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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1979-11-26-BOS-min SELECTMEN'S MEETING NOVEMBER 26, 1979 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, November 26, 1979, at 7 30 p m. Chairman Miley, Mr Busa, Mr Kent and Mr Crain; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs McCurdy, Execu- tive Clerk. Mr William Page, Chairman, Mrs Martha Wood and Mr Howard Cravis of the Cable Television Advisory Committee met with the Board Mr Page submitted the proposed calendar for the CATV franchising process and said that if approval is granted this evening to initiate the pro- cedure, the timespan will be from January 2, 1980, to advertise for proposals for a CATV system, to November 26, 1980 when the Board of -ri ( Selectmen will make a decision on each application and grant a pro- visional license if they choose, and provide a written public state- ment of the basis for their decisions This schedule will approximately parallel the Boston process The option is to proceed under the old regulations or to apply for a waiver, which would eliminate the second set of solicitations and would save several hundreds of dollars The committee discussed the possibility of having a warrant article for Illdiscussion of community access but decided not to propose it but to have it in the report; we would put strong emphasis on that in nego- tiations with the cable companies We would be able to come in a year from March with a specific dollar proposal about support for this in negotiations about how much the cable company will provide and how much the town would support We don't have the basis now but it won't be this year The committee recommends applying for a change from operat- ing under the old regulations to operating under the new licensing regulations Mr Busa felt that the committee is correct in going with the new rules The old rules, in his interpretation, would give a false impression as to what cable companies would be giving you, and then when they realize what the town wants and what other com- panies are proposing in their contract, they would revise their con- tracts the second time around We have been talking about CATV for 9 to 11 years, and we should proceed with caution and great care as we are the pioneers Mr Busa moved that the town proceed with the process Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to proceed with the State mandated licensing process for cable television The Board discussed the format for the 1980 warrant with Mrs Wood, 1980 TMMA Executive Board Mrs Wood said that they have suggested putting Warrant - the articles in some sort of logical sequence, which would then change TMMA Article 4 from being standard to a floating article to be known as the operating budget After discussion, the Board agreed not to change this year Other TMMA suggestions were not supported by the Board be- cause of the expense involved Mrs Wood said that she and TMMA members would assist the Manager's office in the final compilation of the warrant Selectmen's Meeting - 2 - November 26, 1979 Arthur Mr James Russell, Mr John Mackey, and Mr William Qwon of Arthur Andersen- Andersen & Co met with the Board to discuss the financial statements Town of the Town of Lexington as of June 30, 1979, together with an auditors' Audit report Mr Russell said that the Board was provided with a copy of the financial statements and the management letter was submitted to the town on September 30 The outline which accompanies the financial statement was something new this year and the type of data contained in this is the type of output that we would like to see from an interim or internal financial management system We alluded to this two years ago in our management letter Lexington stacks up well with other towns but it is important to establish benchmarks for performance in terms of evalu- ating progress or lack of progress in financial areas, and we hope that the outline is helpful in moving the town in that direction As part of our conduct of audits of our clients as of June 30, 1979, the firm of Arthur Andersen attempted to develop productivity data and we undertook to accomplish the completion of a municipal productivity checklist, (..As part of the audit of each one of our towns , the audit team visited four of the town departments, fire, water, assessors and sanitation, and we obtained data which related to the input within the department - people, equipment and dollars We also attempted to derive output of each department, i e , the number of calls, water meters read per day, number of real estate bills processed, etc ; statistical data related to the services rendered by these departments This data was compiled on a computer and we submitted a re- port to the Town Manager on the comparison of these productivity measures on a per capita basis We compared the output measures of the Town of Lexington to other towns The message is not so much what that particular report indicates but rather the importance of the finance committees focus- ing on departmental output as an integral part of the budgetary process We believe that you can only evaluate the budgetary requests in their proper perspective when you have an appreciation of the quantities of the services rendered by these departments More importantly, a process such as that would enable the town to refute any criticism that is leveled against it on the part of perhaps the beleaguered taxpayer who would contend that perhaps there is a lack of productivity or there is a lack of services of a lack of opportunities for cost reduction What each town needs to bring into the process is an enlightened process whereby you would focus on these outputs It is an attempt on our part to develop a dialogue as part of the budgetary process to look at what we believe is a very important factor Mr Crain said that if the universe that one compares against, if that data is on a selective basis, it is not necessarily relevant to this town There is a real danger Your strong point about finance committees could be misconstrued if one did not understand the importance of interpretation Some towns may have certain functions done so that the broad guage indicator of water bills for employees may not be indicative of anything He had a problem with the suggestion that a finance committee can look at a universe Mr Russell said that it is for establishing a benchmark for what you think your water department should be doing, and that's the basic misunderstanding Mr Crain said that his problem is with providing material which one doesn't understand what the process of the method is - whether an agent does that or whether the town employee. He would caution that you have to be very careful where that material is used Chairman Miley said that finance committees vary a great deal in towns The role of the Appropriation Selectmen's Meeting - 3 - November 26, 1979 Committee and the Capital Expenditures Committee is to recommend to the Town Meeting certain issues on the budget In other towns, finance com- mittees act on a budget as it is brought up Different towns need finance committees differently Mr Russell said the focus of the in- formation is to help the administration of the town to manage their business in the town. Mr Hutchinson said that he did emphasize Mr Crain's comments when he looked at the data Municipal productivity, no matter how much is written on it, is really in its infancy, and it is very difficult Mr Crain said that whenever one uses productivity bases, it is extremely important to make sure you are comparing appl6s with apples; it is very difficult to do when you are presented with a universe that is not identified It may be useful as a broad guage indicator but he would underscore that people do their best to under- stand what they are dealing with before they jump into it Mr Hutchin- son said that we are looking at it as another information resource Mr Russell expressed his appreciation of the complete cooperation of Mr Hutchinson and Mr Perry He said that they have completed their third year of an audit and the process is becoming a more expeditious one. Mr Busa temporarily left the meeting during the discussion of the following liquor licenses Vinebrook Bottle Shop, 55 Bedford Street, 8 00 a m. to 11 00 1980 p m. Monday through Saturday Mr Kent asked Mr Hutchinson if he Liquor had any general or specific observations with respect to renewal or Licenses with respect to the hours of all applicants Mr Hutchinson said that he had not received objections to any of the items Mr William Spencer said with respect to Vinebrook, the Board will recall that there was a discussion of the opening of Hancock Avenue which may or may not have related to the Vinebrook situation, and he asked if the Board was aware of any further discussion, rumors, etc Mr Hutchinson replied that we said at that time we had no intention of dealing with that matter and we have not done so Chairman Miley said that she had heard no one bring it up again as a question to come before this board Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 3-0 to renew the Package Stores liquor license to Vinebrook Bottle Shop with the hours o f 8 00 a m. to 11 00 p m. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 3-0 t _renew the liquor licenses for the following Busa Bros Liquors, Inc 131 Massachusetts Avenue, 8 00 a.m to 11 00 p m Monday through Saturday Lexington Liquor Mart, Inc , 58 Bedford Street, 8 00 a m. to 11 00 p m. Monday through Saturday Lexington Golf Club, 55 Hill Street, 11 30 a m. to 8 30 p m. Monday through Thursday; 11 30 a m. to 12 00 Midnight Friday and Saturday; 12 00 Noon to 10 00 p m. Sunday; Holidays by special permission of the Board of Selectmen. 611 Selectmen's Meeting - November 4 26, 1979 Sheraton Lexington Motor Inn, 727 Marrett Road, 11.00 a m. to 12:00 Midnight 7 days; DiningRoom service to 12 00 Midnight ' Lee Ann's Restaurant, Inc 1720 Massachusetts Avenue, 11.00 a.m to 12.00 Midnight Weekdays; 11 00 a.m. to 12.00 Midnight Sundays as long as the dining room is open but not later than 12 00 Midnight Berkhout Corp d b a LeBellecour, 10-12 Muzzey Street, 11.00 a m. to 11 00 p m. Monday through Saturday; 12 00 Noon to 11 00 p m. Sunday Lexington Lodge of Elks, 959 Waltham Street, 5 00 p m. to 12 00 Midnight, Monday through Friday; 1 00 p m. to 12 00 Midnight Saturday; 1 00 p m. to 11 00 p m. Sunday Bora Bora Mr Cohen informed the Board that there is a new owner of Bora Bora, Hearing Inc and application has been made for a new license; this will require a Date hearing, which could be held on December 17 They have to go before the Board of Appeals on December 20 and if the Board grants approval, it could be subject to the decision of the Board of Appeals Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 3-0 to set the hearing date of December 17 for Bora Bora, Inc Mr. Buse returned:, to the .meet.ing. Executive Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 4-0 by roll call Session vote to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing a real estate negotiation, with the intention of resuming the open meeting After discussion, it was voted to go out of :executive session and resume the open meeting Town Mr William Fitzgerald, Chairman of the Town Celebrations Committee, Celeb - and Brig General Calvin Chapman, Commander of the Massachusetts Council Battle of Minutemen and Militia, met with the Board to discuss permission for Reenact the reenactment of the British retreat to be conducted on Sunday, April 20, 1980 Gen. Chapman said that the two groups had met and agreement had been reached on final plans However, funds would be needed for police control and D P W involvement The Board agreed to vote formal approval at the next meeting MVMH Chairman Miley read a letter from the Mystic Valley Mental Health Center regarding the availability of school properties, perhaps- Parker After discussion, the Board agreed it did not want to change the use which was voted last year MVMH is to be informed by letter of the Board's decision Hanscom/ The Board discussed the request from Concord that Lexington join Massport with them in endorsing the proposal that Massport designate a 101-acre Concord parcel of land at the end of one of the runways for conservation- recreation use Mr Cohen recommended that the Board approve the re- quest as it was included in the master Massport plan. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the re- quest that Lexington endorse Concord's proposal that Massport designate a 101-acre parcel of land at the end of one of the runways for conserve- tion-recreation onserva-tion-recreation use. 4, Selectmen's Meeting - 5 - November 26, 1979 IMr Cohen recommended approval of a request, through an attorney, to Tax purchase a small parcel of tax title land of low value located on Sunny Title Knoll Avenue. There are some title problems and the title is cloudy The property is of low value and would be sold for back taxes Mr.) Kent asked if other potentially interested people have been informed? Mr Cohen said that all the people on the street are from the same family and they are not interested Mr Kent added that a portion of the legal expenses should be borne by the party acquiring the land The Board agreed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize Town Counsel to negotiate the sale of a small parcel of tax title land located on Sunny Knoll Avenue Mr Hutchinson said tha ef m the Reed Street residents Reed St regarding institutionalizatifesiu eei tiaieighborhoods appears to be Human an appropriate subject for the Human Se is Committee to work on with Servs these residents He recommended that this be referred to the Committee Committee and that Mr French be notified of this Mr Hutchinson said that he has notified the Building Commissioner to contact appropriate parties involved in these types of proposals to contact neighborhood residents The Board agreed that the Human Services Committee should first address their previously established priorities Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to refer the re- ' quest of the _ReedoStreet residents concerning institutionalization of residential neighborhoods to bhe, Human Services Committee, subject to the understanding that the Committee address previously established priorities Mr Hutchinson recommended that the Board sign the test boring contract Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign Contract Test 80-4-E awarded on September 24, 1979 to Soil Exploration Corporation Borings in the amount of $6,200 Authority is contained in Article 19 of Contract 1978-Sewer Mains Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve Cert 2160 Massachusetts Avenue as the mail drop for Wayside Square Condo- Incorp minium Association, Inc Mr Hutchinson informed the Board that the School Department has Dogs authorized the posting of signs prohibiting dogs on school grounds Schools and arrangements are being made to post the signs We are looking Parks at rules regulating the parks and playgrounds and will discuss them next week Mr Busa informed the Board that the Depositors Trust is concerned Depositor about the operation of Lexpress as they feel that their customers have Trust to get out of the cars in the middle of traffic They may take steps Lexpress to put in a sidewalk if the town leases part of the land for $1 00 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to refer the matter I III to the Town Manager for a recommendation from the Transportation Committee Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 11 05 p.m. A true record, Attest � / 7 fil C xecutive Clerk, Selectmen 4 I VOID