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Home My WebLink About1981-11-30-BOS-min 6 t SELECTMEN'S MEETING 11/ November 30, 1981 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, November 30, 1981 at 7 30 p m Chairman Busa, Mrs Battin, Mrs Miley, Mr Crain and Mr Politi; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Miss Casey, Executive Clerk, were present Mr James Russell of the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen & Co Auditors' met with the Board to present the financial statements of the Town as of Report June 30, 1981 together with the auditors' report He informed the Board that the Bureau of Accounts had completed the development of a Uniform Massachusetts Accounting System encompassing most of the accounting practices considered desirable by most of the other states As of July 1, 1981 all Massachusetts municipalities can volun- tarily adopt UMAS Mr Russell pointed out that the report indicated that the Town follows accounting policies prescribed by the Commonwealth with the ex- ception of employee pension expenses funding, which the firm feels should be determined by acturatia]methods instead of the cash or "pay-as-you-go" method used by the Town and lack of capitalizing the cost of fixed assets Mr Russell commended the Board, however, for continuing to fund the sup- plementary pension account despite the restrictions imposed by "2 1/2" The report recommended that the Trustees of Public Trusts consider a review of the Trust Fund portfolios Mr Russell stated that he felt that it was important to measure the performance of the various trust funds and focus on opportunities that might be existing to improve the performance He stated that there may be opportunities to look at the restrictions atten- ded to some of the donations that have been made to the Town with the view to seeing if the return can be improved Mr Russell noted that the audit disclosed no material weaknesses within the accounting practices and controls within the financial sector of the Town and commended the Town for adopting the new statutory system. The Chairman thanked Mr Russell and Mr Perry for the report and they retired from the meeting The Manager requested the authorization of the Board to appear be- Police & fore the Appropriation Committee to discuss the need for a transfer from Fire Dept the Reserve Fund for the Police and Fire Departments overtime requests Overtime He explained the critical situation due to vacancies, retirements and ill- nesses and presented four options as suggestions to be presented to the Appropriation Committee Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Manager to appear before the Appropriation Committee and discuss the op- tions to meet the overtime needs for the Police and Fire Departments Chief Bergeron appeared before the Board to give a report on the Lynn fire in which the Lexington firemen assisted The Chief commended - 2 the firemen who assisted in the ten-alarm fire He noted that the Mutual Aid Agreement system of thirty-four cities and towns, of which Lexington is a member, played an important role in containing the fire He explained that the agreement had been updated and changed on Friday The Manager requested the approval of the Board for himself and the Chief and the Chairman of the Board to execute the agreement Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Mama- ' ger, the Fire Chief and the Chairman of the Board to execute the revised Mutual Aid Agreement The Chairman commended the Lexington firefighters who participated in the Lynn fire and thanked the Chief for the report He retired from the meeting Rep Doran Representative Doran met with the Board to discuss current legislation having an impact on the Town's operations He informed the Board that there are amendments which are being considered to modify the law, passed earlier this year, transferring the jurisdiction for collecting parking fines from the courts to the local governments as of January 1, 1982 Passage of one of the amendments would eliminate the necessity of a Special Town Meeting in order to implement the new parking regulations for the Town After further discussion on current issues, the Chairman thanked Representative Doran for his monthly presentations since his election and he retired from the meeting Sewer Bett Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Deferrments following sewer betterment deferrments Name Amount G C C Communications of Boston $6714 25 200 Clarendon St , Boston The Commonwealth of Massachusetts 2349 36 Metropolitan State Hospital 475 Trapelo Rd , Waltham James A. Wilson 3616 12 36 Fern St , Lexington Five Fields, Inc 300 60 Concord Ave /Barberry Road Conserv Com Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Mana- Appt ger's appointment of John Eddison, Nickerson Road, to the Conservation Com- mission to fill the vacancy left by Frank Fields Term to expire on April 1, 1982 The Board discussed the. precedure for placing traffic safety items on the Selectmen's agenda and it was Mrs Battin's interpretation that citizens were to be notified by both the Traffic Safety Committee and the Board of Selectmen when their items were to be discussed The Manager suggested that I 21 - 3 - Selectmen's Meeting November 30, 1981 11/ the Board table the three traffic safety items on the agenda and he would discuss the matter with the Traffic Safety Committee and report back to the Board Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the follow- ing items on the Selectmen's agenda Request from Joseph S Broussard to relocate bus stop at Percy Road/Mass Avenue Request from residents of Smith Avenue for crosswalk at Smith Avenue/Follen Road Request of Lawrence J Kipp for guardrail or other safety measure at 517 Mass Avenue Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to ratify the tele- One Day phone poll vote to issue a One Day Liquor License to RAEDACC Assoc of Liquor W R. Grace & Company for November 30, 1981 Mr Politi abstained Lic Upon motion duly made and seconded, Mr Politi abstaining, it was Permit voted to grant permission to the Lexington School Committee to serve wine or a wine punch at Diamond Junior High School on December 6 at an open house testimonial for Dr John H Lawson Upon motion duly made and seconded, Mr Politi abstaining, it was One Day voted to approve issuance of One Day Liquor Licenses to St Brigid's Liq Lic Parish for December 13 and December 31, 1981 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permis- Battle sion to Action for Soviet Jewry, Inc for use of the Battle Green on Green Sunday afternoon, December 20, 1981 to sponsor a Chanukah pageant Upon motion duly made and seconded, Mr Politi abstaining, it was Liquor voted to approve the following liquor license renewals Lic Rens Vinebrook Corporation Busa Bros Liquors, Inc 1775 Wine & Spirit Shop Berman's Market, Inc Lexington Liquor Mart LeBellecour Restaurant Peking Gardens Restaurant Bora-Bora Restaurant Bel Canto Restaurant Guenther's Restaurant Yangtze River Restaurant Sheraton-Lexington Inn Lexington Council No 94 Lexington Golf Club Knights of Columbus Lexington Lodge of Elks #2204 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Minutes minutes of the Selectmen's Meeting of November 16, 1981 Sewer Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve abate- Abatements ments for the following sewer assessments Bird Hill Road Pleasant Street Hayward Avenue Rockville Avenue Lowell Street Somerset Road Human Sery Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint the Com. Appts following members to the Human Services Committee NAME TERM Stephen Baran, Chairman May 31, 1983 Roberta Black Stanley Finkelstein Howard Reynolds Ilene White Nancy Zarle Thomas Zarle " Judith Zabin " " Ruth Nablo May 31, 1982 Planning Bd The Board discussed the possibility of insertion of an article in the Term warrant to amend the term of the Planning Board members from five years to three The issue was surfaced last year as a result of (last of interest on the part of citizens to run for membership on the Planning Board After discussion it was decided to invite the Planning Board and any interested citizens to attend the next meeting to discuss the issue Lex Visiting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign a proclama- Nurse Assoc tion in recognition of 80 years of service to the community by the Lexington Proclamation Visiting Nurse Week and proclaim November 30 as Lexington Visiting Nurse Week. Sanborn Brown The Board paid tribute to former selectman, Sanborn Brown, who died in Henniker, New Hampshire on Sunday Executive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0 by roll call vote, Session Mr Busa, Mrs Battin, Mrs Miley, Mr Crain and Mr Politi, to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing possible real estate trans- actions Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 9 45 P M A true record, Attest ( L27 Executive Clerk