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Board of Selectmen continued from previous page Work continued in 2002 on the renovation and expansion of Hanscom Field. The Hanscom Area Towns Committee (HATS), which includes Lexington, Concord, Bedford, and Lincoln, worked to monitor planned improvements to the Field. The Board hired a consultant to study the impact of the proposed expansion and coordinate the Town's response to the development process from Massport. Numerous public meetings were held in the area to gather reaction to the draft Environmental Status and Planning Report (ESPR), issued in July 2002. The Board of Selectmen con- tinues to carefully monitor expansion efforts at Hanscom. Town staff and the Board also worked to monitor and supervise the redevelopment plans of the Metropolitan State Hospital property. The year marked the culmination of a decade of nego- tiation between the Commonwealth, neighboring towns, and constituents to reach consensus on the Second Amendment to the Reuse Plan. Under that amendment, actions occurred in 2002 that allowed the Commonwealth and the towns to allow municipalities the ability to redevelop the site. Lexington will begin a process in 2003 with the Commonwealth to choose a developer to construct mixed - income housing on the site. Next year, planning staff will work to develop an appropriate rezon- ing plan with the chosen developer. Throughout the year, the Board considered a host of recom- mendations from the Traffic Safety Advisory Committee and staff to make Lexington's crosswalks, streets, sidewalks, and highways safer while maintaining the integrity of the road sys- tem. A variety of existing and new traffic safety and calming techniques were considered and many implemented. Fiscal As mentioned earlier in the capital section, the Town of Lexington debt exclusion occurred in May. Voters passed a $42.6 million bond issue for the construction of two new ele- mentary schools, Lincoln Park fields, and an aggressive street improvement program. The year also marked significant changes on the fiscal land- scape. In order to balance the FY 2003 budget, large amounts of free cash were necessary to offset increases in health insurance and general expenses. When approved, the FY 2003 budget stood at $115,068,307. New Initiatives This year marked the advent of the Liberty Ride, a guided tour of Lexington's historic places on a route between the National Heritage Museum and the Minuteman National Historical Park. Running from July 8 through October 31, the Liberty Ride served to raise awareness of Lexington's historic sites and past. The Liberty Ride also served to foster cooperation between Lexington's tourism and business communities. Community vol- unteers and donors generously lent their time, resources, and efforts to contribute to the success of the program. Among the many generous donations of time and energy to the Liberty Ride, great thanks go to acclaimed local artist Christopher Bing who donated use of his drawing of Paul Revere for the logo, and the countless hours put in by members of the Tourism Committee. The Board also formed an Electric Utility Ad Hoc Committee to inquire into the possibility of forming a municipal electric util- ity. The Committee found that the community could save con- siderably with a municipal utility, and would be able to gener- ate revenue in the process. A warrant article for $150,000 to fur- ther study the feasibility of this measure will be debated at the 2003 Town Meeting. PAYT The Pay -As- You -Throw (PAYT) program that was implement- ed on July 1, 2001 was discontinued in April 2002 due to a court decision eliminating the fee component of the program. After the court decision, a group of 200 citizens petitioned for a Special Town Meeting to consider a motion to remove the word "free" from the bylaw, thereby, making it legal to re- implement the PAYT program. The motion was passed by the Special Town Meeting. Subsequent to the action of Special Town Meeting, a group of 600 citizens submitted another peti- tion that called for a referendum on the vote of Town Meeting. Consequently, a referendum on Town Meeting's vote was held in June. This referendum overturned the Special Town Meeting action, and so the PAYT program became history. The Board considered reimbursing those residents who purchased barrel labels and tags that were not needed after the April 1 can- cellation of the program, and voted to call a Special Town Meeting in December to ask authorization to refund up to $32.50 per house- hold for unused barrel labels and tags. On December 16, Town Meeting approved the use of up to $327,000 of the Public Works FY03 appropriations for refunds. The impact upon recycling in Lexington from the PAYT program has been a positive one. While the program was in place, the amount of recycled tonnage contin- ued to increase while the amount of trash tonnage decreased. Recycling continues at a higher tonnage today than it had before PAYT. Although the amount of recycling has decreased with the cessation of PAYT, the Town still benefited by $250,000 through reduced tipping fees and the sale of excess trash tonnage. Transitions Board members welcomed Bill Kennedy who gained a seat on the Board of Selectmen at the March 4 election replacing Cathy Abbott whose contributions on human relations and social issues, most notably advocacy for the siting of a Senior Center, will be remembered. As is its custom, the Board reorganized after Town Meeting concluded. This, however, was the year Town Meeting would not end, and the reorganization occurred at the end of June. Leo McSweeney replaced Jeanne Krieger as Chair, ensuring conti- nuity of the open, collaborative financial planning process as well as commitment to long -range planning through the 20/20 Visioning process and Comprehensive Planning efforts which have been central to the deliberations of the previous Board. 2002 Annual Report, Town of Lexington