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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-07-06-BOS-min �),'d SELECTMEN'S MEETING July 6, 1981 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, July 6, 1981 at 7 30 P.M. Chairman Buse, Mrs Battin, Mr Crain, Mr Politi; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager, Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager and Miss Casey, Executive Clerk were present The Chairman convened the meeting and Chief Corr introduced two new Police policemen; Patrolman Robert Simmons, 82 North Street and Patrolman Edward New O'Brien, 420 Massachusetts Avenue Miss McDonough, Town Clerk, issued the Officers oath of office to the new policemen and the Board extended its congratula- tions and best wishes Mr Page, Chairman of the CATV Committee, and Mr Ron Hammaker of Adams- CATV Russell met with the Board to present information in connection with Section 305, required by State regulations before the signing of the final license with the Town Mr Page requested that the information be reviewed by the Committee and Town Counsel with the hope that the final document can be signed on July 20 Mr Hammaker presented the bonds that were also required to be retained in the Selectmen's Office Mr Hammaker introduced Mr Robert Vaughan, Chief Engineer and Project ' Manager The Chairman thanked Mr Page and Mr Hammaker and they retired from the meeting Mr Neil Cronin, Guide Director, met with the Board to introduce the Guides new guides for the season and request approval of new and renewal licenses Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the issu- ance of guide licenses for the following NEW LICENSES Arthur G Slade, Jr , Lisa Moreau, Steven Lerner, William J Abernathy, Jr and Paul Edwards RENEWAL LICENSES Stephen Bertolini, Sharon Fray, Stephen Greim, David Hamburger, David Harrington, Richard John, Judd E Levingston, Daniel McGrath, John E Nordahl, Peter Ostrow, Kamala Soparkar, Nathaniel Taylor, Peter Wasserman, David A. Wasserman, James Lyons and Edward Ford The Chairman extended the congratulations of the Board to the guides and thanked Mr Cronin for his interest and work in their training and they retired from the meeting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Warrant to Warrant the Aniaml Control Officer for 1145 unlicensed dogs in Lexington Dogs IL 1C' - 2 - Minutes Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the minutes of the Selectmen's Meetings of May 11 and May 18, 1981 Resig Cen- Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the resigna- ter Rev tion of Mr Bernd Dekant from the Center Revitalization Committee Com. Resig Sewer Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the resigna- Adv Com. tion of Kenneth W Nill from the Sewer Advisory Committee Com. Appts The Chairman stated that the committee appointments would be postponed until the July 20 meeting when a full Board would be present Easements Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted an intent to take tem- Adams St porary construction easements for Adams Street authority for which is under Article 20 of the 1980 Annual Town Meeting Street Re- Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to award the contract surfacing for street resurfacing #82-2-E, to P J Keating Company, Reservoir Road, Contract Lunenburg, Mass in the amount of $117,633 50 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to defer the following sewer betterments without interest, until said land or any part thereof is built upon, sold or until the expiration of three years from the date hereof, whichever event occurs first; provided, however, that this extension of time shall terminate immediately if said land or any portion thereof is built upon or sold Mary B & Rose Chiesa, 42 Adams St , M 63, Lot 107 $ 516 03 Alfred R. , Jr & Carol A Batstone, 42 Bartlett Ave M 29, Lots 42, 43 2,288 52 Town of Arlington, Maple Street (Great Meadow) 1,850 40 M 30, Lot 114 Moore Realty Trust, Emerson Road (lot 6A) 370 43 M 69, Lot 47 George & Laura E Wallis, Dewey Road (L C Lot 9) 694 73 M 89, Lot 45 Robert E & Ruth E Doran, Holmes Road (lot A2) 1,050 17 M 62, Lot 23 Christine H Spielvogel, 97 Adams Street, M 69, Lot 48 603 43 H. Seymour Kassman & Erik L Mollo-Christensen, Barberry Road, M 10, Lot 7 1,081 78 Beatrice I Bergstrom, 497 Concord Avenue 1,411 33 M 11, Lot 31 Michael J & Lawrence M. Carroll, Waltham St M 16, Lot 48A, 8, 9 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to defer the follow- ing water betterment charges, without interest, until said land or any part thereof is built upon, sold or until the expiration of three years from the date hereof, whichever event occurs first; provided, however, that this ex- tenstion of time shall terminate immediately if said land or any portion thereof is built upon or sold M. Joseph, Lawrence M. & Edward P Carroll 31 Allen Street, M 16, Lot 48A 111 - 3 - 7 7 Selectmen's Meeting July 6, 1981 Michael J & Lawrence M. Carroll, Waltham St $10,713.81 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to defer the follow- Water ing water betterment, without interest, until said land or any part thereof Deferment is built upon, sold or until the expiration of three years from the date Carroll hereof, whichever event occurs first; provided, however, that this exten- sion of time shall terminate immediately if said land or any portion thereof is built upon or sold M. Joseph, Lawrence M. & Edward P Carroll, $390 00 31 Allen Street, M 16, Lot 48A The Board met with Mr Benjamin Goodman of the Hub Bus Lines to re- Hub Bus view his request for a fare increase Lines The Manager informed the Board that a survey had been made in which approximately 80% of those surveyed were regular riders of the busses He stated that a number of people were concerned about time schedules, stand- ing and the poor condition of the busses Overall, the riders expressed their desire to continue with the service with improvements After further discussion, the Board agreed to grant the requested fare increase Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, 3-1, Mr Politi in the negative, to grant the fare increase requested by Mr Goodman of the Hub Bus Lines with the following stipulations 1 Review by October 1 progress made relative to complaints on service, condition of busses, problems of standees, etc 2 Receive a monthly update on the status of the radio license 3 Have a commitment that the new bus run would be instituted and maintained no later than July 27 The Manager presented to the Board the draft charge to the By-Laws By-Laws Committee and requested comments Committee Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adopt the follow- Charge ing charge to the By-Laws Committee; The Committee shall review Town By-Laws, to insure compatibility with present practice, State statutes and the Selectmen/Town Manager Act. Further the Committee shall recommend appropriate changes and/ or abolition of said By-Laws to be considered by the Selectmen and Town Meeting The Committee shall consist of five members The Board met with members of the Garrity House Committee to discuss Garrity ' its report to the Board of July 2 The Committee recommended Interchange House as the designated developers because of its' confidence in the developers tc� - 4 - L to carefully preserve the buildings and their willingness to be flexible in working out the terms of the agreement with the Town The proposal would also enable the Town to preserve the buildings without cost to the Town and have their reuse again in thirty years It was the Committee's feeling that rehabilitation of the buildings for residential use would be economically prohibitive to individuals The Committee addressed the parking problem in its report and stated that the developer has provided six spaces on the site as the maximum to be aesthetically acceptable The report indicated that the Committee felt that the Town, as owner of the property, should share in responsibility for the additional parking needs in some manner A letter from the Chairman of the Historic Districts Commission indi- cated approval of the Interchange proposal for preservation and rehabilita- tion of the buildings It also pointed out that its jurisdiction is limited to exterior architecture and not the type of use, its hope was that concern about the use would not end in frustrating all efforts to save the buildings Attached to the Committee's report was a letter addressed to Mrs Grady, Chairman, from the Massachusetts Historical Commission indicating that the buildings were of substantial historical significance to the Town and stood as a symbol of Lexington's past as a simple farming community The Planning Board's report to the Selectmen, resulting from its hearing on June 11, stated "the primary public objective is the restoration of two build- ings representative of their period which form an important part of the setting of the Battle Green. The use of the building by a business is clearly not a public objective and is simply a means to achieve the primary objective " The report indicated that if there has to be a commercial use of the building, this was an appropriate one, but they would be more comfortable with a proposal for residential use Concern was expressed that a precedent would be set for re-zoning other residential buildings around the center The Planning Board report also expressed concern relative to the parking problem and stated that a much better plan for parking to serve the proposed use would have to be sub- mitted before it could give a favorable recommendation The report further stated that if a residential re-use of the building is not feasible and the Town must designate a developer with a non-residential proposal, the Planning Board would prefer a procedure comparable to Section 9 3 permitting the conver- sion of municipal buildings to non-residential use It was the consensus of the Planning Board that this would be preferable to the type of re-zoning proposed Dr William J Cosgrove, 25 Hancock Street, and other residents in the area expressed opposition to any type of commerical use of the buildings Mr Politi felt that the Board should give the matter more considera- tion because of the opposition of the Planning Board and the neighbors He felt that it was unfair to keep the developer "on the string" until next Town Meeting on something that may not, politically, be feasibile Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table a decision on the disposition of the Garrity House property until the Selectmen's Meet- ing of July 20 Planning The Board met with the Planning Board and the Board of Appeals to dis- Board cuss the use of fire alarm boxes, street acceptance requirements and new construction policies requirements of the Planning Board Mr Sandy of the Planning Board stated that under the sub-division regulations it is required that fire alarm boxes be installed in all new - 5 - zf7q III Selectmen's Meeting July 6, 1981 developments The Fire Chief feels that fire alarm boxes in a sub-division are not necessary for safety The Planning Board disagreed and were continu- ing the requirement with the assumption that they would be connected to the town system The Manager pointed out that in 1978 the Board of Selectmen, acting through its public safety and financial responsibilities spent a great deal of time reviewing this situation and voted to allow no more expansion of the systems in the town He pointed out that under the Selectmen/Town Manager Act public safety is the responsibility of the Board and Manager not the Planning Board Mr. Hutchinson stated that of the 129 fires reported by boxes, 110 were false alarms The members of the Planning Board requested a decision of the Board as to whether or not any new fire alarm boxes installed by developers by Planning requirements would be connected to the town system. During further discussion, it was brought out that it is not always feasible to depend upon a neighbor's telephone to report a fire and also that there are times when storms interrupt telephone service It was decided to study the matter further Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to refer the matter to the Fire Chief, Planning Director and Town Council for further study IllThe newly adopted Planning Board policy on construction standards for unaccepted streets was discussed at length with the Planning Board members. The policy deals with qualifying a building lot for zongin purposes in the con- text when applying for a building permit It does not set construction stan- dards for roads in private ownership except where a new building is proposed. If an unaccepted street is currently in a condition that would prevent the issuance of a building permit, it sets standards whereby the street may be im- proved in order to qualify for a permit The policy specifically addresses streets in classification "c" of the zoning by-law "a way in existence on April 4, 1948, having, in the opinion of the Planning Board, sufficient width, suitable grades and adequate con- struction to provide for the needs of vehicular traffic in relation to the proposed use of the land abutting thereon or served thereby, and for the in- stallation of municipal services to serve such land and the buildings erected or to be erected thereon" The Building Commissioner may not issue a building permit for a lot with frontage on a street without obtaining the opinion of the Planning Board on width, grades and construction. The policy sets con- struction standards by dividing classification "c" of the definition of "street, road or way" into several components specifically stating require- ments in each The standards set are guidelines for typical cases The Planning Board reserves the right to waive the standards in individual cases after consultation with the Town Engineer, if a vaiver or reduction of these standards is sought The policy in general and several specific cases were discussed It was the opinion of Mr Busa and Mr Politi that long-time residents who have III owned property and have been paying taxes on it as a buildable lot would be placed in the position of being financially unable to develop the lots They felt that a developer who comes into town and purchases land for the purpose of making a profit would be in a different category than the one or two lot owners The Planning Board disagreed and felt that all developers should be treated the same The Planning Board's policy on the development of land currently zoned for commercial development in the Bedford Street/Hartwell Avenue area was discussed The principal objective of the policy is to try to reduce the impact of additional development on the peak hour traffic in the area The policy included three steps to reduce peak hour traffic congestion which would ad- just the scheduled hours of operation by percentage of employees in each type of firm so that there would be no arrival or departure of employees, except for emergencies, between 7 45 - 8 45 a m. and 4 30 - 5 30 p m. Also, as part of the policy, would be some form of physical limitation on a percentage of park- ing spaces for entering or exiting, except for emergencies, between 7 45 - 8 45 a m. and 4 30 - 5 30 p m. Promotion of, and participation in, carpooling, van- pooling and the use of public transportation was also a part of the policy Three types of developments were listed as a basis for setting the percentages to be used The policies recommended will be the basis of the Planning Board's recommendations to the Board of Appeals for all projects for which a special permit, with site plan review, had not been granted as of April 13, 1981 It was the hope of the Planning Board that the Board of Selectmen, after reviewing the policy, would make the same recommendations to the Board of Appeals Mrs Morey, former Chairman and now an Associate Member of the Board of Appeals, stated that the Board of Appeals was strongly against setting quotas for people to come and go to their place of business at certain designated hours It was also pointed out by Mrs Morey that the Building Commissioner was not in favor of setting time allocations for entering and exiting on parking spaces She pointed out that enforcement of this regulation could not be properly 11/ enforced She also pointed out that many of the firms on Hartwell Avenue have already instituted staggered work hours and promoted carpooling. Mrs Riff in, Acting Chairman of the Board of Appeals, stated that she felt that it was unreasonable to expect the Building Commissioner to police the area for violations of the parking regulations recommended by the Planning Board policy She stated that the members of the Board of Appeals felt that these conditions could not be put down as being necessary for approval of a permit Mr Busa stated that he felt that the Board of Appeals were extremely competent people who all had served either in the Town government or on Town committees and, therefore, felt that the Board of Selectmen should not make these recommendations to the Board of Appeals The draft charge to the Accessory Apartment Committee was discussed which called for one representative from the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board, 1. Board of Appeals and Board of Assessors and three citizens at large may) Mr Politi objected to the make up of the membership of the Committee A stating that he felt that the Board of Appeals would be reviewing the permit k- applications and would also be involved in the policy making of the Committee '; \ and would be deciding whether or not the apartments would be allowed or not ii ‘• 'J `' allowed He objected to the Board of Assessors representation on the Committee as their mandate is set forth in the law in that if there are accessory apart- ments in a house currently, it will have to be so assessed whether it is legal or non legal - 7 - Lig ) Selectmen's Meeting July 6, 1981 Mr Politi also objected to the Planning Board representation on the Committee because it has made clear its position on accessory apartments He felt that if any proposal would get through Town Meeting, it would have to be by a committee that hasn't already taken a position on the question Mrs Battin stated that .she agreed with Mr. Politi's position om.the Board. of Appeals and Board of .Assessors, but felt that one member on a subcommittee of a larger issue of housing is not going to carry what was .done in the past by a previous Planning Board She felt that coordination was the key issue and felt that a member of the Planning Board should be on the committee and that the Selectmen had also taken a position on the problem After further discussion, it was decided to table the vote on the acceptance of the charge Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the charge to the Accessory Apartments Committee for a redraft of the charge Mrs Battin stated that she felt that this meeting between the Board of Selectmen, .P1anning Board and Board of Appeals had been most productive and expressed an interest in further communications between the Boards The Chairman thanked the members of the Boards for their input and they retired from the meeting Upon motion duly made Onh sekon4 ias voted 4x70 by _roll_ tall vote, Mr Buse, Mrs Battin, Ckai d Politi, to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing the sale, lease or transfer of real estate Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 11 15 p m A true record, Attest i7C/iteLke...e.;711. 0 Executive Clerk IlfAL(t. 1 1 J I