Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-05-11-BOS-min yk`L c,� a SELECTMEN'S MEETING May 11, 1981 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, May 11, 1981 at 7 30 P M Chairman Busa, Mrs Miley, Mrs Battin, Mr Crain and Mr Politi; Mr Hut- chinson, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Miss Casey, Executive Clerk were present The Chairman convened the meeting and called upon Mr Hanlon, Town En- Garrity gineer, who presented the report of the Garrity House Committee relative House to the future use of the Garrity House and Carriage House He informed the Board that since its establishment in the Fall of 1980 the Committee has been studying various options for the rehabilitation and reuse of the property Several alternatives were presented including low-income housing, restaurant and craft shop, office space, tea room and craft shop, children's museum and single-family residence The Committee has held several public meetings and on February 19 the Committee's meet- ing was attended by several residents of the area who voiced strong opposi- tion to any intensive commercial development The report indicated that the property has deteriorated considerably in recent years The estimated cost of repairs which would include the cost of renovation, structural repairs and replacing or upgrading the heat- 111 ing, plumbing and electrical systems would be approximately $100,000 The Committee advertised for and received proposals on January 16 and the four proposals, restaurant and craft shop, office space, gift shop and tea room, coffee shop, restaurant, meeting and craft center and cooperative congregate housing for the elderly were reviewed, as well as low-income housing, by the Committee All of these proposals were withdrawn or re- jected as inappropriate for the area Proposals were requested again and on April 16 two proposals were re- ceived one for doctor's office and one for office space These two propo- sals were reviewed by the Committee and meetings were held with the de- velopers The Committee's concern centered around the degree of rehabilita- tion of the two buildings, the method used for rehabilitation and the pro- posed use and its compatability with the neighborhood and area. Both pro- posals called for the moving of the Garrity House to a new location away from Hancock Street and in front of but offset from the carriage house The Committee's recommendation to the Board was for the proposal for office space proposed by Interchange represented by Bulent Kastarlak The reasons for the recommendation were 1) buildings to be restored without total dismantling, 2) financial return to the Town, 3) flexibility on design features and 4) compatability with the neighborhood and the historic area During the discussion that followed, the questions of parking facilities and rezoning were brought out Mr Hanlon stated that the Committee were re- questing a CD zoning which does not have specific requirements for parking It was also brought out that two hearings would be required; one before the Historic Districts Commission and one before the Planning Board before the proposal could be put before Town Meeting for its vote 11{1 - 2 _ The Manager suggested that, as Town Meeting would be reconvening June 1, it might be wise for the Board to approve the development and perhaps a Special Town Meeting might have to be held later Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the recom- mendations of the Garrity House Conversion Committee and select "Interchange" as the developer for the Garrity House and Carriage House property The Chairman thanked the Committee for the excellent job it had done in compiling information for presentation to the Board The Committee retired from the meeting Minutes Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the minutes of the Selectmen's Meetings of February 23, 1981 Open and Executive Session; March 16, 1981, Open Session; March 18, 1981, Open Session (No Executive Session) and to table the Executive Session of March 16, 1981 Tax Title The Chairman read a request from Town Counsel to sign deeds conveying Land tax title land to the Nielsen Family and Wendy and Robert Reasonberg Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the deeds con- veying tax title land shown on Assessors' Property Map No 16 as Lot 4B, being on Hayden Avenue containing 1351 sq ft more or less Also shown as Lot 15 on plan entitled "Subdivision of Lot B", shown on Plan 2802 filed with Cer- tificate of Title No 3442 in South Registry District of Middlesex County to Nancy Nielsen, Norman Nielsen, Lillian Nielsen and Ivar A Nielsen and a parcel of land beginning at a point on the southerly sideline of Garfield Street, thence southeasterly by Lot 11 distant 115 9 ft to a point on a stone wall, thence southwesterly by said wall 25 ft + to a point, thence north- westerly by Lot 13 distant 115 6 ft to a point on the aforementioned side- line of Garfield Street, thence northeasterly by said sideline 25 ft + to the point of beginning All as shown as Lot numbered twelve (12) in Block numbered ninety (90) on a plan entitled "Plan of Land owned by Elizabeth V Webb at Lexington Heights known as First Addition" June 1892 surveyed by E A.W Hammatt C E recorded in Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds at the end of Book 2143 Intending hereby also to convey all the property acquired by the Town of Lexington pursuant to a Tax Taking dated September 12, 1934 recorded with Middlesex South District Registry of Deeds in Book 5833, Page 109, to Wendy and Robert Reasenberg Arlex Taxi Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve renewal of ' Co the Taxi License for Registration 6882 for Arlex Taxi Corp Transfer Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the request Acct 1800 of the Town Manager for a transfer of $7500 00 from the Reserve Fund to Account 1800 -- Legal Expenses Adams The Manager informed the Board that comparability figures for a non- School profit institution on a short-term basis was almost impossible to obtain and recommended a 10% increase in rent to the Waldorf School for rental of Adams School He indicated that this was below the Consumer Price Index Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the request of the Manager for a 10% increase in rental charge to the Waldorf School for rental of Adams School I - 3 - Selectmen's Meeting May 11, 1981 The Manager requestedconvey- ge the Board to declare a moratorium on the Tax ance of tax title land for one year He stated that his office was receiv- Title ing substantial requests and the workload does not permit the time on what Land is not an emergency issue Morator- During the discussion by the Board it was brought out that a great ium deal of time. is spent by different departments on each request, which in some cases, amounted to title search and legal matters It was the opinion of the Board that anyone wishing to purchase tax title land should do the researchand pay the legal fees involved Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the request of the Manager to declare a moratorium on the conveyance of tax title land for one year The Manager will report back to the Board in six months with his methodology of future procedures relative to the expenses incurred in title research The Manager referred to the draft of the alternate charge for the Muzzey Muzzey School Conversion Committee Item 6 "if regulations apply for util- School ization of low and moderate income housing purposes, any revenue generated Conv. from the sale of Town land/property and/or facilities shall be considered Committee for low/moderate income purposes within the Town" was discussed at length Charge Mr Cohen stated that without some kind of special legislation this cannot be done as there is no general authority for a municipality like the Town of Lexington to go into housing. It'was agreed that Item 6 would be deleted from the charge Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the charge to the Muzzey School Conversion Committee as follows "The Committee shall prepare and review specifications for re- ceipt of proposals for the purpose of sale, transfer, lease or other appropriate use for the Muzzey School Such review shall include but not be limited to consideration of the following Town priorities 1) Tax stability 2) Neighborhood compatibility 3) Environmental compatibility 4) Low/moderate income housing if used to be resi- dential 5) Possible provision for a Senior Citizens Center within the facility Recommendations for use of such facility shall be submitted no later than November 15, 1981 Appropriate hearing dates shall be coordinated with the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board, and other appropriate agencies All appropriate hearings shall be completed prior to the start of the 1982 Town Meeting " The Manager referred the Board to the memo from the Chairman of the Harding Traffic Safety Committee regarding the Harding Road/Bedford Street and Hill Road Street parking problem brought up by the residents at the April 27 meeting Parking The report indicated that no traffic problem existed and no recommendation was submitted It was suggested, to ease concern among the neighbors, that parking �� - be prohibited on one side of the street for a limited number of hours in the morning The Manager suggested that a meeting be held with the neighbors, the Traffic Safety Committee and appropriate law enforcement agencies to point out the problems that will arise in trying to solve the problem It was agreed that the Manager will make arrangements to schedule this meeting for the Selectmen's Meeting of May 18 Sewer Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Order of Dr Kas- Sewer Construction for 250 feet extension to serve Dr Ann Kastarizas un- tarizas der Contract 80-2-E Center The Board met with the Center Revitalization Committee to discuss the Revitalize- Central Business District Parking Study tion Mrs Battin requested the Board to consider the Manager's recommenda- Parking tion to accept the report of the Committee previsously presented The Manager stated that a question was raised as to why the "No Park- ing" posting of 6 00 a m. to 10 00 a m. was changed to 6 00 a m. to 11 00 a m. Mr Sacco explained that most of the problem in the residential area doesn't start until 9 30 - 10 00 The major problem is between 11 00 a m. to 2 00 p m. when there is peak traffic in the downtown area The intent was to discourage all day parking in the area Mr. Michaelson owner of Michaelson's Shoe store voiced his _abjection to the plan because he felt that parking restrictions on residential streets ad- joining the Center would force people to use the metered spaces, which would result in taking space away from short-term customers The plan calls for reducing the on-street unmetered parking from 314 to 233 spaces Mr Crain suggested that until a future use for Muzzey Junior High is determined, long-term parking might be available in the school lot which is within walking distance of the Center Mr Bowyer mentioned the possibility of using other town owned land such as the Res lot, as a "satellite" parking lot with shuttle bus service to the Center The Board agreed that the plan is not a perfect solution to the problem it will go a long way toward helping the shoppers find parking spaces to do their errands and discourage all day parking of commuters who car-pool and go to other destinations Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the Manager's recommendation to adopt the Action Plan for the Central Business District Parking Study Implementation and support Article 63 of the Warrant calling for $42,100 appropriation, subject to the availability of funds The project is to be reviewed in six months and a report submitted to the Board. The Chairman thanked the Committee for a "job well done" and they re- tired from the meeting The Board met with Mr Benjamin Goodman of the Vocell Bus Lines relative Jy` to his request for a fare increase discussed at the meeting of April 13 At 41;. this meeting service and safety factors were discussed in detail and the J matter was tabled pending a review During the discussion that followed, it was brought out by Mrs Miley and Mr Crain, who use the bus service to commute to Boston, that the ser- vice has deteriorated and that there are still a number of "standees" with no111 - 5 - Selectmen's Meeting May 11, 1981 straps orsafety other s ety m easures provided Mr Goodman stated that the proposed solutions would cost a consider:* able amount of money and that the type of bus used made no provision for the installation of straps He said that the Board was making it very difi- cult to comply with the requests, which would include an additional run to Bedford, without a rate increase to help alleviate the costs Mr Goodman stated that some of the missed runs was attributable to the days that the people had closed off City Square in Charlestown to protest the closing of the police station there. He stated that the installation of two way radios would be beneficial when there are problems so that the drivers could call in and get a replacement bus He hopes to have these installed in the future After further discussion, it was decided to table the request until Mr Goodman provides the specific information requested by the Board rela- tive to safety provisions for standees, condition of the busses and the cause and remedy for missed runs Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the request of Mr Benjamin Goodman of Vocell Bus lines for a rate increase until the June 8 meeting The Chairman thanked Mr Goodman for his input and he retired from the meeting. The Manager explained the request of Mrs Barnard for an abatement of Sewer her sewer assessment on Waltham Street She was assessed for the service Barnard on Waltham and subsequest to her connection to that service the Town ex- tended the sewer on Allen Street It is easier to make the connection from Allen Street and she has requested an abatement for the Waltham Street assessment Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to present the follow- ing proposal to Mrs Barnard 1) Pay the present betterment cost of $1,249 77 on Waltham Street and the sewer service connection cost at Waltham Street of $420 00 for a total of $1,669 77 or 2) Pay a new betterment cost on Allen Street of $1,353 18 and the sewer service connection cost at Allen Street of $357 00 for a total of $1,710 18 The Manager referred the Board to its copy of a letter from the Hous- HUD ing Authority relative to the negotiations with HUD to overcome legal im- pediments to the Town's acquiring the condominum units at Morrow Crossing and Potter Pond He suggested that the Chairman of the Board of Selectmen and the Chairman of the Housing Authority send a letter to get a definitive ans- wer and pursue it to the highest levels Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Manager to draft a letter in conjunction with the Housing Authority to re- quest a definitive answer to the problem 1 - 6 - Trustees of The Manager informed the Board that he had a request from Paul Mazerall Public for funds regarding proposed work for Tower Memorial Park He recommended I Trusts that a formal request be made to Mr Gaynor Rutherford, Chairman of the Trust- Tower Park ees of Public Trusts for the funding Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to send a request to Mr Gaynor Rutherford, Chairman of the Trustees of Public Trusts for dis- bursement of $1200 from the William Augustus Tower Memorial Park Fund to be used for upgrading Tower Park. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0 by roll call vote, Mr Busa, Mrs Miley, Mrs Battin, Mr Crain and Mr Politi, to go into Execu- tive Session, to discuss matters of collective bargaining and litigation with no intention of resuming the open session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 15 P M. A true record, Attest 0 "ArExecutive Clerk I I