HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992-03-03 Board of Selectmen Minutes Minutes of the Board of Selectmen Meeting
March 3, 1992
The meeting was called to order at 7:31 p.m. in the Selectmen's
Meeting Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading, Massachusetts. Present
were Chairman Eugene Nigro, Vice Chairman Dan Ensminger,
Selectmen Russ Graham and George Hines, Town Manager Peter I.
Hechenbleikner, Elizabeth Klepeis, Cathy Quimby, Deirdre Hanley,
Elia Marnik, Gary Demopoulos, and James Keigley.
On motion by Ensminger, seconded by Graham, the minutes of
February 11, 1992 were approved by a vote of 3-0-0.
On motion by Ensminger, seconded by Graham, -the minutes of
February 18, 1992 were approved by a vote of 3-0-0.
On motion by Ensminger, seconded by Graham, the minutes of
February 24, 1992 were approved by a vote of 4-0-0.
On motion by Ensminger, seconded by Graham, the minutes of
February 25, 1992 were approved by a vote of 4-0-0.
On motion by Ensminger, seconded by Graham, the minutes of
February 27, 1992 were approved by a vote of 4-0-0.
Liaison Reports
Russ Graham had no report; Dan Ensminger indicated that he was
involved as a member of the selection committee for the Senior
Center designer; George Hines had no liaison report, but asked to
be allowed to remind residents that Reading Youth Baseball sig-
nups were this Saturday; Eugene Nigro met with Human Services su-
pervisors and the Town Manager regarding a trust fund and the
demand for medical assistance.
Public Comment
The Town Manager indicated that he had requested and received a
Reserve Fund Transfer from the FinCom to cover labor counsel ex-
penses. Gene Nigra indicated that he had received correspondence
regarding Markey legislation which would appropriate $1 billion
for the Boston Harbor cleanup.
The Board discussed the remaining sections of the Budget. With
regard to the Library budget, the $451,000 budget proposal would
reduce library hours by two hours per week, possibly Monday morn-
ing. They are now open 59 hours per week. If $4, 000 is added to
the salary budget, then the hours of operation would remain. The
Library is contracting out the operation of the public access
copy machine. They currently spend $10,000 and take in $11, 000.
The cost to the consumer may go up slightly. With regard to the
collection of fines, the elimination of the fine system has been
a great help to the staff in reducing the number of hours. In
general, the public is happy to donate in lieu of fine and there
has been good public acceptance. We are able to get the books
back faster. We received about 4,000 donations since July when
we stopped doing fines for kids and September when we stopped
` -� doing fines for adults. Deirdre Hanley noted that the 15.7 full
time equivalent persons in the Library actually results in two
fewer benefited positions.
Selectmen's Minutes - 3/3/92 - Page 2
On motion by Ensminger, seconded by Hines, the Board voted to
support a Library budget in the amount of $451,063 by a vote of
4-0-0.
With regard to the General Services budget, Ted Cohen, Town Coun-
sel was present. He indicated that he currently bills non-
municipal clients at $180 per hour and other municipal clients at
$100 per hour. In the three-year proposal for legal services he
made last year, the request was for $100, 000 in FY92 and FY93 ,
and a 2-1/2 to 5% increase in FY94. Town Counsel is aware of the
fiscal problems, but all of his costs have gone up. They had re-
quested $100,000 this year. Dan Ensminger asked about projected
FY93 litigation. Town Counsel indicated that they had tried to
keep the hours down, and shorter Town Meetings help. There is no
major litigation pending, although there are a number of small
issues that take an inordinate amount of time, such as the Rogan
case and Special Ed cases. Dan Ensminger asked how much time had
been spent related to the Hockey Rink. There has been a total of
4.6 hours in December, 7.2 hours in January and 5 to 6 hours per
month in October and November. Most of this was related to
clearing the title for the Nike Base regardless of whether it was
to be used for an ice rink or any other purpose. George Hines
suggested a footnote on the bill to show that. George Hines
asked if Town business is increasing related to State legisla-
tion. Ted Cohen felt that it was partly related to Prop 2-1/2 .
Major legal issues currently ongoing for the Board of Selectmen
are the clearance of title to the Nike site, and the Rogan case.
There are a number of ZBA cases; Conservation Commission rules
and regulations in two cases are ongoing; the School Department
has three to four cases pending at all times; Fire Department had
a disciplinary hearing; the Police Department had activity re-
lated to Drug Enforcement money; the Building Inspection area has
several enforcement actions; CPDC has several cases plus efforts
at regionalization; and Town Meeting, of course, takes additional
time. Town Counsel has never recommended settling cases just to
keep hours down, but does recommend settling cases if it is in
the interest of the Town. Gene Nigro indicated that he felt that
Tyler & Reynolds exercises excellent judgment in this regard.
Dan Ensminger asked if services would be affected if we stayed
with the $95, 000 budget. Cohen indicated that they would not,
but they would continue to try to contain hours. There was dis-
cussion about the possibility of trying to group articles for
Town Meeting related to the need for Town Counsel. The Board
talked about other areas of the Department of General Services.
It was suggested that we contact MMA about the possibility of
getting combined elections and reducing costs associated with
that.
Ensminger moved and Graham seconded a General Services budget of
$663 , 691 which would restore the Street List Hines moved and
Graham seconded an amendment which would eliminate $1600 for the
Street List. The vote on the amendment was 2-2-0 and the amend-
ment failed. The vote on the main motion was 2-2-0 and the mo-
tion failed.
Selectmen's Minutes - 3/3/92 - Page 3
The Town Manager explained the Finance Department budget. On mo-
tion by Graham, seconded by Hines, the Board recommended a
Finance Department budget of $626,029 by a vote of 4-0-0.
On motion by Hines, seconded by Graham, the Board voted to recom-
mend an Accounting Department budget of $92 ,795, by a vote of
4-0-0. It was suggested that an explanation on the summary sheet
about the distribution of costs between general, water, sewer,
and electric would be appropriate.
The Board talked about possible put backs based on a memo from
the Town Manager. There was consensus on put backs for the fol-
lowing items: police patrol officer, firefighter, library
salary, library expenses. There was not agreement to put back
monies for a Fire Lieutenant, the Annual Report, the Street List,
or Legal Counsel.
On motion by Hines, seconded by Graham, the Board voted to recon-
sider the Library budget. The motion was approved by a vote of
4-0-0. On motion by Hines, seconded by Ensminger, the Board
voted to recommend a Library budget of $461, 063 by a vote of
4-0-0.
On motion by Ensminger, seconded by Hines, the Board voted to
reconsider the Public Safety budget by a vote of 4-0-0. On mo-
tion by Ensminger, seconded by Hines, the Board voted to recom-
mend a Public Safety budget in the amount of $3 , 807, 389 which
would restore one police patrol officer and one firefighter. The
motion was approved by a vote of 4-0-0.
On motion by Graham, seconded by Ensminger, the Board voted to
reconsider the General Services budget by a vote of 3-1-0 with
Hines opposed.
On motion by Graham, seconded by Ensminger, the Board voted to
recommend a General Services budget of $665,638, which would add
$3, 547 to the salary portion of the budget in order to retain the
Administrative Secretary position. The motion was approved by a
vote of 3-1-0 with Hines opposed.
On motion by Ensminger, seconded by Graham, the Board voted to go
into Executive Session for the purpose of approving minutes and
not to come out in Open Session. All four members voted in the
affirmative and the motion was carried. The meeting was ad-
journed at 10:55 p.m.
:.. ecesp ctfully submitted,
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