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April 4, 2011
Minutes
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee
April 4, 2011
Time and location: Ellen Stone Room, Cary Hall, 6:45 p.m.
Members present: Glenn Parker, Chair; John Bartenstein, Vice Chair and Secretary;
Joe Pato, Vice Chair; Robert Cohen; Mollie Garberg; Alan Levine; Eric Michelson;
Susan McLeish; Richard Neumeier; Rob Addelson (non-voting, ex officio)
Also present: Micah Niemy, Budget Officer
The meeting was called to order at 6:50 p.m.
Reserve Transfer for PCB Mitigation
1.. Following up on a discussion with
Facilities Director Pat Goddard at the Committee’s meeting on March 14, 2011,Micah
Niemy addressed the question whether further Committee action isrequired to approve
the use of $41,000 remaining from the PCB remediation effort at EstabrookSchool for
related work now being undertaken at the Bridge School. He distributed a spreadsheet
showing thatthe $400k transferred by the Appropriation Committee from the Reserve
Fund for use at Estabrook was fully spent prior to the appropriation made at the
November 2010 Special Town Meeting. The balance in the DPF budget of $41,260
represents unused funds appropriated at the Special Town Meeting for use by the
Department of Public Facilities that were not restricted to the Estabrook PCB mitigation
project. Under the circumstances, it was agreed that there is no need for the Committee
to act. Any unused funds will flow to free cash at the end of the fiscal year.
Article Discussion and Presentations.
2.The Committee discussedseveral
warrant articles expected to come up later in the evening at Town Meeting and the
presentationsto be made, including:
Articles 37 and 38 –Commercial and Residential Assessments. Ms. McLeish changed
her abstention to a no vote on Article 37. Final vote on Article 37 is now: 4-5-0. The
Committee discussed the presentation of majority and minority positions on both
Articles 37 and 38, the validityof the data presented in support of the articles,what
additional information might supportmore persuasively the relief requested, and what
procedures might be followed to develop such information if the matter were
disapproved at this year’s Annual Town Meeting. Mr. Addelson reported that the Board
of Assessors had voted to recommend disapproval ofArticle 37: 0-2-1 and Article38: 0-
3-0. The Committee briefly discussed assessment methods as well as concerns and
issues with the requests being made through these articles.
Article 24 –Amend FY2011 Operating and Enterprise Budgets. Mr. Addelson
summarized proposed amendments tothe FY2011 operating budgets, including a
decrease in the health benefits budget of $65,000, an increase in the unemployment
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insurance budget of $60,000, an increase in the Human Services budget of $5,000 for
increased veterans’ assistance costs, and anappropriation to the public works budget
of $242,036 in free cash (representing $200,000 that had originally been set aside as a
hedge against possible FY2011 shortfalls and an additional $42kfreed up by the
application to municipal capital projects under Article 10 of excess bond proceeds from
prior-year projects). A motion was made and seconded to recommend approval of
Article 24. Vote: Approved 9-0-0.
Article 4 –FY12 Operating Budget–Motion to Reconsider Amendment to Create Fiscal
Impact Study Committee. The Committee discussed the additional funds ($20k)
suggested by Town Manager Carl Valente for an outside consultant, and the added
demands on of staff time,in the event that a sub-committee to improve financial liability
analysis was formed per the motion to amend Article 4. No vote was taken at this time
as Committee members wished to hear the debate at Town Meetingbefore taking a
position.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
A list of documents and exhibits used at the meeting is attached.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrea Yepez
Recording Secretary
Approved April 20, 2011
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April 4, 2011
Exhibits
Town of Lexington Appropriation Committee
April 4, 2011
1.Meeting Agenda posted by Glenn Parker, Chair.
2.PCB Mitigation Spreadsheet showing total projections asof 3/11/2011distributed by
Micah Niemy, Budget Officer.
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