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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1957-11-07-CEC-min.pdf MEETING OF THE CAPITAL EXPENDITURES COMM. WITH RECREATION COMM November 7 , 1957 eeting of the Capital Expenditures Committee was held with members of the Recreation Committee on November 7 , 1957 at S 00 p m at the home of Irving Mabee Those present for the C . E Comm. were Sanborn C Brown, chairman, Dan H Fenn, Rosemary Fitzgerald, Irving Mabee , and .Norman Royle, with Mabelle Tucker es secretary . Those present for the Recrettion Committee were Gardner Ferguson, Lawrence Ql&, Jean Wanless and Fred Wells Mr. Brown asked the Recreation `'omm members what their plans were for recreation in Lexington for the next five years, and how much money this would involve . tie read from the Capital Lip Comm reports from 1951 through 1957 in each year it was recommended that a thorough study of the recreational needs of the town be made, and a long range plan be drawn up, ks8sanxs!nnttlnx. In 1953 and 1954 the sum of $15,000 was recommended annually *axaxdzstratas for the acquisition of band for play areas In 1956 the duties of the Recreation Committee were clarified by the Town Meeting and were defined as administrative necessary funds were to be asked for by the selectmen, and $10 ,000 annually was thought to be reasonable In 1957 the selectmen had asked for 110 , 000 and this was approved by the Capital Expenditures Committee. Mr Ferguson was most anxious to stay within the Rec. Comm. ' s administra- tive bounds and to avoid mentioning any figures until after his committee had met with the selectmen to get their approval. However, if it was understood by all that the Rec Comm had no authority to make recommenda- tions in terms of dlllars and cents, he had no objection to discussing some of the committee' s plans. Rebuilding the center swimming up201 The machinery ( pumps , etc. ) is 30 years old and keeps breaking P _hec Comm. would like to rebuild the pumps ( which would be maintenance) or replace them ( which would be capital expense) before the start of the 1958 swimming season. Contratts should be let early in the year in order to have the pool ready in time. Since the April town meeting will be too late to ask for funds , the committee plans ( with approval of selectmen) to (]L) Ask for funds at a Special Town Meeting , if one is called; or ( 2) arrange a transfer of funds . Estimated cost is 115,000 - $125,000 . Development of the Baskin land. The Rec. Comm. is having topographical maps made of the Baskin land. These will be completed by December 1 , and will be the first step in determining the best use of the land The Rec. Comm may have to hire outside planning help to plan the development . There is a possibility of acquiring more land in the vicinity of Grove St The committee could not estimate the cost of the ntopos^ , outside planning help , acquisition of more land , or eventual develppment of the plot . North St . Gravel Pit area a survey is now being made of the gravel it area to determin,* its best use, viz swimming , picnicking , fishing, baseball, etc. he committee did not know when plans would be completed or how much development would cost. Page 2 Meeting of the Capital Expenditures Comm with Recreation Comm - cont . November 7 , 1957 Lexington Reservoir - Marrett Road This property has been owned by the town for many years but has had little developmentAm The problems are ( 1) Lack of access, entry now being gained overPproperty ; ( 2) Lack of parking facilities except along Marrett Road, which is narrow at this point ; ( 3) Inadequacy of the water supply , which makes it im- possible to develop this as a swimming area The Recreation Comm has not yet had surveys made of this land to determine its best use. Great Meadow - Maple St Mr brown asked if the Recreation Comm had any plans for developing the Great Meadow, which the town of Arlington wants to use as a sanitary fill dump unless other ideas are proposed. For instance, it might be left as a wild life refuge Mr Ferguson replied that this property has been a problem to Lexington for thirty years because no one knows who dawns it Outside the question of owner- ship he thought that a lot of engineering advice, studies and plans would be needed before the Recreation Committee would know what the meadow could be used for (There is peat over a large area of the meadow) . Mr brown said that he had met with an Arlington-Lexington committee to discuss the future of the meadow. It is the opinion of Harold Stevens, Lexington town counsel, that Arlington owns the water rights on the meadow Stevens* solution is for Arlington and Lexington jointly petition the legislature to allow Lexington to use the meadow for recreational purposes If permission were granted Lexington would get the property by eminent domain and the damages could be negotiated between the two towns A member of the Rec Comm asked why Arlington did not want this property for its own recreational use, if it is so desirable for that purpose Mr brown replied that it is the opinion of either Stevens or the Arlington town counsel that one town may not own a recreation area within the borders of another town Arlington has appointed a committee which is to report on the problem of the meadow at the next town meeting. Arlington Reservoir area at the end of Bow St Whe Planning Board has tried to acquire land in this area in order to develop swimming facilities similar to Arlington' s on the opposite shore, but the price of the land was unreasonably high There was a discussion of the statement in the 1957 Capital Expendi- tures Committee report, under the heading of redreation, that the town no & owned 100 acres of undeveloped land Mr Ferguson thought that this statement could be misinterpreted - people might think that the town already owned plenty of land for recreational purposed. This is not so, however, since 8hn most of the land in question is the town dump ( otherwise known as the town forest) , plus some land on Middleby Road He hoped that this might be clarified in the next report , and the C E Committee agreed There was a discussion of the way in which the town acquires land for recreational use According to Mr Ferguson, the Planning Board has money to be used to take options on band for play areas if it becomes available at a fair price. For instance, the Planning Board is now dickering for land from the developer of the Burnham property , in Page 3 Meeting of the Capital Expenditures Comm with Recreation Comm - cont November 7 , 1957 order to gain access and parking area at the North St gravel pit. Also, the Planning Board has the policy of getting developers to give land in each development to the town for recreational purposes. Most of the land given, however, is the least desirable land on the plot for instance, that at Sun Valley is on the top of a hill with lots of trees and rocks , -( good for picnics.) Any recommendation for funds to buy land must come from the Planning Board and the seclectmen, not from the Recreation Committee Mr Brown asked if the request for funds for the purchase and development of recreational land should be ilisted under the Planning Board in the C E C report - instead of carrying the $10 , 000 annually under the Recreation Committeee Mr Ferguson thought that it could be listed under Recreation ( not Recreation Committee) , and that it should be noted that the selectmen and Planning Board recommend it Mrs tanless pointed out that the Recreation Committeee does not necessarily have to develop the land - that this could be done by a special committee appointed by the select- men; after development the Rec Comm could just administer it Coordination of town recreation urogram with Hayden Foundation program The Rec Comm. has met with representatives of the hayden Foundation to discuss the town recreation program in relation to the Hayden pro- gram, so that there will not be duplication of activities Hayden funds are only for youth 21 years and under, and money will be spent only for facilities on Hayden owned land. For instande, Hayden might develop an articial skating rink on their own land, to be used by youth only - but would not give money to the town for a skating rink on town land to be used by youth and adults The Hayden swimming program will be open fl zzrzzzld to children aged S and above The pool will be closed for at least one month each year for maintenance of the pool and staff vacations; this might be in the summer when the outdoor town pool was operating Small swimming pool Mrs Fitzgerald asked if the hec Comm had any pland for relieving the congestion at the wedging pool, which is so crowddd at times that the children have difficulty getting into the water The Hayden pool would not help since they won' t take children under 8, which is the age group using the wading pool The members of the Rec. Comm felt that they , four out of five members being new on the committee, had not had time to formulate pland for rel®hving the congestion, which they agreed was bad. Mr Ferguson pointed out that it was hard to get money appropriated for recreation in Lexington The committee had tried to get money to improve the small , inadequate dressing rooms at the pool , but this request was turned down by the Appropriations Committee and never reached the town meeting He thought it would cost 4600 , 000 to duplicate the present pools , which cost $60,000 in 193M Mrs Fitzgerald thought that perhaps several small pools ( even just wading pools) in different areas of the town might be the answer. Tennis Mrs a+anless thought that the Adams School courts should be resurfaced within five years SKAthelg rink - hockey The committee has as yet no definite plans rot Page 4 Meeting of the Capital Expenditures Comm with Recreation Comm - cont/ November 7 , 1957 a skating and hockey rink, although they would like to $ave one before five years are up They probably will talk to the selectmen about it , to get their ideas There is a problem connected with scraping skating areas - this can be done only after all% the streets have been cleared, or there will be plenty of criticism, and rightly so Park Department men do the clearing, and they also work on the roads Other play areas Mr Ferguson stated that one!of the real problems is to provide recreational areas for the older built-up sections of town which have small house lots and little available land left For in- stance, play area is needed in the Charles St - Oak St section The Recreation vommittee plans to meet with the selectmen after they get the results of the Baskin land surveys - pwobably some time before Christmas After this they will Meet with the Capital Expenditures Committee again and will be ah.le to give the selectmen' s specific recommendations and figures The meeting with the Recreation Uommittee adjourned at 10 p m Meeting of Cap Exp Comm - Report of meeting with Mr Agnew November 7 , 1957 Following adjournment of the meeting with the Recreation Committee , the Capital Expenditures "ommittee met to hear a report of the meeting of Mr Brown and Mr Fenn with Mr `anew, President of the First " ational Bank of Boston, relative to the wisdom of Lexington' s bonding the t425,000 for renovation of the Junior High School outside the debt limit , by getting permission from the legislature to do so Mr Brown reported that `°'r Agnew was in favor of this step because it would improve Lexington' s credit Before the legislature could grant the town permission to bond outside the debt limit it would have to make an investigation of Lexington' s finances Then if permission were granted it would have the effect of the legislature' s guaranteeing Lexington' s credit to investors Mr Agnew said that getting such permission was a fairly routine and common procedure, and he felt sure that it would be granted Lexington has just received el moody credit rating ( for towns with over *600 , 000 indebtedness) The four ratings (based on the ratio of total indebtedness to assessed valuation) are AAA, AA, A, and BAA - the last being so bad that no one will buy bonds Lexington' s rating is only A; or not good, its ratio of debt to assessed valuation is 10 4%, whereas the limit for sound financing is 10% However, Lexington' s bonds have a high marketability factor because Lexington is a "museum piece" , a town with a historical background. Its bonds are closeky held in New England, and by individuals ( not normally true of municipal bonds) These New England investors are not too concerned with the Moody rating, fortunately Therefore bonding outside the debt limit , instead of putting everything inside the limit , would increase the marketability of the bonds as the debt inside the limit is paid off, the borrowing capacity would increase, and this would increase the town' s credit with these investors ( although not the Moody rating) Mr Agnew had some suggestions for Lexington getting its bonds cheaper Lexington' s present treasurer offers the bonds to only one bank - so other banks don t bid on them. He thought that the treasurer should go to the bond douses and talk about Lexington and what it is doing It would help to get a bank to act as missionary for the town; the First National Bank s aides a detailed study of a town with figures on what the avera r85' e„ g�e L�i igift is like, his earning power/, indebted- ness , etc - looks at his financial affairs and sees if they are those of a prudent man Such a survey 7sxxtihex would increase the marketability of Lexington' s bonds It would also help to get on the preferred list of fifty communities The committee discussed the problem of lack of competitive bidding on Lexington' s bonds It was decided that Mrs Fitzgerald should inter- view Mr Carroll, the town treasurer, to get some information on how he goes about selling the bonds , and to ask him about the problems connected with going outside the debt limit Next meetings- Monday , Nov 18 - 8 30 E Lex , rr Fire Station `,�, .r , ss/ s � 1 'J r5 '7,1, Y7✓ 7-0144- ?Di L¢,5 - /' r Cirt r-