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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-03-30-BOS-min SELECTMEN'S MEETING ie March 30, 1981 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, March 30, 1981 at 7 30 p m. Chairman Miley, Mr Busa, Mrs Battin, Mr Crain and Mr Politi; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs Banks, Assist- ant to the Town Manager; Miss Casey, Executive Clerk were present The Chairman called upon Mr William Page, Chairman of the CATV Com- CATV mittee, who informed the Board that, under Mr Cohen's counsel, the Com- Provis- mittee were ready to recommend signing of the provisional license with ional Adams-Russell Co , Inc License Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the provis- ional license for CATV with Adams-Russell Co , Inc Mr William C Henchy, Vice-President of Adams-Russell gave an up to date progress report and introduced Ms Loren Goldfarb who will be the program director for Lexington The Chairman thanked the Committee for eight years of work put into the finalization of the provisional license and the introduction of CATV to Lexington The Committee and Adams-Russell representatives retired from the meeting The Board met with the East Lexington Neighborhood Association to dis- Adams cuss the future use of Adams School School Mr Roland W Gubisch, spokesman for the group, read a letter that was addressed to the Board stating the concerns of the group regarding the pro- posals before the Board The contents of the letter dealt with the char- acteristics of the location regarding the recreational fields, small parking area, congested traffic intersection and the fact that the library has no off-street parking of its own The intent of the letter was to urge the Board to renew the lease of the Waldorf School for at least one more year, permitting adequate studies to be completed of the school site and its restrictions It was the feeling of the group that the two proposals being con- sidered by the Board, Sacred Heart Church and Niles Corporation, failed to address restrictions set forth and also indicated that Town Meeting Mem- bers have signed petitions indicating for more conversion options A peti- tion signed by the neighbors supporting the continuation of a school at Adams as well as the Town Meeting petition were submitted to the Board Mr Busa addressed the group and stated that the Committee had taken into consideration lease proposals, housing proposals, Waldorf School pro- posal, subsidized and non subsidized housing, luxury apartments, moderate income apartments and low to moderate income apartments when its decision was made He stated that, at that point in time, one of the seven members of the School Sites Conversion Committee was in favor of continuing the lease of the Waldorf School He stated that he wanted to make it clear that he did not want to close the door to the possibility that housing would be the best possible use for the school Mr Zabin, who was in the audience, stated that this petition did not represent official action of the TMMA or the Executive Board and that he was not in any position to speak for them , 1(9 - 2 - Mr Stanley Marshman presented a letter to the Board summarizing his opinion for keeping the Waldorf School in the building Mr Busa stated that he felt that if the Board did not wish to discuss the matter further he suggested that a decision could be made at this meet- ing as to what disposition should be made of the article at Town Meeting He stated that he felt that it was a political reality that there would not be enough votes to go forward with it at Town Meeting He suggested that for discussion purposes a motion be made and made the following motion which was voted Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to indefinitely post- pone the article at Town Meeting and negotiate with the Waldorf School a new lease for a period of no more than one year Mr Crain stated that he felt that the time-line should be tightened up to be sure that works begins on a new committee being formed, making sure that it has good neighborhood representation and a time certain be estab- lished for a report from the committee, possibly December 1, should the motion pass at Town Meeting This would enable the Board to be able to deal with proposals that come forth in ample time for next Town Meeting Mr Crain felt that the Conversion Committee had confronted a very difi- cult task in this assignment and had worked very hard and very honestly on it and deserved the appreciation of the Board He pointed out that it is not pleasant work and has not been in any of the conversions and possibly won't be for the rest The East Lexington Neighborhood Association expressed its appreciation of the Board's decision and retired from the meeting Lex The Chairman read a request from Temple E Scanlon, Executive Director Housing of the Housing Authority to sign Amendment No 2 to the Annual Contributions Authority Contract B-1471 Mr Scanlon explained that the contract was the one under which 17 single family units were constructed The amendment extends the life of the ability for the Federal Government to provide an operating subsidy from 40 to 50 years Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign Amendment No 2 to the Annual Contributions Contract B-1471 for the Lexington Housing Authority One Day Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, Mr Politi abstaining, Liquor to issue a One Day Liquor License to the Lexington Friends Community Resi- Lic dence for May 8, 1981 from 8 00 p m until Midnight One Day Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, Mr Politi abstaining, Liquor to issue a One Day Liquor License to the Lexington Bicentennial Band for License May 1, 1981 from 8 00 p m until Midnight Minutes Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, Mr Politi abstaining, to approve the minutes of Selectmen's Meeting of January 26, 1981 Minutes , Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, Mr Politi and Mrs Battin abstaining, to approve the minutes of the Selectmen's Meeting of February 2, 1981 - 3 - L/ / 7 Selectmen's Meeting March 30, 1981 The Chairman requested comments from the Board regarding Article 7 on 1-b"'" the Warrant - Revocation of Civil Service for Future Police Officers C , Mr Crain stated that he would to make a motion to indefinitely post- post the article for the purpose of discussion The motion was seconded He then stated that, while he sympathized with the stimulus for bringing the action forward and the process has given full opportunity to get all the facts and considerations on the table, he, personally had two concerns that the process, as was necessitated did not allow for a time certain to sit down at bargaining last summer to discuss the issue He stated also that he was satisfied there was a good replacement process for selecting people by the elimination of Civil Service since the Commission is not able to respond to the request to temporarily supply that service Mrs Miley stated that she felt that she would like to qualify the statement and indicate that the Civil Service does not "at the present time" have a solution Mr Buse stated that it was his understanding that if it was not voted at this Town Meeting that it was a dead issue He stated that anything that Civil Service rewrites or adds or subtracts and the police department remains part of Civil Service, they, in fact, will be part of the redraft- ing of the Civil Service law Mrs Miley stated that she didn't want it to sound so final that the matter will never again be brought up and discussed Mr Crain stated that he felt that no proposal could be framed to ex- clude future action He felt that after analyzing all the information he had on the subject that it was not the thing to do now Mrs Battin stated that she wanted to thank the Manager for doing as the Board requested and investigated the rescission statute and writing a very good report, but agreed that there were problems that had been raised She felt that it was not a dead issue, but agreed that it was not timely Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to postpone Article 7 on the warrant indefinitely Officer Petrino addressed the Board and extended the appreciation of the Lexington Police Association and Lexington Police Betterment Association for the consideration given by the Board He stated that the Betterment Association, made up of sarg eadts are more than willing to sit down and discuss the matter The Chairman thanked Officer Petrino and he and other members of the Police Department retired from the meeting �� �d ca r! Mr Crain addressed the Board and stated that he had met with the Hu- man Services Committee and the Committee had informed him that it feels it has reached a turning point The Committee feels that it should have better defined activities and a charter for those who might follow It is the opinion of the Committee that there will be a considerable turn-over due to resignations in the spring Mr Crain stated that he told the Committee that the Board would wel- come input based on its experience regarding the definition of the charter and the skills the Board should be looking for in order to people the Committee if the Board accepts the charter He suggested that a date late - 4 in May be set to meet with them regarding the changes and also, if the Board was agreeable, to discuss budget items that the Board will be dealing with at Town Meeting Park & Mr Busa informed the Board that he had .met with Mr & Mrs Edmiston Rec Regs and discussed the park and recreational regulations regarding the restric- tions on dogs They informed Mr Busa of their difficulties in walking their dog and suggested amendments to the regulations Mr Busa set up a meeting with them and Miss Halverson and Mr Prentiss to discuss the matter As a re- sult of the meeting, Mrs Edmiston sent in suggested amendments and wording for the regulations together with a petition with several signatures re- questing changes Mr Hutchinson is to report back to the Board after discussing the issue with Mr Prentiss Dogs Mr Busa also informed the Board that he had received phone calls from people who, as a result of dog hearings, had received notices to have their dogs removed from the Town They requested that they be allowed to bring their dogs back to Town if they are determined to be "rehabilitated" and no longer a nuisance to the Town Mr Crain stated that in each case that the recommendations were to take drastic action, came as a result of the owners' non-compliance with the leash laws not the fault of the dogs A report is to be requested from the Animal Control Officer on the question Bedford St / Mr Busa informed the Board that he, the Town Manager and the Town En- Hartwell gineer, representing the Town; Mr Chait, representing the Chamber of Com- Ave merce; Mr Bussgang, Mr Griffin, Mr Spaulding, Mr Stevens and Mr Pagelkopf, representing industry; Senators Amick and Rotondi; Representatives Doran and Vigneau and Mr Radlow from the State Department of Public Works had met with the Governor regarding the Bedford St /Hartwell Avenue traffic problem. A letter outlining the proposed plan and the estimated construction costs was presented to the Governor Mr Busa stated that the Governor was very receptive to the request and was impressed by the fact that the Town Engineering was going to design the project, showing a strong local committment by absorbing this cost The Governor stated that he felt that he could not fund this $4,000,000 project in this year's budget, but there might be some funds available to take care of the immediate needs Mr Hutchinson stated that funding really wouldn't be needed until 1982-83 because of time frames on the project The Governor requested Mr Radlow to look into the matter immediately Recycling The Board discussed the Recycling Agreement and Mrs Fricker is to Agreement submit the names of the people responsible for keys to the recycling area and the hours of operations on days other than regular Town work days Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Recycl- ing Agreement between the Town and the Citizens for Lexington Conservation Incorporated The Chairman thanked Mrs Fricker and her Committee for the time and effort put into the project and wished them well The Committee retired from the meeting - 5 - - ] �/ Selectmen's Meeting March 30, 1981 The Manager informed the Board that he working to get an update on Budget statute interpretation on 2 1/2 as there is the possibility that the Prop 2 1/2 Town may not be able to utilize the full value of the new valuation He stated that this would result in the current budget being $354,366 short or a needed rollback of $194,901 for the schools and $159,465 for the Town He stated that there seemed to be three options additional cuts, Selectmen implementation of a sewer use charge and possibly a water rate increase and hope that enough State aid would be received to offset the need for fees The Board discussed the request of the N E Telephone Company for N E Tel permission to install public phone booths in the Center Phone Booths Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, Mr Crain abstain- ing, to approve the installation of the following public telephones in the Center area 1 phone booth in the Meriam Street parking lot (no incoming calls) 1 phone booth in the Emery Park area (placed to the back of the sidewalk (no incoming calls) 1 phone booth pay/charge card away from the street edge of the sidewalk in front of CVS store (no incoming calls) There was no Executive Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 8 50 P.M. A true record, Attest 071-diux-c531 Executive Clerk G I I VOID