1985-Annual Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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Board of Selectmen 9. Tax Classification. Sustain relative tax distribution between business and residents for taxation. HOUSING Seventy condominium units of Muzzey Junior High are now occupied, of which ten have been bought for low and moderate income people under the auspices of the Lexington Housing Assistance Board (LexHAB). The process of selecting occupants is detailed in their report. Following a late December 1984 vote to accept the proposal of Greater Boston Communty Development, Inc. (GBCD) to redevelop the former Franklin School into 38 units of affordable rental housing, the selectmen brought this proposal to the 1985 Town Meeting. Two years of study and discussion, first by the Franklin School Conversion Committee chaired by Selectman John McLaughlin, then in a widely at- tended public information meeting and, finally in several sessions of town meetings, preceded the authorization to the selectmen to proceed with con- veyance of the school property. GBCD then completed the project design and financing arrangements and returned to the selectmen in October for a special permit with site plan review to recon- struct the Franklin School. Acting in its capacity as Special Permit Granting Authority, the board approved the special permit on November 4. On Decem- ber 16 the board signed the land disposition agree- ment governing the purchase and sale of the property. The town negotiated a proposal with the developer of Morrow Crossing condominiums to buy a two - family house he owned on Bedford Street for low and moderate income purposes. The substitution of these apart- ments for two -unit inclusionary requirement of the Morrow Crossing rezoning - -both involving town meet- ing action -- fulfilled both the developer's obliga- tion and the town's housing expectation. On Emerald Street the selectmen worked with the Rotary Club and Minuteman Vocational Technical School for the construction of a house on town -owned tax -title land. When completed in the summer of 1986, it will house a low or moderate - income family. Franklin SchooZ, soon to become rental housing. 6 overview k x TRAFFIC The selectmen formed the North Lexington Road Im- provement Study Committee to review Bedford Street/ - Hartwell Avenue plans to insure neighborhood input while resolving traffic problems. Revised propo- sals, adding a traffic light at the intersection of Bedford and Eldred streets, reduction in pavement width and median strip landscaping have been sub- mitted to State and Federal authorities and their responses are expected in 1986. At Marrett Road alternate scaled -down designs were prepared after negotiations for a land swap with the National Park Service proved impossible. Plans calling for realignment of the Forbes Road - Sheraton entrance and Massachusetts Avenue - Minuteman Tech entrance intersections and widening of Marrett Road have been approved in concept. The 25 percent design review is in progress; construction is antic- ipated to begin during fiscal year 1987. Concept plans for the rebuilding of Hancock Street from Adams to Burlington Street have been developed with full participation of the neighbors. Construc- tion on this $400,000 proposal is scheduled to begin in the late spring of 1986. UNACCEPTED STREET POLICY Only about 12 of the total 134 miles of town roads are now "unaccepted " - -that is, neither owned nor required to be maintained by the town. Each year town meeting considers the acceptance'of several streets, either already built to town standards by a developer, or to be constructed by the town, with the abutters sharing the cost through betterment charges. The selectmen toured all unaccepted streets, devel- oped new criteria for consideration and street acceptance process. They also voted to raise the betterment rate, upping the percentage of total cost to be paid by abutters as well as factoring -in more current street construction data. The selectmen ap- proved the following general criteria and procedures for street acceptance and unaccepted street maintenance: I. Significant improvement in public safety and public service access. II. Cost effectiveness based upon quantifiable benefit /cost analysis. III. Qualitative benefits and costs relating to convenience, safety and esthetic values of users and neighbors. Procedures to be followed: A. Petitions to be prepared and submitted to the board of selectmen by concerned citi- zens. B. Petitions to be reviewed by selectmen consistent with the above guidelines. C. The town to submit annually from its Master Plan a listing of streets to be accepted, with recommended priorities.