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Home My WebLink About1973-11-12-AC-MIN.pdf APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE DATE: November 12, 1973 TIME: 7:30 P.M. PLACE: Town Office Building PRESENT: Edward E. Furash, Chairman, Jack L. Mitchell, Vice Chairman, Donald B. White, Vice Chairman, Elizabeth M. Flynn, Secretary, J. H. Blaisdell, Levi Burnell, Howard L. Levingston, Richard M. Perry, Comptroller OBSERVER : Mrs. Elizabeth Haynes - League of Women Voters I . GENERAL DISCUSSION a. Chairman Furash reviewed with the Committee the letters he sent to Selectman Kenney and Lexington School Committee Chairman Frick. The subject of these letters dealt with Collective Bargaining (copy attached) . The Chairman requested Mr. White to ask Mr. Frick if he would object if this letter was made public. b. Police Chief's Presentation: The Chairman asked members of the Committee if they in fact had any comments regarding the presentation. Vice Chairman Mitchell stated that he felt it was a mere "dream list" . Chairman Furash was of the opinion that the Chief did not give him a direct answer when asked: what section of town was uncovered when officers are called to another?, what is real response time?, what are frequency of calls? are they grouped into any one particular time of day? what amount of time is spent on court coverage? The Chairman made it very clear that he feels the Chief is doing a good job, however, we must probe into the necessity of adding 5 new people. Don White added that he saw it to be an excellent presentation regarding the cadets and wondered if it would be possible to add any to force. c . Trip to Town Barn: Chairman Furash was highly impressed with the very clean appearance he found. However, there is a definite problem here namely "vandelism" . Mr. Burnell stated he felt very strongly that something must be done to correct this situation, such as fencing. As of now it is a necessity to put away any equipment that might be carried off and by doing this much time is spent out of a days work. Mr. Blaisdell brought up the idea of possibly posting a guard. It was noted that Town Manager O'Connell is looking into the possibility of storing some equipment at Hanscom Field. Chairman Furash asked if Mr. Burnell would keep abreast of the DPW situation. The Chairman felt that this was a very worthwhile tour and was extremely happy with the amount of work which has been done and the fine condition the equipment was in. Some of the snow removal equipment should be replaced; in some instances the necessary parts cannot be purchased because of outdated equip- ment; 3 more sanders are needed; the Town Manager was asked 37 to seek out the actual cost of outside contractors doing the necessary salting and sanding. The Chairman made it clear that before any decisions regarding new equipment are made actual dollars and cents figures would have to be seen. d. Pool: In the opinion of the Chairman, he failed to understand how the Town has allowed the present filtering system to exist at the pool. There were two requests made : 1. New Pool totally separate from existing facility. 2. Upgrading present one - rough figures $300,000 - $400,000. e. Sidewalks: repaving is very necessary in many spots. f. Parking Lot: It was the general feeling that with the ,,..r small amount of money available, the Town did an excellent job. g. Unaccepted Streets: Mr. Burnell feels that all streets should be accepted. This issue should be taken care of as soon as possible the Chairman stated. h. Sewerage: a request has been made of the Board of Selectmen as to the completion of the sewer program. It was noted that in 1967 J. Carroll promised that this would be completed by 1972; now it has been pushed up to 1975 -- just what is schedule? i. Drain Plans Vice Chairman Mitchell made the request for a drain plan that as yet has not been completed -- what is the status of such? II . PRELIMINARY CAPITAL BUDGET -- PRELIMINARY EXPENSE BUDGET The above budgets were received from the Town Manager and reviewed very briefly. The Chairman requested that all Committee members review them during the coming week. Mr. Perry was asked by Chairman Furash to make up a "first cut" model; 5.5% Town Government - 4% on Town Expense. The Chairman made the point that there should be no new people added in any Town Departments. As for school budgeting: 3% on school budget, 4$ on expenses. Reserve Fund: $125,000 E&D: $500,000 Upon motions duly made and seconded EXECUTIVE SESSION was VOTED at 9:00 P.M. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, November 19, 1973 at 7:30 P.M. Meeting was adjourned at 9:25 P.M. R -spectfully submitted, , iz eth M. Flynn/mo'b __ S cretary °5,�aRh'� TOWN OF LEXINGTON Oa0 !3. CO 3 p x_3, Massachusetts 4 \ J_,o A S ZV,n, " �'" Appropriation Committee �ek»�To., � ._ November 12, 1973 Mr. Frederick C. Frick, Chairman Lexington School Committee Town Office Building Lexington, MA 02173 Dear Fred: Throughout our various discussions of the school budget, I think one matter has become clear to both of us : the most significant factor in the annual budget increase comes from changes in the level of teachers salaries. And as a con- sequence, the agreements reached between the School Commit- tee and the Lexington Education Association in collective bargaining become one of the major components in our tax rate. The Appropriation Committee has given this subject much discussion, and we have concluded that the citizens of Lexington should be better informed about the nature and con- tent of your negotiations with the LEA. As a first step, we believe that your committee should make public the initial proposals submitted by the LEA. In this way the public would be informed early of the extent of their requests and how these demands relate to the final settlement. We also believe that in the absence of open negotiations , periodic progress reports should be provided to both our com- mittee and the public at large. We firmly believe that a more wide-ranging awareness of the extent and content of the collec- tive bargaining process will enable our fellow townspeople to judge for themselves the reasonableness of the requests and validity of the ultimate settlement. We are not asking for this public disclosure from your commit- tee alone, but are making a similar request to the Board of Selectmen in relation to their union collective bargaining as well . We ask that you give this matter your most serious consideration. Yours truly, le;4tei-tert, et,-(4z,..0 Edward E. Furash Chairman EEF/w S.M73 TOWN OF LEXINGTON i), oQ� 173 9 e „r 7jMassachusetts xi • i ani '""'°'" Appropriation Committee ��XING tU%� November 12 , 1973 Mr. Allan F. Kenney, Chairman Board of Selectmen Town Office Building Lexington, MA 02173 Dear Allan: For several months, the Appropriation Committee has discussed the need for better public information on the nature and ex- tent of town collective bargaining activities . We are, there- fore, asking all boards and committees that engage in collec- tive bargaining with a union to undertake a public information program that will make the taxpayers more aware of the salary factors that impact so heavily on their tax rate. As a first step, we would like your board to make public the initial proposals received from unions which deal with your board. Following this, and in the absence of open negotiations , we would ask that your board provide our committee and the public with periodic progress reports . In this way the relationship be- tween initial demands and final settlement will be better known and the taxpayers can perceive the validity of the settlements more clearly. As I noted, we are asking for this public disclosure from other boards and committees as well, including the School Committee 's negotiations with the LEA. We hope that you will give this matter your most thoughtful consideration. Yours truly, Edward E. Furash EEF/w