Over a month after Town Meeting commenced its annual session on March 30, the group finally wrapped things up on Monday night.
The reps. passed motions under seven different articles on Monday. The new changes include asking the town to adjust the date of local elections, installing electric vehicle chargers at the Lexington Police Station, and more.
Here’s what the group got into Monday night:
Article 7: EV chargers at the police station
This is a recurring article, meaning that every year, Article 7 has to do with appropriating some amount of money for the town to put toward sustainability projects. This year, that sustainability project is installing EV chargers at the police station to charge electric police cruisers.
The motion specifically asks the town to appropriate $463,000 to install two Level 3 chargers and two Level 2 chargers. Level 2 chargers are what most residences have. They can charge an EV overnight or during the length of an average work day. Level 3 chargers are much more powerful and can charge a vehicle in about 30 minutes.
LPD currently has five electric vehicles. The town’s Fleet Electrification Policy requires it to replace gas-powered cars with EVs whenever possible. By transitioning LPD’s fleet of cruisers from gas-powered to electric, with the help of the chargers this article suggests the town invest in, Lexington could save over $100,000 a year, Maggie Peard, Lexington’s Sustainability and Resilience Officer, explained.
If the project comes in under budget, the extra money would go toward other sustainable projects, Peard noted.
Town Meeting member Nicola Sykes, of Precinct 8, asked where the charges would be located and whether they’d be open to the public. Peard noted the chargers would be located inside the LPD garage and would only be used to charge LPD cruisers — not resident cars or officers’ personal vehicles.
Town Meeting member Andrei Radulescu Banu, of Precinct 8, did not understand why the cost of the chargers is so high, noting he had a Level 2 charger installed at his house for about $5,000. For the same reason, he asked about the town’s procurement process.
In response, Peard attributed the high cost to installing a few higher tech chargers, having to update electrical infrastructure in the building to accommodate the chargers, and more.
Town Meeting member Bridger McGaw, of Precinct 6, argued the EV chargers are a good investment for the town, referencing the roughly $100,000 per year of annual savings Peard outlined.
“The payoff that you just saw, that’s real,” he said.
The motion under Article 7 passed with about 97 percent support.
Article 33: Universal design resolution
The motion under this article, which was brought on by the town’s Commission on Disability, asks Lexington to make a nonbinding resolution to consider universal design (creating environments that are accessible to people of all abilities) when working with developers to build housing.
A few members took issue with this Article — not because they are against universal design, but because they don’t like how the motion was written.
Kenneth Shine, of Precinct 2, said he’s against nonbinding resolutions, arguing that if something is important, it should be binding, and if not, it shouldn’t exist.
“I’m also disturbed the Article is both vague and broad,” he said.
Town Meeting member Avram Baskin said he would vote no because the article is unnecessary. We already do this, he said.
Vicki Blier, of Precinct 9, worried passing the motion could negatively affect the development process because the wording is “vague.”
In response to skepticism, Victoria Buckley, chair of the Commission on Disability, explained that making accommodations for disabled people is “wonderful,” but when accommodations are built into a structure instead of added on, “that’s when people feel truly welcome.”
“The main thing is that everybody goes in the same way, everybody goes out the same way,” Buckley said. “That’s a much more welcoming place.”
The Article passed with about 76 percent support.
Article 30: Change annual election date
The idea here is to change the date of Lexington’s annual election to a Tuesday instead of Monday.
Bob Avallone, a Town Meeting member from Precinct 8, voiced his support of the change, arguing it could result in better voter turnout because Americans are used to voting on Tuesdays. Streamlining voting in this matter could also mitigate confusion for new citizens who are voting for the first time, he noted.
“Most people that I’m aware of, outside of Lexington’s obit, are used to voting on a Tuesday,” Town Meeting member, Jesse Steigerwald, of Precinct 8, said in agreement with Avallone’s remark.
Alessandro Alessandrini, a Town Meeting rep. from Precinct 4, argued moving the town election to a Saturday could result in better voter turnout.
Asked why the town is not moving election day to a Saturday, Select Board member Vineeta Kumar said she “did not hear through the research that Saturday was [a day people wanted].”
The Article passed with about 92 percent support.
Other Articles:
The group revisited Article 11a, which asks the town to invest in new landscaping equipment for Pine Meadows Golf Course. The Article was first taken up at a prior meeting but revisited after Town Meeting member Alex Tsouvalas, of Precinct 5, motioned to reconsider the Article because he worried about the types of chemicals the new equipment could spread. Upon reconsideration, Select Board member Doug Lucente clarified this article is only about the equipment, not the chemicals used with the equipment. He also clarified that the chemicals the town uses with the equipment follow state guidelines. In the end, the Article passed with about 82 percent support.
The group passed Article 24, which asks Lexington to adopt a state program that would allow residents to contribute to their elderly and disabled neighbors’ taxes if they want to. That Article passed with about 98 percent support. They passed Article 6, which asks the town to amend the fiscal year 2026 operating budget by adding more funds to cover legal expenses (due to increased public records requests and consultation with Boards and Committees, among other things) and snow removal. That motion passed with 100 percent support. And finally, the group passed Article 9, which asks the town to appropriate money for revolving funds, which passed with 100 percent support.
The meeting dissolved about an hour early, at 9:30 p.m.
That’s all for this year’s annual Town Meeting!