2023-02-09-AC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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02/09/2023 AC Minutes 3 respond to public health issues as needed, and that the Town would be obliged to provide a drop-off location for those residents who did not wish to contract with a private trash hauler. Mr. Michelson asked if the Town had data on how many residents compost their own yard waste. Mr. Malloy said the Town does not have that data, but that he believes residents should be encour- aged to compost at home because it eliminates transportation costs and pollution associated with curbside composting. Mr. Michelson asked if Black Earth Composting collected any data on the volume or weight of composting material it collected. Mr. Malloy said they probably weighed their trucks, and that the Town might be able to get this data, but he questioned whether this would be useful given the rela- tively small number of curbside composting customers in Lexington. Mr. Levine asked if Black Earth Composting would be used for the pilot program. Mr. Malloy said they would. Mr. Levine noted that as more residents use a curbside service, the driving distance for the provider plateaus, and that this might make it more economical to bring more residents into the pilot program. Mr. Malloy stated that Black Earth Composting charges a fixed annual cost of $110 per household. Black Earth Composting has proposed a lower rate if they were granted access to land in the Town’s composting facility, but that kind of negotiation would likely require an open RFP process. Mr. Levine noted that there are limits on the materials that can be successfully composted at home, but commercial composting services can accept more types of food waste, further reducing the waste stream. The downside is the need to transport the waste to a facility. Mr. Padaki asked if converting to private trash haulers would lead to a reduction in property taxes. Mr. Malloy said he did not think that would be the case, but it was not an issue the Select Board had discussed. Should the Town replace the remaining 354 non-LED streetlights? These are compact fluorescent lamps, which are more energy efficient than the lamps they replaced, but less so than LED lamps. These fixtures were intentionally skipped during the conversion to LEDs. Replacing them all would require a survey of their locations and fixture types. Mr. Malloy would be willing to undertake this in FY2025 if there is a desire to proceed. This would be a good topic to discuss with the Director of Public Works. What is the cost impact of creating a stand-alone Health Department? Mr. Malloy said the cost was minor and resulted from transitioning the Director of the Health De- partment and an assistant. The Director would leave the LMMA union (middle management) to join the senior management team. This position qualifies for a salary in the same range as the Director of Human Resources, and thereby an annual increase of $7,310. The assistant working with the Health Department under the (former) Land Use, Health, and Development Department (LUHD) will be upgraded to Administrative Assistant in the LMEA union, an increase of $5,500, for a total annual increase of $12,810. Mr. Malloy noted that during the height of the pandemic response, the Health Director became a de facto member of senior management, as a necessary participant in many meetings with senior man- agement. It is also more appropriate to have a senior manager consulting with the heads of the Fire and Police department regarding issues that involve the health of residents and staff.