Lynnfield selectmen do some housekeeping prior to annual Town Meeting at end of April

LYNNFIELD – The Lynnfield Board of Selectmen tied up loose ends Monday night in preparation for the annual Town Meeting on April 30.The board, which will not reconvene before April 30, voted to close the 24-article warrant for the Town Meeting and to approve the operating and capital budgets for fiscal year 2013. The town budget will move to a public hearing on Wednesday held by the Finance Committee before it is voted on at the April meeting.For the Fiscal Year 2013 operating budget, Town Administrator William Gustus recommended to the board that the current $42,000 surplus go toward restoring the frozen assistant director position at Lynnfield Public Library on Sept. 1. The library?s director, Nancy Ryan, made this request during her presentation of the library?s Fiscal Year 2013 budget at the Feb. 13 selectmen meeting.Gustus said that, in exchange for the position?s revival, the library workers? union has agreed to soon start offering additional hours at the library on Monday through Thursday and Saturday.?I think it?s a win for everybody,” he said.Next fiscal year?s capital budget totals $513,954, and includes $250,000 for technology for the schools, $100,000 to improve school buildings, and $24,000 for the fire department to replace protective gear, radios and hoses and nozzles.Town Health Director Kristin Esposito McRae came before the selectmen to discuss the Board of Health?s article in the Town Meeting warrant, which would add a series of plan review, permit and late fees to the board?s existing list of fees for services, licenses and permits.Among the new fees, McRae proposed establishing miscellaneous categories under the general food establishment permit, such as $35 for a frozen dessert manufacturer and $75 for a retail space of less than 1,000 square feet. The Board of Health would also start to charge for plan reviews of home septic systems, with varying fee amounts based on the number of bedrooms or if the disposal plan needs to be revised.In addition, the board would begin imposing a $35 late fee for an annual license or permit application that is turned in past the expiration date of the previous license or permit.McRae said that, for the most part, the current fees will not change and the new costs would be typical to a town Board of Health.Sarah Mupo can be reached at [email protected].