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Meeting of the Lincoln Finance Committee
December 11, 2008
Present: P. Braun, S. Haber, M. Hartman, J. Koenig, E. Shorb, L. Sander, R. Steinbrook (chair)
Absent:
Minutes submitted by: R. Steinbrook
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm in Lincoln Town Hall.
The committee held a joint meeting with the Capital Planning Committee (CPC) to review the FY '10 Capital Plan. Colleen Wilkins, Lincoln finance director, also attended and participated. Projects currently recommended for funding total about $450,000, including $85,000 for public works, $40,000 for the fire department, $60,000 for the police department, $53,500 for information technology, and $212,250 for the K-8 schools. The school field house roof project ($230,000) was recommended for funding as a capital exclusion. Recommended amounts for maintenance articles are $125,000 (schools), $83,000 (town) and $27,000 (library). There will be further review of the recommendations. The Finance Committee requested that the CPC discuss the public works projects with the Town
and present further information and analysis regarding their rationale, prioritization, and whether the "pavement repair/crack sealing" item might more appropriately be considered maintenance, and funded out of the Town operating budget or the Town maintenance warrant article. The committee also requested that the CPC and the finance director further analyze the proposed multi-year "curtain walls" project at the Hartwell building on the Lincoln Public School Campus. This may be considered for bond-financing and debt exclusion.
The committee was joined by members of the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School Committee, Judith Belliveau, director of finance and operations at LSRHS, and Gary Taylor of the Lincoln Board of Selectman to discuss the recommendations of the Sudbury Budget Review Task Force with respect to expense reduction, relating to the regional high school. These recommendations include: (1) consolidating the administration of LSRHS and the Sudbury Public Schools without requesting approval from Lincoln: (2) forming a committee to consider the feasibility of expanding the Lincoln-Sudbury regional school district to include high school students from Wayland: and (3) forming a committee to explore the feasibility of regionalizing the Lincoln and Sudbury school districts into one K-12 school
district. The Budget Review Task Force will present these recommendations at a joint meeting of the Sudbury Finance Committee and the Sudbury Board of Selectman on December 15, 2008. Members of the Lincoln Finance Committee will attend this meeting.
The committee discussed the Affordable Housing Trust, LSRHS, and the Lincoln Public Schools. It also discussed the composition of the committee after the FY '10 Town Meeting, and the meeting schedule for January.
The minutes of the meeting of November 13, 2008 were approved.
The committee next meets on Tuesday January 6, 2009.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 pm.
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