they are left as they were
It was specifically mentioned that Articles 19, 20, 21, 25 and 34 are still pending
At 9 45 a.m , a Motion was made by Mr Kanter and seconded by Ms Stolz to adjourn
Vote 5-0
These Minutes were approved by the CEC at its meeting on March 10, 2011
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