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Town Manager continued from previous page Trash and recycling continued to be collected at the curb each week without use of yellow bag tags or barrel labels. Residents will continue to dispose of one bulky item per week at no charge. A bulky item is defined as a trash item (e.g., sofa, mat- tress and box spring, auto tire without rim, furniture, barbeque grill without propane tank, lawn mower, storm window) that doesn't fit in a trash bag or barrel. The Town schedules 14 special curbside collections of leaf and yard waste throughout the year. Curbside yard waste collections start the first week of October and continue through the first week of December. Over the past several years, the efforts of Lexingtonians to reduce trash and increase recycling have been outstanding. With the June 24 PAYT referendum decision behind us, the Town may now go forward with a solid waste and recycling educational program that will provide long -term environmental and economic benefits. The Town will continue to strive to improve its solid waste and recycling program. A High- Performance Organization The staff's effort at working more collaboratively to maximize the human resources within the organization expanded beyond the Senior Management Team concept initiated in 1992. The Management Strategies Group (MSG), a group of 10 middle managers, began to assert itself in 1999. The group, consisting of representatives from every department within the organiza- tion, has provided valuable feedback to the organization's strategic plan and had considerable input into the creation of a communication strategy within the organization and to the citi- zens at large through the Town's first internal and external newsletters. In addition, some valuable feedback and input has been received from this group that has caused us to rethink our compensation and employee performance review systems. The Senior Management Team continued to make major contri- butions to the quality of decision - making in Town. Members are: Assistant Town Manager, Financial Director, Public Works Director, Town Clerk, Recreation Director, Police Chief, Fire Chief, Community Development Director, Planning Director, Library Director, Social Services Director, MIS Coordinator, Management Analyst, and Town Manager. The group develops budgets, strategies, planning, and all major policy recommen- dations; it reviews all major personnel decisions and recom- mendations. Together, we hope to continue to reshape and sharpen our vision regarding the performance of the organiza- tion and the service it provides to our citizens . Through our work, it is hoped that this vision can be embraced by all town employees throughout the organization. The major goal and purpose of our collaborative decision - making efforts is to encourage continuous learning as a primary value for employ- ees within the organization; to develop a flexible and adaptable work force ready and able to serve the needs of our citizens; to promote effective communication so that all inside and outside of the organization have a clear understanding of the mission of the organization, the department, and the activity at hand; and finally to encourage our employees to be proactive in solving problems at the levels of the organization in which they occur without requiring the oversight or assistance of the supervisory or management team. The staff has just begun to develop a system of performance measurement and is in the process of developing an evaluation protocol to determine how, when, and where are the best ser- vices and projects to use performance measurement. Performance measures were included in the fiscal year 2002 budget for the first time. A thoughtful and targeted performance measurement system should be very helpful to the staff and elected officials in determining future projects. Over 60 cross - functional project teams operated during 2002. The Senior Management Team largely focused its attention on leadership and developing decision - making processes. Developing a system for measuring performance and develop- ing an implementation plan for the 2020 Strategic Plan took much of the Senior Management Team's attention. The Management Strategies Group's attention for 2002 focused on developing a safer work environment and the Employee Strategy Group worked on enhancing the organization's efforts relating to wellness , health and fitness. The Financial Software Conversion, Wage and Compensation, Internal Newsletter, Project Management Steering Committee, No Place for Hate Steering Committee, and Budget Team efforts were particularly successful. Town staff played major roles managing construction activities in Town. Specifically, teams were created to help coordinate, plan and support construction activities for the Cary Memorial Library, Depot Square, the Secondary School projects and sev- eral smaller less visible projects that have added a quality dimension to life in Lexington. Strategic Planning Although the Town's strategic planning effort is chronicled elsewhere in this report, it is important to note one significant action that has tremendous promise for Lexington's administra- tive future. Key leaders from the municipal and school depart- ments met throughout 2002 in an effort to join forces to plan and implement many of the recommendations within the Strategic Planning Report. This one effort has produced immense results and the two staffs have accelerated efforts to look at areas where increased cooperation will result in more economy and effectiveness in the delivery of town services. Personnel and Collective Bargaining The Town Manager's office and organizational staff worked close- ly with the Personnel Advisory Board (PAB) in accomplishing sev- eral human resource projects. The projects are in alignment with the goals of the human resource department to attract a high -per- formance workforce by recruiting and hiring the best possible applicants and properly orienting new employees. continued on next page Page 8 2002 Annual Report, Town of Lexington