Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-03-09-BOS-min 99 c4 e Jo` SELECTMEN'S MEETING March 9, 1981 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, March 9, 1981 at 7 30 p m. Chairman Miley, Mrs Battin, Mr Crain and Mr Politi; Mr Hut- chinson, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager; Miss Casey, Executive Clerk were present The Chairman convened the meeting and called upon Mr John J Wholey, N E Tel Communication Systems Representative of the New England Telephone Company Public Mr Wholey presented to the Board his recommendations for providing better Phones telephone service in the Center He recommended one intermediate size walk-up enclosure in the Meriam Street parking lot instead of the current three He also recommended installation of one coin operated public tele- phone and one Charge-a-Call coinless public telephone in front of CVS on Mass Avenue sidewalk; one coin operated public telephone in front of 1775 Mass Avenue on sidewalk and one coin operated and one Charge-a-Call in front of Depot Square on sidewalk at MBTA stop. This would be a total of six walk-up enclosures in the Center Mr Wholey explained that the Town would receive a monthly commission check based on usage - 20% of the coins in the pay boxes and for the Charge- a Call coinless phone the associated coin box usage would have 25% add- itional applied A question was raised regarding the Historic Districts approval of such installations The Chairman stated that the Board would have juris- diction as to what phones were to be installed but the Historic Districts Commission would have to approve the design Mr Politi pointed out to the Board that the Histories Districts had opposed to any public phones in the Center and that was the reason that the Meriam Street location had been chosen in the past Mr Hutchinson stated that objections had been received from others including the owners of the 1775 Wine & Spirits Shop Mr Wholey explained that the reason for requesting sidewalk phones was to save time for the potential users i e rather than have to use time to ask where a public phone is located it would be right on the sidewalk Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the re- quest of the N E Telephone Company to install six public telephones in the Center until the Board has further reviewed the proposal Mr Crain did not participate in any of the deliberations or voting by the Board in this matter Mr Wholey thanked the Board and retired from the meeting Mr Frank Parrish, Chairman of the Retirement Board appeared before Retirement the Board to discuss its report on Past Service Pension Liabilities He Board stated that unfunded pension liabilities will be something that will re- occur as time goes on and should be addressed, but that at the present time there was no emergency Mr Crain suggested that a specific reaction of our auditors would be helpful at the end of this year's audit and address the problem again when Proposition 2 1/2 is clarified more - 2 - 4p0 Mr Hutchinson asked if there was a limitation on the investment fig- ures that could be pursued and if it should be changed on a statute basis Mr Parrish replied that there was a limitation and it should be changed because, in many communities the people that would be handling the money were not professional people and some restrictions would be good as the approved list of the State is not monitored closely Mr Crain was in favor of pushing hard for more flexibility in mak- ing investments to be able to get more of a return Mr Parrish suggested that the Board consider the restructure of the present law in regard to disability of Town employees He felt that it was too "open ended " He stressed that he did not mean taking away the Town employees benefits but there has been more filings than ever before Mr Parrish also suggested that an appraisal of all of the Town's assets should be made, specifically town owned land that may never be used The knowledge of the value of assets would be helpful if the Town is forced to fund past services The Chairman thanked Mr Parrish and his Commitee for the work put into the report and he retired from the meeting Rep Doran Representative Doran met with the Board on his second of monthly meetings here He expressed his appreciation to the Board, Manager and others for having communicated with him relative to Town matters during the past seven weeks He stated that he welcomed any opportunity to serve the Town and would be available at any time by contacting his office The Representative updated the Board relative to legislation on County matters He referred to the Middlesex County budget which is expected to be in on Wednesday He is proposing a 15% cut and is supported by the Middle- sex County Advisory Board and Mass Selectmen's Association A group of 111Middlesex County legislators will be meeting on Wednesday with Commissioner Larkin to discuss the passage of a minority budget Of particular interest to Lexington was information regarding the closing of the Metropolitan State Hospital Rep Doran and Representatives of Belmont and Waltham will meet with Byron Matthews to discuss the matter He felt that this will be something for the Town to keep abreast of as a number of developers have expressed interest in the property He will keep the Board informed Rep Doran informed the Board that he had appeared before the House Committee on Local Affairs and introduced a bill that would authorize com- munities to enter into multi-year agreements on transportation systems The Committee recommended that the bill be passed and it will be redrafted and sent to the House for initial approval soon He hoped that it would be in time for the Transportation Committee to pursue a multi-year contract for LEXPRESS if they so desired Other legislation referred to by the Representative allowed cities and towns to set fees for licenses, permits etc that actually reflect the process and inspection costs; return to cities and towns all revenue for parking violations and legislation to repeal the mandate that towns must employ a full time veteran'a agent and make it an option The Chairman thanked Rep Doran for keeping the Board informed and he retired from the meeting Appr Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Mr Richard Comptroller M Perry as Comptroller for the Town for a term to expire March 31, 1984 - 3 - Li0i Selectmen's Meeting March 9, 1981 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the res- Resignation ignation of Howard C Nason, Associate Member of the Historic Districts Historic Commission effective March 9, 1981 Districts Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Appt Mrs Molly Nye as Associate Member of the Historic Districts Commission Historic (representing the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society to fill the unexpired Districts term of Howard C Nason to January 1, 1983 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the re- License newal of Auctioneer License for Stephen W Kreide Auctioneer Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve issuance One Day of One Day Liquor License for St Brigid's Parish for dance on March 16 Liquor until Midnight License Mr Politi abstained from voting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission LHS Football to the Lexington High School Football Boosters Club to present the High Town Meeting School Football team to members at Town Meeting on March 16, subject to the approval of Town Meeting Members Association Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the re- League of quest from the League of Women Voters to sell information material in Cary Women Voters Hall during Town Meeting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Stop Sign recommendation of the Traffic Safety Committee for the installation of a Hayes Ave/ "Stop" sign at the intersection of Hayes Avenue westbound at Hancock Hancock St Street Upon motion duly made and seconded, Mr Politi abstaining, it was Minutes voted to approve the minutes of the Selectmen's Meetings of November 24 and December 8, 1980 The Board met with Mrs Erne Greene, Chairman of the Town Report Town Report Committee who presented to the Board copies of the 1980 Town Report Mrs Greene thanked the Board for its early decision on the Committee's budget which enabled the Committee to plan She thanked her Committee members for the superb job each had done and for the help received from members of the clerical staff at the Town Office Building Due to cuts in the budget, this is the first year that the report will not be de- livered to each home There are 1500 copies available to residents who desire to have one A letter was written to the Boy Scouts who had vol- unteered to deliver the reports to thank them and suggest that perhaps they would be called upon for some other service The Chairman thanked Mrs Greene and her Committee for doing such an expert job with limited funds Mrs Greene retired from the meeting - 4 Police The Board met with Dr Charles Dailey of the Personnel Advisory Board, Officer William Petrino, President of the Lexington Police Union, Lt Charles Withrow and other members of the Police Department The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Article 7 "Revocation of Civil Service for Future Police Officers" on the 1981 Annual Town Warrant This article had been on the warrant for the Special Town Meeting of January 26, 1981 and was postponed indefinitely The Board had requested a report from the Personnel Advisory Board before making its decision to present to Town Meeting Dr Dailey presented the report which, essentially, calls for the Board to go forward to Town Meeting with the approval of the rescission of the artic.lewith the following conditions 1 The Town will contract with the present Civil Service Commission for a continuation of present methods and services pending the development of a Town plan to substitute for matters such as re- cruitment, selection, discipline, performance and grievances 2 The Town plan must be submitted finally for the approval of the Board of Selectmen which shall consider the recommendation of the Town Manager and report of the Personnel Advisory Board 3 An information report must be submitted to the 1982 Town Meeting by the Board of Selectmen indicating a summary of the Town plan and study, the date and plans for implementation and any relevant consideration included in the study This report shall be pub- licized and be available to the public at least one month before the opening of the 1982 Town Meeting Dr Dailey stated that he had interviewed a number of police officers about personnel matters, particularly identifying promotable officers who performed well These seasoned officers interviewed agreed with the position that the tra- ditional Civil Service was an obstacle to promotions However, they did feel that tenure, security of able police officers and to be defended The officers in cities and towns wanted to hear what was proposed in place of Civil Service and wanted the rights of officers safeguarded as well as a strong department He said that it was not an easy question to answer and he did not have a proposal, but the consensus was that something had to be done about Civil Service as it affects the promotion of competent officers Mr Crain asked if Dr Dailey was aware, specifically, of any alternative systems Dr Dailey replied that constituting a panel of seasoned officers, particu- larly away from the department where the promotion is being made, to interrogate the candidates, following a standardized procedure so that everyone has a chance to present his qualifications would be favored by a lot of people He stated that testing could be a part of it, but emphasis should be on the authority to identify officers whose performance and expertice qualify for promotion Mr Politi stated that the legal pressure now is that currently, the Town can opt out of Civil Service without state legislative approval and if the dead- line, June 30, is missed, it still can be possible to opt out, but only by ob- taining a special act of the legislature Dr Dailey stated that the Personnel Advisory Board recognized that this was a bad time to consider any change at all that would be unsettling and it should be discussed fully on all sides Officer Petrino, representing the police, stated that under the police con- tract, Section 150E, that this was a mandatory bargaining right He expressed the dissatisfaction of the police in that they had not been contacted about the article and had no chance to s iacuss it with management He stated that there were many questions that they needed answers to before it was presented to Town Meeting Mr Hutchinson stated that the union and the town disagreed, procedurally, - 5 - -/ 03 Selectmen's Meeting March 9, 1981 which was necessary to come first, the discussion with the police union or the presentation of the article to Town Meeting Lt Withrow, representing the ranking officers, not covered by Civil Service, stated that they were opposed to the abolishment of Civil Service where there was nothing to take its place It was their opinion that Civil Service would have nothing more to do with the men if it was abol- ished He acknowledged that there were flaws in the Civil Service, but felt that they could be corrected He stated that promotions can be opened up to anyone and not just members of the department and felt that that meant a great deal to a man coming on Mr Crain stated that he would have to have clarification on two points 1) will Civil Service cooperate and 2) reconcilliation between the proposed Town Meeting action and bargaining in good faith He stated that he would have to have a better understanding of those two issues before he could make an intelligent decision on the article Mr Politi explained that if Town Meeting did pass on this 4% tax cap legislation that gave rise to this opting out of Civil Service also contains a referendum provision so that if Town Meeting made a decision to revoke Civil Service it could go to referendum by 5% of the voters and a special election would have to be called by the Town and action of Town Meeting would be held in abeyance during the outcome of that vote The Board agreed that they did not have enough information to make a decision and the Manager is to contact Civil Service and get a legal opinion from counsel regarding the issues Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the question of a recommendation to Town Meeting on Article 7 The Board discussed Article 6 - Removal of Sealer of Weight/Plumbing Sealer of Inspector from Civil Service This article would authorize the Selectmen Weight/ to petition the State Legislature for an act removing these positions from Plumbing Civil Service and placing them under the local personnel rules and regula- Insp tions Civil Ser Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to present Article 6 to Town Meeting requesting affirmative action The Manager requested the Board to sign the agreement with Arthur Audit Andersen & Co to conduct the audit for 1981 Mr Crain requested a specific time as to when the audit report and management letter would be available to the Board Upon motion duly made and seconded, Mr Politi abstaining, it was voted to sign the agreement with Arthur Andersen & Co to conduct the audit for 1981 The Manager requested approval by the Board of a transfer from the Transfer Reserve Fund in the amount of $450 00 to the Inspection Department The Reserve Building Commissioner had advised him that when State personnel came to Funds train the new sealer of weights and measures in July, they found that the required equipment and supplies necessary to do the job were either badly 1 damaged or missing Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the trans- III fer of $450 00 from the Reserve Fund to the Inspection Department - 6 - 614' Transfer The Manager requested approval of a transfer of $580 00 from the Re- serve Fund to the Selectmen's Expenses Account #1050 for MBTA Advisory Board services from 1/01/81 to 12/31/81 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the transfer of $5$0 00 from the Reserve Fund to the Selectmen's Expenses Account #1050 Middlesex The Board discussed the request of the Middlesex County Selectmen's Cty Sel Association to support adoption of resolutions to combat the adverse affects Assoc of Proposition 2 1/2 on local governments of Middlesex County Resolutions After discussion, the Board voted to support three of the four resolutions submitted Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to support Resolution #1 which would obtain up front funding for local highway improvements so that municipalities don't have to wait a year or more for reimbursement and can thus reduce the amount of local funding that first must be appropriated; #2 getting current county spending immediately reduced by three per cent to hopefully lower the spring assessment, and to reflect the approximate loss to the munici- palities by the reduction in the current fiscal year of auto excise tax revenues; and #3 reducing next year's county assessment by fifteen per cent, reflecting the cut backs required of most of the Middlesex municipalities by Proposition 2 1/2, (Executive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 4-0 by roll call vote [Session Mrs Miley, Mrs Battin, Mr Crain and Mr Politi, to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing matters of litigation, with no inten- tion of resuming the open session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 00 p m A true record, Attest i f - //(;1;a Executive Clerk R � p M I