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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-09-18 SB-min Select Board Meeting September 18, 2023 A meeting of the Lexington Select Board was called to order at 6:30p.m. on Monday, September 18, 2023, via hybrid meeting platform. Mr. Pato, Chair; Ms. Barry, Mr. Lucente, Mr. Sandeen, and Ms. Hai were present, as well as Ms. Katzenback, Executive Clerk; and Ms. Axtell, Deputy Town Manager. PUBLIC COMMENTS None at this time. SELECT BOARD MEMBER CONCERNS AND LIAISON REPORTS 1. Select Board Member Concerns and Liaison Reports Mr. Lucente noted that the draft HATS letter may be coming back before the Board for additional reconsideration. Mr. Sandeen noted that it was announced that the MSBA has shortlisted the designers for the Lexington rd High School Project and there is an opportunity to hear them present on October 3. Mr. Pato expressed concern regarding proposed fees to be paid to the Affordable Housing Trust, or special residential districts, as recommended per the new section of the Zoning regulations, as discussed th at the September 13 Planning Board meeting. These reported costs exclude land acquisition costs. An amendment to require actual construction rather than accept payments in lieu was defeated. He stated that it would be very disappointing if this fee was not to reflect the full cost of creating new units, which includes land. DOCUMENTS: Select Board Announcements and Liaison Reports - September 18, 2023 TOWN MANAGER REPORT 1. Town Manager Weekly Update Ms. Axtell noted that Staff has received the resignation of Melissa Interess, Director of Human Services. th She will be leaving the Town as of October 11. The Board wished Ms. Interess the best of luck in her next opportunities. DOCUMENTS: 9-8-23 Weekly Update, 9-15-23 Weekly Update CONSENT AGENDA 1. Applications: One-Day Liquor Licenses – Spectacle Management, Inc., 1605 Massachusetts Avenue  Peter Yarrow & Noel Paul Stookey  Macy Gray  The Sixties Show  Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt Together on Stage  Juston McKinney  Tom Rush Club  Jim Brickman - A Christmas Joyful  Michael Feinstein Get Happy Trio  Vienna Boys Choir  Postmodern Jukebox - LIFE IN THE PAST LANE  Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy  Ruben & Clay: Twenty Years/One Night To approve 12 One-Day Liquor Licenses for Spectacle Management, Inc. to serve beer and wine in the lobby outside of Battin Hall on the main level of Cary Memorial Building, 1605 Massachusetts Avenue, for the purpose of 12 events as follows:  Peter Yarrow & Noel Paul Stookey, Sunday, October 1, 2023 6:00pm to 10:30pm  Macy Gray, Friday, October 6, 2023 7:00pm to 11:00pm  The Sixties Show, Sunday, October 8, 2023 6:00pm to 10:30pm  Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt Together on Stage, Thursday, October 19, 2023 7:00pm to 11:00pm  Juston McKinney, Friday, October 20, 2023 7:00pm to 11:00pm  Tom Rush Club, Saturday, October 21, 2023 7:00pm to 11:00pm  Jim Brickman - A Christmas Joyful, Saturday, November 25, 2023 6:30pm to 10:30pm  Michael Feinstein Get Happy Trio, Thursday, November 30, 2023 6:30pm to 10:30pm  Vienna Boys Choir, Saturday, December 2, 2023 6:30pm to 10:30pm  Postmodern Jukebox - LIFE IN THE PAST LANE, Thursday, December 14, 2023 7:00pm to 11:00pm  Natalie MacMaster & Donnell Leahy, Saturday, December 16, 2023 7:00pm to 11:00pm  Ruben & Clay: Twenty Years/One Night, Thursday, January 18, 2024 7:00pm to 11:00pm DOCUMENTS: Spectacle Management Event Location Map 2. Application: One-Day Liquor License - T.P. Bronx LLC d/b/a Galaray House, 1720 Massachusetts Avenue, Unit 2  Ribbon Cutting Ceremony/Grand Opening To approve a One-Day Liquor License for T.P. Bronx LLC d/b/a Galaray House to serve wine and champagne inside the Galaray House, 1720 Massachusetts Avenue, Unit 2, for the purpose of a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony/Grand Opening on Wednesday, September 27, 2023 from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. 3. Application: One-Day Liquor License – Lexington Community Farm, 52 Lowell Street  Harvest Festival To approve a One-Day Liquor License for the Lexington Community Farm for the purpose of serving beer in a beer garden at the Lexington Community Farm, 52 Lowell Street to participants of the Harvest Festival on Sunday, October 1, 2023 from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. DOCUMENTS: 2023 Lexington Community Farm's Harvest Festival Map & Procedures for Serving Alcohol 4. Application: License for Public Entertainment on Sunday – Lexington Community Farm, 52 Lowell Street - Harvest Festival To approve a License for Public Entertainment on Sunday for Lexington Community Farm for the purpose of providing a live musical performance for patrons of the Harvest Festival to take place on Sunday, October 1, 2023 at Lexington Community Farm, 52 Lowell Street from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. DOCUMENTS: 2023 Lexington Community Farm's Harvest Festival Map 5. Approve Select Board Committee Reappointments  Battle Road Scenic Byway Committee - Sheila Page  Communications Advisory Committee - Dorinda Goodman  Design Advisory Committee: o James Ian Adamson o Christopher Johns o Timothy Lee o Steven Vincent  Economic Development Advisory Committee - Adrienne Ortyl  Greenways Corridor Committee: o Alexandra Dohan o Margaret Enders o Eileen Entin  Housing Partnership Board: o Melanie Thompson o Betsey Weiss  Lexington Bicycle Advisory Committee: o James Cadenhead o Ramprasad Reddy  Lexington Center Committee: o Katherine Huang o Innessa Manning  Lexington Council for the Arts - David Hoose  Lexington Human Rights Committee - Monami Roy  Lexington Scholarship and Educational Fund Committee: o Julie Hackett o David Williams  Monuments and Memorials Committee: o Avram Baskin o William Glen Bassett o Charles French o George Gamota  Tourism Committee: o Margaret Coppe o Bebe Fallick  Town Report Committee: o Gloria Amirault o Susan Myerow o Varshagouri Ramanathan o Victoria Sax o Karyn Zhao  Tree Committee: o Gerald Paul o Barbara Tarrh  Trustees of Public Trusts - Susan McClements  Vision for Lexington Committee: o Andrew Dixon o Daniel Joyner o Carol Marine o Weidong Wang  Water and Sewer Abatement Board – James Osten  Zoning Board of Appeals - Norman Cohen  Zoning Board of Appeals Associates: o Scott Cooper o Patricia Nelson o Kathryn Roy o David Williams To reappoint the board and committee members effective on October 1, 2023 as indicated on the list titled 2023 September Board/Committee Reappointments. DOCUMENTS: 2023 September Board/Committee Reappointments/Do Not Reappoints 6. Approve Town Celebrations Committee Requests  Application: Battle Green Permit - Veterans Day Parade Unit Staging  Bedford Street and Massachusetts Avenue Road Closures Request - Veterans Day Car Parade To approve the request from the Town Celebrations Committee to use the Battle Green on Saturday, November 11, 2023 from 10:30am to 12:30pm for the purpose of the Veterans Day parade unit staging, which will include the Lexington High School Band, Boy/Girl Scouts, and Lexington Minute Men to honor veterans during the Veterans Day Car Parade. To approve the Town Celebrations Committee's request for Bedford Street from the Knights of Columbus, 177 Bedford Street east to Massachusetts Avenue to Marrett Road (ending at the Lexington Community Center parking lot) be closed to all but resident emergency traffic from 10:30am on Saturday, November 11, 2023 to no later than 1:00pm for the Veterans Day Car Parade. *and all approvals and locations are subject to modifications as may be required by the Department of Public Works, Public Safety, Fire Department and/or Engineering Department up to the time of the event. DOCUMENTS: Town Celebrations Committee Battle Green Use Request Map, Town Celebrations Committee Request Letter - Veterans Day Car Parade & Road Closures 7. Approve and Sign Water and Sewer Finals To approve and sign the attached Water and Sewer Finals for July 2023. DOCUMENTS: 9-18-23 Finals VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted by roll call 5-0 to approve the Consent Agenda. ITEMS FOR INDIVIDUAL CONSIDERATION 1. Approve and Sign Proclamation - Recognition of Dr. Burt Perlmutter Dr. Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Chair of Board of Health, explained that the Board is being asked to approve and sign a proclamation recognizing and honoring longtime Board of Health Member, Dr. Burt Perlmutter, for his many years of service and dedication to the Town of Lexington. Dr. Burt Perlmutter is stepping down after serving for 27 years on the Lexington Board of Health. Dr. Perlmutter and his wife, Bobbi, have lived in Lexington for over 50 years and have raised three children here. His medical career includes serving as a physician in the U.S. Army in Vietnam, as part of an Internal Medical practice and as the Medical Director at Symmes Hospital in Arlington. Dr. Perlmutter, with a strong sense of civic duty and a purpose of protecting the health of this community, became a member of the Board of Health. He felt that Public Health was more than restaurant inspections and strived to promote the overall work of public health. He has served the Town and its residents with respect and integrity for 27 years. VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted by roll call 5-0 to approve and sign a proclamation recognizing and honoring Dr. Burt Perlmutter for his many years of service and dedication to the Town of Lexington Board of Health. DOCUMENTS: 2023 Recognition of Dr. Burt Perlmutter Proclamation 2. Public Hearing: Review Amendments to the Stormwater Management Regulations* *the Planning Board has also posted an agenda with the Town Clerk for this item and may attend and participate in this discussion The Planning Board called its Board to order at 6:46pm. Mr. Pato opened the hearing at 6:47 pm. Abby McCabe, Planning Director, explained that the Planning Board has been updating their Regulations related to site plan review after the recent zoning amendments for new village and multi-family overlay districts. The Planning Board would like to review stormwater while considering redevelopment projects on smaller properties. The average lot size in the village and multi-family overlay districts are under an acre, and the Planning Board would like to require stormwater improvements on redevelopment projects to treat and capture stormwater runoff. The proposal is to consolidate a stormwater review into the Planning Board’s Site Plan Review approval. The proposal includes hiring a peer review consultant to help the Planning Board perform that technical review. Robert Peters, chair of the Lexington Planning Board, stated that, by a vote of 5-1, the Board voted in favor of recommending these changes. A majority of the Board felt that it was important to upgrade stormwater management systems and drainage systems when new development is being permitted. The one vote against appeared to feel that a more comprehensive approach is needed on this item. Other members of the Board and Staff felt that this could create more work than Staff can handle at this time. Charles Hornig explained that he believes the Planning Board vote was 4-1. He was the vote against, due to the fact that he believes the new threshold should apply to all developments, not just Site Plan Review developments. In response to a question from Mr. Sandeen, Ms. McCabe explained that the stormwater section in the Planning Board regulations direct applicants to the Select Board regulations. Both sets of regulations contain a waiver provision that allows applicants to submit an explanation documenting why an item cannot be met and a waiver thus needed. There was no public comment at this time. Mr. Pato closed the hearing at 7:10pm. The Planning Board adjourned its board at 7:11pm VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted by roll call 5-0 to approve the amendments to the Stormwater Regulations, Chapter 181, Article VI of the Code of Lexington, as presented and attached. DOCUMENTS: SB Memo Stormwater, Storm water planning recommendations, Stormwater amendments presentation 3. Application: Common Victualler License - T.P. Bronx LLC d/b/a Galaray House, 1720 Massachusetts Avenue, Unit 2 Mr. Pato explained that the Board is being asked to approve a request for a Common Victualler License for T.P. Bronx LLC d/b/a Galaray House, 1720 Massachusetts Avenue, Unit 2, for the hours of 7:00am to 9:00pm, Sunday through Saturday, for seating in a new art gallery and espresso bar. The applicant has worked with the Department of Public Health, Building Department and Zoning Department for their respective required permits and inspections. VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted by roll call 5-0 to approve a Common Victualler License for T.P. Bronx LLC d/b/a Galaray House, 1720 Massachusetts Avenue, Unit 2, for the hours of 7:00am to 9:00pm Sunday through Saturday. DOCUMENTS: Galaray House Site Plan with Seating 4. Requests for Select Board Support From the Lexington Affordable Housing Trust Board of Trustees  Prefunding with CPA Funds  Pursuing the Development Potential for Lowell and North Streets Parcel 68- 44 Elaine Tung, Affordable Housing Trust (AHT) Board of Trustees, explained that the AHT was formed earlier this year, with a charge to preserve and create affordable housing in Lexington for the benefit of low- and moderate-income households, and for the funding of community housing. The Select Board and Town Meeting approved the AHT so that the Town would have a funding mechanism to address local initiatives, and to create and preserve affordable housing in real time. The Trust can only function if there is regular infusion of funds to operate and address these needs. The request is that the Board submit a joint application with AHT for fiscal year 2025 CPA funds to additionally pre-fund the Trust in an amount not less than $3.2M-$4M. Linda Prosnitz, AHT Board of Trustees, explained that having funding available allows the AHT to work in the real estate market, and respond if there is an opportunity to purchase a piece of land. Affordable housing is very expensive. Funds can be depleted quickly. Building a sustainable amount of funds in the Trust will enable the Town to do a lot of different projects and respond to opportunities. Currently, the AHT can only count on approximately $125,000-$130,000 a year. Historically, community housing has received the least amount of CPA funds. Ms. Tung stated that the second request is regarding a Town-owned 3.1 acre of land, located at the intersection of Lowell and North Street. This is an opportunity for the Town to create a significant amount of affordable housing. In order to do greater due diligence on this project, additional funding is needed and the AHT would first like to request the Board’s support to proceed with determining the viability of this parcel. for affordable community housing. Ms. Hai noted that LexHAB and the Housing Partnership Board have voted to support this exploration. She also noted that this land was given to the Town from the State for a series of uses, one of which was specified as affordable housing. Dawn McKenna, 9 Hancock Street, cautioned the Board about prefunding the Trust. She would be more inclined to support a request for a certain amount of money to do the preliminary work. This process is too new to fund a large amount of money toward the project. It is important for the AHT to show what it can do, in order for the community to become comfortable with it. Bob Pressman, CPC, noted that the Lexpress route goes directly by the parcel in question. He believes it is an excellent location. VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted by roll call 5-0 to support the Affordable Housing Trust's development of the proposed CPA fund requests in time for the CPC's November 1, 2023, deadline, with co-sponsorship from the Select Board. VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted by roll call 5-0 to support the AHT proceeding with investigating the Lowell and North Street property development options for affordable housing. DOCUMENTS: Land Use, Housing and Development Dept. Memo & Timeline - Evaluating Town Parcel 68-44 for Affordable Housing, USE FOR MEETING: Presentation - Prefunding and Lowell & North Street (Parcel 68-44), Presentation – Prefunding, Presentation - Conceptual Schemes Parcel 68-44, Support for increasing CPA housing funding 5. Special Town Meeting 2023-1  Call for Special Town Meeting 2023-1  Review Draft Warrant  Discuss Select Board Report Ms. Axtell explained that the proposal is for the Board to call for a 2023 Special Town Meeting (STM 2023-1) to begin on Tuesday, November 7, 2023 at 7:30pm. There are 12 proposed warrant articles at this time and paperwork for citizens petitions is now available in the Town Clerk's Office. Petitions, along with a separate draft motion (if available), are due to the Select Board Office no later than 12:00pm on September 28, 2023. 100 Certified signatures are required to be inserted in the warrant for Special Town Meeting 2023-1. The final warrant is to be approved and signed by the Select Board on Monday, October 2, 2023. VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted by roll call 5-0 to call for Special Town Meeting 2023-1 to begin on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, at 7:30pm; and to open the Special Town Meeting 2023-1 Warrant for citizen petitions through Thursday, September 28, 2023 at 12:00pm. The Board discussed the potential of writing a Select Board Report for Special Town Meeting. There was agreement that this report was not needed for this Special Town Meeting. DOCUMENTS: DRAFT STM 2023-1 Warrant, 2023-1 STM Moderator Hybrid Request Letter, Memo TSGrequest 6. Review Draft Select Board Report for Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report The Board discussed the draft Select Board report for the Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report. It agreed to take up this topic again during its work session on Wednesday. DOCUMENTS: Draft Annual Report ADJOURN VOTE: Upon a motion duly made and seconded, the Select Board voted 5-0 to adjourn the meeting at 7:59pm. A true record; Attest: Kristan Patenaude Recording Secretary