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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-12-07-BOS-min ISELECTMEN'S MEETING December 7, 1981 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, December 7, 1981 at 7 30 P M. Mrs Battin, Mrs Miley, Mr Crain and Mr Politi; Mr Hutch- inson, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Miss Casey Executive Clerk, were present Due to the unavoidable absense of Mr Buse, a motion was made, Acting seconded and voted unanimously to appoint Mr Crain as Acting Chairman Chairman Mr Zehner, Town Treasurer, met with the Board to request authori- Town zation for partial renewal of a $97,550 note for Chapter 90 resurfacing, Treasurer borrowed on September 11, 1981 and due December 10, 1981 Mr Zehner explained that the work has been completed and a check in partial re- imbursement had been received A balance of $12,506 75 remains unreim- bursed and the Engineering Department believes it will arrive within thirty days Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Town Treasurer to transact a refunding loan in the amount of $12,506 75 dated December 10 and due January 11, 1982 at 6 0% with the Middlesex Mr Crain read a request from Sr Gladys Marhefka of the Grey Nuns' Battle Provincial House, 10 Pelham Road requesting permission for the use of Green the Battle Green on April 10, 1982 for the purpose of conducting a peace vigil Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant per- mission to Sr Gladys Marhefka, Grey Nuns' Provincial House, 10 Pelham Road, for the use of the Battle Green on April 10, 1982 for the purpose of conducting a peace vigil Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve re- Entertain- newel of the Entertainment License for the Lexington-Sheraton Inn ment Lic Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve re- Common newel of the following Common Victualler Licenses Victualler Lic Rens Lexington Enterprises, Inc d/b/as Lexington Golf Club Peking Gardens Bel Canto Restaurant Pine Meadow Country Club, Inc Three A's Foods, Inc d/b/as Alexias Panagiatou d/b/as Chadwick's Alexander's Pizza Guenther's Restaurant Ong, Ong, Inc d/b/as Yangtze River Restaurant Sheraton-Lexington Inn Friendly Ice Cream Corp (1060 Waltham Street) • -1 - 2 One Day Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve issuance Liq Lic of a One Day Liquor License to RAEDACC Association of W R. Grace & Co for December 10, 1981 Mr Politi abstained from voting County Tax The Board discussed the request of the County Commissioners to pay Bill the estimated tax bill for the first half, which would be a voluntary pay- ment Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Mana- ger's recommendation that the bill not be paid and to authorize the Town Manager to so inform the County Commissioners The Board met with Mrs Battin and Mrs Smith of the Hanscom Area Traffic Committee for a report on its study of the traffic problem in the Bedford, Concord, Lincoln and Lexington areas near the airport Mrs Battin informed the Board that the MAPC had made a written analysis and prepared a matrix of the alternative solutions and the HATS representatives of each town individually looked at these solutions and presented priorities for their town These were compared at a future meet- ing and differences reconciled Mrs Battin stated that the Committee had inventoried and reviewed previous traffic studies and identified and dis - cussed current efforts for traffic solutions in the area Mrs Battin ex- plained that if the four towns involved could agree on a plan the Massport Authority would provide financing and staff, with the understanding that industry in the towns involved would also agree to participate in the finan- cing MAPC would be used for further study Mrs Battin informed the Board that the Committee was requesting the Board of Selectmen to consider adop- tion of the concept; consideration of continuance of the HATS Committee; support of the safety upgrades on Route #2 involving the Towns of Lincoln and Concord Mrs Smith explained that the goal was to connect the interior pro- tions of the area with primary roads which circle the air base She stated that the plan is in three phases, the first consisting of the traffic improvements in the Bedford Street/Hartwell Avenue area that are already under study; the second phase would realign the end of Virginia Road that now empties onto Route 2A to the intersection of Hanscom Drive; the third phase would create a new road connecting Hartwell Drive in Bedford, Vir- ginia Road and Crosby Corners on Route 2 Using a map of the area, Mrs Smith gave a detailed presentation of the plan Mrs Miley made a motion to accept the recommendations of the Committee and Mrs Battin seconded the motion Mr Politi and Mr Crain expressed the desire to wait for a week before voting on the issue Mr Crain asked Mr Sandy, Chairman of the Planning Board who was in attendance, if the Planning Boardcould meet next week with the Board of Selectmen at which time both Boards could come to a decision relative to the acceptance of the plan Mr Sandy stated that, due to scheduled hearings next week, he re- quested that the Planning Board be allowed to request a meeting with the Selectmen only if they had any problems with the plan It was agreed that the Planning Board would review the plan and,if it was felt necessary, would request an appointment with the Board of Selectmen for the next meeting - 3 - X35 Selectmen's Meeting December 7, 1981 Mrs Miley agreed to withdraw the motion Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to withdraw the motion made by Mrs Miley to accept the HATS Committee plan relative to the traffic problem in the airport area Mr Crain thanked Mrs Battin and Mrs Smith for the report The Board met with the planning Board to discuss the question of a Planning change in the terms of members of the Planning Board The lact of in- Board terest generated in serving on the Planning Board was of concern to the Term Selectmen and it was felt that perhaps the length of the term was the cause It was suggested that the term be amended from five to three years Mr Sandy, Chairman of the Planning Board, informed the Board that the subject had been discussed briefly at a Planning Board meeting and there seemed to be no strong feelings one way or the other among the mem- bers It was the feeling of the Planning Board members that unless there was a compelling reason to change it seemed pointless to do so He ex- plained that Planning Board members seldom ran for reelection because of the ten-years involved Mr Sandy brought out the point that if the term were changed to three years, there would be two people out for election two out of every three years He felt that it was easier to find people to contest one seat in one year rather than two seats in one year He asked if the Board was considering changing the terms of the other five- year boards Mrs Battin stated that the question of changing the term of the Planning Board membership had been raised by the Structure of Government Committee who put in the Selectmen/Town Manager Act in 1969 She stated that at that time and people had a sense that the long term prevented people from running, but no one could say that it prevented some one from running and no definitive conclusion was made Mr Crain stated that the Board was under no complus ion to take any action on the question and wanted the input of the Planning Board so that a decision could be made as to whether or not to support such action Mr Sandy expressed his concern to the Board that many committees Housing have been appointed whose actions involved planning that eventually gets Units to the Planning Board but the Planning Board is never directly involved in it He mentioned the School Sites Conversion Committee, Accessory Apartments and the decision to have commercial use of Munroe School. Mrs Miley expressed her concern also and stated that she felt that the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board and Housing Authority should get together regarding the condominium units for low and moderate income hous- ing that passed Town Meeting but have not been turned over to the Town yet Mrs Wheaton pointed out that in the memorandum of understanding it stated that the Town has the option of picking up the units within 18 months and if it didn't, the developers can either turn the units over to the existing non-profit organization dedicated to low and moderate income housing or they could set up an organization of their own f� - After further discussion, it was decided that the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board and Housing Authority would meet and discuss the matter further to determine what action could be taken in order to obtain the units for the Housing Authority Street Mr Sandy informed the Board that there have been no changes in the Acceptance street policy since the original policy was instituted last summer He Policy stated that they were dealing with exceptions on a case by case basis and that the policy is really for guide lines Mr Crain thanked the Planning Board members for attending and they retired from the meeting Revaluation The Manager informed the Board that the assessors were preparing an updated schedule for completing the revaluation which should be forthcoming next week. He stated that they will be filing with the Office of Revenue the full values within the next week or two and that the methodology on commercial and residential values had been approved He also stated that there were some parcels that have not been clearly defined, but that the whole revaluation would not be held up because of them. They will be reviewed by the Board of Assessors Boston The Manager reported to the Board that a number of towns had provided Edison a commitment to money requested by the City of Newton to intervene in the Rate In- upcoming hearings on Boston Edison's rate increase He requested that the crease Board table the request for $1,250 contribution to cover legal fees as par- ticipants in the case He felt that there would be more and more requests of this type in the coming years and each one should be taken on its own merits Mr Politi questioned the Town's legality in acting as an intervenor and whether it was necessary as the Attorney General's office is intervening He felt that there might be added costs down the line Mr Crain pointed out to the Board that he would have to abstain from any discussion or action asheis responsible for rate or return testimony for another public utility Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the request of the City of Newton to have Lexington join in the legal expenses for in- tervening in the Boston Edison rate increase issue Town Meet Acting Chairman Crain referred the Board to its copies of a letter Date from the Appropriation Committee suggesting a change in the March 22 start of Town Meeting It was felt by them that new people on boards and Town Meeting members have too little time to familarize themselves with the issues before the start of Town Meeting Mrs Battin suggested that the suggestion be referred to the Executive Committee Chairman of the Town Meeting Members Association for consideration and then take action after receiving a reply The Board agreed There was no executive session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 8 55 P M. A true record, Attest ted...ore&t.:727 Executive Clerk