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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-11-BOS-minSelectmen's Meeting November 3, 2003 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held on Monday November 3, 2003 in the Selectmen's Meeting Room at 7:30 p.m. Chairman McSweeney, Mrs. Krieger, Mrs. McKenna, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kelley, Mr. White, Town Manager, Mr. Lahey, Town Counsel, and Ms. Tap, Recording Secretary, were present. Public Comment Mr. McSweeney introduced four Boy Scouts who were present to learn more about local government. He invited Alex, Joseph, Kyle and Ronnie up to the front of the room so they could have their picture taken at the Selectmen's table and commended them for their interest in local affairs. Ms. Joyce Hals, a member of the Friends of Lincoln Park, said she found the letter to this committee from the Public Grounds Superintendent inappropriate and threatening in tone. She said the letter accused the group of doing unauthorized clearing near the park. Mr. Amil Otra described his bad experience with three power outages over the course of a day at his Marrett Square business and he is representing the other businesses at Marrett Square tonight. He estimates his loss due to the power interruptions at $9,000 and said that NStar has been unresponsive in these situations. Mr. McSweeney said that the Board would bring this up the next time NStar is on its agenda. Proclamation - Employee Recognition Day Mr. McSweeney read a proclamation expressing appreciation for the Town's employees and naming November 13, 2003 Employee Recognition Day. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the proclamation. Driveway Easement — Grandview Avenue Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant Eleanor G. LeBeau, Trustee of the LeBeau Family Trust, for $1.00 and other good and valuable consideration a perpetual right and easement for driveway purposes over approximately 560 square feet of town -owned land located next to the property known as and numbered 19 Grandview Avenue and shown as "Proposed Driveway Easement" on the plan entitled "Easement Plan of Land Located in Lexington, Massachusetts (Middlesex County)" prepared by Meridian Associates, Inc., and dated September 2, 2003, and to accept the covenant contained therein from Eleanor G. LeBeau, Trustee. The grant of the aforementioned easement was approved as Article 30 at the Town of Lexington's 1997 Annual Town Meeting. Selectmen's Meeting — November 3, 2003 Lexington Center Committee — Report to Selectmen Sheila Watson, Chair of the Lexington Center Committee, gave a succinct report of the Lexington Center Committee's concerns and needs: the Committee's 2003/2004 Priorities; Things They Are NOT Working On; and Greatest Challenges. She asked for the Selectmen's support on cleanliness, the Wine and Beer Initiative, art (support concept of performing arts center in Cary Hall), zoning issues, as they evolve, and parking resolution. Mrs. McKenna noted that the failure of the June 2 override, and subsequent cuts in DPW staff, hit center businesses hard as trash collection and center cleanup has been curtailed. She agrees with the committee that the parking formula for the center needs rethinking. Ms. Watson has talked to Planning Board Chair Tom Harden about this issue. They hoped to bring this discussion to Town Meeting this year. Leo expressed the Board's appreciation for Ms. Watson's report and the Committee's work and said we should all support their efforts to keep Lexington Center the vital and special place it is. Holiday Lighting/Shoppers Night Events Mary Jo Bohart, Chamber of Commerce, informed the Board about two upcoming Chamber of Commerce sponsored events: the Holiday Lighting of the Center, which will take place on Friday November 28 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Emery Park. On Friday, December 5, the Holiday Open House and Shoppers Night event will run from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. with 50 -plus businesses staying open late and offering special discounts and promotions to shoppers. She said that the lighting costs thousands of dollars annually and asked everyone to consider making a financial contribution toward this holiday event. Mrs. McKenna asked if the Board would support making some free parking available to shoppers on those special days and on Saturdays through the holidays. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to provide free parking every Saturday between Thanksgiving and year -end and after 4:00 p.m. on Friday, November 28 and December 5. Verizon/NStar — Double Poles Mr. Bill Zamparelli, Community Relations and Development Representative for NStar Gas and Electric Corporation, was present to make a presentation in response to Lexington's electrical reliability concerns. He introduced Amin Jessa, Manager of System Engineering; Calvin Layton, Senior Arborist; and Tom Morahan, Manager of Electrical Operations at Waltham Service Center. Mr. Patrick Mehr, Electric Utility Ad Hoc Committee, noted that the report NStar distributed tonight is out of date material. Selectmen's Meeting — November 3, 2003 Mr. Jessa gave an overview of the electrical infrastructure in Lexington, which includes four sub- stations. The biggest problem NStar Electric has in Lexington is with the trees. Trees are beautiful but they also decline and many are on private property. Wildlife also causes problems. A breakdown of reliability by circuits revealed that one of their higher voltage circuits has the most problems. Corrective work is nearly done on this as part of a 2003 reliability plan. Visual and thermographic inspections are carried out. They are in the process of converting to new technologies that enable them to keep track by remote. Better back up is being put in place. Mr. Layton described the team of arborists he has assembled. They work with Mr. Pinsonneault, Superintendent of Public Grounds and are on a three -year cycle of trimming and removal. Mrs. McKenna indicated that the utilities have been unresponsive to reported problems. Mr. Layton urged people to call them, as they are now more proactive. Mr. Morahan described his maintenance and testing operations. At Mrs. Krieger's request, he said he would provide a copy of his report to the Selectmen. Mr. Mehr urged the Selectmen to ask NStar to communicate with his committee, which comprises many professionals and experts in this field. He also urged the undergrounding of utility wires. Relative to the Marrett Square businesses that had an expensive power outage in October, and who called NStar repeatedly about that outage, Mr. Jessa indicated that the company is working on its internal communication issues. Ingrid Klimhoff, Electric Utility Ad Hoc Committee, described an all day outage at the high school and the glacial speed of NStar's response. Verizon/NStar — Double Poles Mr. Bowman, Verizon, gave a status report on the company's progress with double pole removal in Lexington, having agreed to remove 20 per month. They are using Lexington as a trial community in their efforts to coordinate with all the companies who use the poles: Comcast, Verizon, NStar, and RCN. Mrs. McKenna pointed out that they had also installed new poles resulting in a net loss of only 12 double poles and asked for a plan for removing poles. Mr. Bowman said they are trying to balance their resources. Mrs. McKenna countered that they are not complying with the law. She mentioned that if significant progress was not made, she would urge her colleagues to pass a fine structure similar to the new Bedford regulations. Selectmen's Meeting — November 3, 2003 Mr. Walsh, NStar, indicated that Verizon did not know that NStar would be installing so many poles. Mrs. McKenna urged them to meet regularly with the Electric Utility Ad Hoc Committee on reliability issues and to look at undergrounding of utilities. The above ground infrastructure is unsightly and high maintenance. Mr. McSweeney indicated that Lexington wants 30 double poles removed per month and asked the company representatives to beef up their crews and provide a plan. Committee Charge - Public Works Facility /Senior Center Advisory Committee The Selectmen reviewed a proposed charge for the Public Works Facility /Senior Center Advisory Committee. Mrs. McKenna suggested some revisions to the bulleted information and to the last paragraph. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the charge for the Public Works Facility /Senior Center Advisory Committee, as amended. Committee Charge - Policy Manual Committee The Board reviewed a proposed charge for the Policy Manual Committee. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the charge for the Policy Manual Committee, as written. Presentation - Article 5: Home Rule Petition for Baby Safe Haven in Lexington Mr. Morrisey, 15 Clelland Road, presented to the Board a Home Rule Petition for Baby Safe Haven. He urged the Board to support the petition and place it on a Town Meeting Warrant. It would make Lexington a Safe Haven Community,. The petition, if adopted, would protect parents who abandon a baby from prosecution so they might bring the child to the Police Station or other designated safe haven with no fear of legal action. The larger aim of the petition, which has been adopted by five communities in Massachusetts, is to have the State pass such legislation. Mrs. Krieger asked for statements from the Police and Fire Chiefs. Mr. Casey indicated that it would be feasible. Mr. Torode saw a few procedural issues that would have to be worked out but otherwise it would be feasible. These potential issues troubled Mrs. McKenna. The Board agreed to have the petition examined by Town Counsel before they act on it. Selectmen's Meeting — November 3, 2003 Special Town Meeting The Board reviewed the list of offsets suggested by Mr. McSweeney to solve the FY04 budget deficit, now seen to be $1,723,797. Mrs. Brown, Appropriations Committee, said her committee had reviewed Mr. McSweeney's list and based on that recommends that the Selectmen take the pension holiday in the amount of $1,400,000 instead of his suggested $397,655, and to restore the difference to the snow removal budget. They believe this amount offers more options as the process goes forward but it does require payback in FY06. Three unknown amounts representing potential problems are the Early Retirement Incentive, the $225,000 staff challenge in FY04 and the Minuteman Technical High School assessment. She will provide the Board with more written material on the committee's recommendations before the Board meeting on November 10. Mr. White described the situation the Town is in and gave some background on why. The Town has a structural finance problem: its base is so large that appropriation demands are growing at a higher rate than its ability to raise revenue. This has been the case for 15 years or more and we have been juggling it by fluctuations in appropriations with free cash, in down years appropriating more free cash than we have. We have been using a higher projection for local receipts and taking more risks. We have been borrowing and increasing the debt service. We now need to address the fundamental problem. Good news is: the NESWC reduction is a real reduction. In addition, energy revenue will produce $300,000 for the stabilization fund. But we need to take fewer risks. Mr. Kelley indicated that he does not want to use retirement money to balance the budget. He would like to see the Board commit itself to seeking out methods it can use to solve this 04 budget crisis and ask the schools and municipal side to look for ways. Mrs. McKenna moved that the Board adopt the Appropriation Committee's suggestion to take a $1.4 million pension holiday and accept all of the new growth. To the extent that those numbers exceed our deficit number, that it be applied to raise the snow and ice number. There was no second. Mrs. Krieger said she would like to study the figures more. She is not prepared to see more cuts made. Saturday Lexpress Service in December The Transportation Advisory Committee asked that the Board consider making Lexpress available on Saturdays for holiday shopping. They indicated that financial projections were strong and felt they could afford the service on this limited basis. Selectmen's Meeting — November 3, 2003 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve Saturday Lexpress service for the four Saturdays in December and if possible, for Saturday, November 29. Town Manager Appointments — Board of Health Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Town Manager's reappointment of Burt M. Perlmutter and the appointment of Sharon MacKenzie to the Board of Health. Appointments/Reappointments/Resignations Communications Advisory Committee Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the resignation of Howard Cravis from the Communications Advisory Committee, effective immediately. Board of Appeals Associates Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted reappoint Jacqueline Davidson, David Williams, Carolyn Wilson and Martha Wood as Board of Appeals Associates. Design Advisory Commttee Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to reappoint Eric Brown, Sarah Harkness, Bahig Kaldas, Eva Kasell, Carl Oldenberg, Alenka Slezak, Richard Sperandino and Olga Veronina to the Design Advisory Committee. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 4 -1 (McKenna) to reappoint Steven Hurly to the Design Advisory Committee. Lexington Center Committee Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Howard Levin to the Lexington Center Committee for an unexpired term to expire September 30, 2004. Tourism Committee Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Bebe Fallick and Charles French to the Tourism Committee for one -year terms to expire September 30, 2004. Battle Green Request — Lexington Justice and Peace Committee Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 4 -1 (McKenna) to approve the request of the Lexington Justice and Peace Committee to hold a one -hour peace vigil on the Battle Green every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. from November 5, 2003 through December 31, 2003. Selectmen's Meeting — November 3, 2003 Executive Session Minutes Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Executive Session minutes for February 3, March 10, April 14 and July 28, 2003. Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted by roll call vote: Mr. Kelly, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Krieger, Mrs. McKenna, and Mr. McSweeney to go into executive session for discussion of a matter of salary and personnel issues, with no intent to return to open session. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn the meeting at 11 p.m. A true record, Attest: Elissa M. Tap Recording Secretary Selectmen's Meeting November 10, 2003 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held on Monday November 10, 2003 in the Selectmen's Meeting Room at 7:00 a.m. Chairman McSweeney, Mrs. Krieger, Mrs. McKenna, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kelley, Mr. White, Town Manager, Mr. Lahey, Town Counsel, and Ms. Tap, Recording Secretary, were present. The School Committee and Mrs. Benton, School Superintendent, were also present The chairman opened the meeting and announced that the Board would be going into executive session with the School Committee to discuss salary negotiations, from which the Board would resume open session at approximately 8:00 a.m. Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted by roll call vote: Mr. Kelley, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Krieger, Mrs. McKenna, and Mr. McSweeney, to go into executive session to discuss salary negotiations. Open session resumed at 8:30 a.m. Special Town Meeting Mr. McSweeney indicated that the Board would try to decide on one list of items with which to balance the FY04 budget at the Special Town Meeting on next Monday, November 17. Mrs. Krieger presented her suggestions for covering the deficit. Mrs. Brown, Appropriations Committee, presented the unanimous Appropriations Committee's position on the FY04 budget deficit. Mr. Kelley expressed his opposition to using the Pension Holiday to balance the budget. It was agreed the choices are very difficult. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the deficit as described: $719,146 FY03 Snow and Ice Deficit 604,651 State Aid Reduction (from Town Meeting) 200,000 Local Receipts Adjustment 200,000 Snow & Ice Adjustment 61,000 Minuteman Tech assessment $1,784,797 Selectmen's Meeting — November 10, 2003 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 4 -1 (Kelley) to offset that with: $350,000 NESWC Tipping Fee Reduction And Stabilization Fund Withdrawal 400,000 Unanticipated New Growth 1,034,797 Pension Holiday $1,784,797 Offset East Lexington Fire Station Mr. Kelley indicated that he wants to use money earmarked for repairs to the Central Fire Station to open the East Lexington Fire Station by December 1, 2003, out of concern for public safety in that end of town. Mrs. Krieger indicated her reluctance to restore just one item out of the many public safety areas that were cut by the override's failure. She alluded to the recently appointed Public Safety Staffing Review Committee that is looking at this issue, and looked forward to its report. Mr. Kennedy said that the issue of public safety needs a comprehensive study. Mrs. McKenna expressed her hope that fire personnel would work with the Board to make the money stretch to accomplish this, and her intention to propose other cuts in the FY05 budget in order to be able to open the East Lexington Fire Station. Mr. McSweeney indicated he would support this if a study were undertaken to figure out if the money is there to open and keep open the firehouse. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 3 -2 (Kennedy, Krieger) to ask to propose to the Special Town Meeting that $100,000 be reallocated from the building envelope fund for the purpose of fire personnel to open the East Lexington Fire Station. It was agreed to provide the figures to the Capital Expenditures Committee so they can look them over before the Special Town Meeting. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn the meeting at 9:20 a.m. A true record, Attest: Elissa M. Tap Recording Secretary Selectmen's Meeting November 17, 2003 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held on Monday November 17, 2003 in the cafeteria, Clarke Middle School, at 6:50 p.m. Chairman McSweeney, Mrs. Krieger, Mrs. McKenna, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Kelley, Mr. White, Town Manager, Mr. Lahey, Town Counsel, and Ms. Tap, Recording Secretary, were present. The chairman opened the meeting and announced that the Board would go into executive session to discuss matters relative to contract negotiations from which the Board will resume open session. Executive Session — 6:50 D.M. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted by roll call vote: Mr. Kelley, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Krieger, Mrs. McKenna, and Mr. McSweeney, to go into executive session. Open session resumed at 7:05. Noise By -Law Committee Report - Arlex Oil Corporation Some members of the Noise By -law Committee were present: Anthony Galaitsis, Julian Bussgang, Martha Wood, and Myla Kabat -Zinn. The Board of Selectmen asked the Committee to make a recommendation regarding a verbal request from Arlex Oil Corporation ( Arlex) to waive the provisions of the Noise By -law for their oil truck operations. The Committee provided a report and recommendation in a document dated November 12, 2003. Its recommendation was to grant a six -month Special Permit to Arlex to allow tankers and other oil trucks to operate between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. ( "nighttime "), not to exceed 25 nights. Some conditions relative to reporting nighttime operations to police and recording violations and complaints were described, and a transition period of six months recommended, providing Arlex with enough time to adjust operations so as to fully comply with Lexington's Noise By -law. The report also detailed complaints by abutters whose sleep is often disrupted by Arlex trucks. Mr. Jack Maloney, Operations Manager for Arlex, gave a brief overview of the company's 65- year history in Lexington. The company has had its operations at 275 Massachusetts Avenue for 53 years and another at 240 Bedford Street for 46 years. He told the Board that flexible hours of operation are necessary due to changes in the industry including just -in -time inventory control. They must pick up oil at Boston Harbor within time periods set in their contract with the supplier to avoid penalties for late pick -up, and when traffic conditions are favorable. Oil delivery trucks are filled at night in Lexington to be ready for the next day's deliveries. Mr. Bussgang reviewed the Arlex case and explained that Lexington's Noise By -law is based on state and federal regulations. He said that the Selectmen could grant a special permit in emergency or other special conditions. Selectmen's Meeting — November 17, 2003 Mr. Galaitsis presented the Committee's recommendation. Attorney Mark A. Kablack, representing residents of 12 Brandon Street, asked the Board not to issue the special permit, as there are no special conditions to warrant it. A number of abutters to Arlex operations spoke against granting it as well. Other abutters spoke in Arlex's favor. Several owners of other Lexington businesses defended Arlex, and particularly pointed out the many civic contributions made by Mr. Eagle and Arlex to the town. Mrs. Kabat -Zinn presented her vote against the Committee's recommendation, citing Arlex's failure to document the emergency nature of its nighttime operations. She also stated her belief that despite good works on the part of business owners, the by -law should be evenly applied to all. Mr. Susnock, 12 Brandon Street, presented the Selectmen with a petition against the special permit, signed by 34 people. Mrs. McKenna observed that while the Selectmen may grant special permits with its own guidelines, those guidelines must balance the needs of both parties. The fact that the company has been here for many years carries a lot of weight in her mind. She indicated that Arlex has learned a lot during this process with the Committee about peoples' objections and has said it will try to adjust its operations. It has already arranged to have its trash contractor come during hours that comply with the Noise By -law. Mrs. Krieger thanked the members of the Committee for their analysis and commented that the Town's by -laws try to balance the needs of residents and business. Lexington's definition of 'nighttime' is more liberal to businesses than other towns'. She agreed that the 25 nights over the six months of a special permit seems a reasonable compromise and she supports the Committee's recommendations. Mr. Kelley observed that the Noise By -law was adopted many years after Arlex was an established business and Arlex was not notified of the potential, then actual, change to the general by -laws. Arlex is the only oil company left of three that operated in Lexington in previous years. It wants to remain a part of Lexington and serve its residents, which it does very reliably. He believes it will do what it must to improve things for the abutters. Mr. Kennedy thanked the Committee for its report and expressed his support of the special permit. Mr. McSweeney indicated that he thinks the Noise By -law process was good and that Arlex will try to adjust to it. Selectmen's Meeting — November 17, 2003 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 4 -1 (Krieger) to grant a special permit to Arlex Oil Corporation to operate their heating oil business and that Arlex should continue to work on ways to minimize noise throughout the year between 11:00 p.m. and 6:00 a. m. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn the meeting at 7:55 p.m. and reconvene in the school's auditorium at 8:00 p.m. for the Special Town Meeting A true record, Attest: Elissa M. Tap Recording Secretary