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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-01-12-BOS-min 2Gil k \ 1,' ' SELECTMEN'S MEETING (y January 12, 1981 III 1 A regular meeting of the Bo ed of Selectmen was held in the Select- men's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, January 12, 1981 at 7 30 p m. Charman Miley, Mr Buse, Mrs Battin and Mr Kent; Mr Hutch- inson, Town Ma ager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Miss Casey Executive Clerk were present The Board met with Mr Tonaszuck, Mr Hanlon and Mr Chalpin and busi- Hartwell ness firms_in_the area relative to the Hartwell Ave /Bedford St traffic Avenue/ The Chairman stated that in early July letters were sent out to the Bedford St business firms in the area extending an invitation to meet with the Select- Report men to discuss the traffic problem in the area It was decided at that time that Mr Hanlon and Mr Chalpin would draft a report on possible solu- tions to the problem Mr Hanlon reviewed the report and pointed out that the problem area was from Route #128 to the Bedford, Lincoln, Lexington line and from Bedford Street on the North down to Marrett Road on the South Specifically, the Bedford Street/Hartwell Avenue intersection was very critical causing traf- fic to back up during the rush hours and at the Marrett Road/VOTEC School entrance The report recommended the widening of Bedford Street to two 12-ft lanes in each direction, separated by a median strip A 24 ft frontage III road would be built on the north side of Bedford Street to take care of the traffic from Eldred Street and the "Jug handle" to be widened to 3 lanes Traffic lights would be installed at Maguire Road and Hartwell Avenue and Eldred and Bedford Streets; Wood street would be widened to a uniform width of 26 feet and sidewalks would be constructed on the remainder of the strip; widening of Marrett Road so that left turn lanes could be included at Forbes Road and channelization of the intersection of Mass Avenue and School Street The project would cost approximately $4 5 million; approximately $1 8 million and $500,000 would be paid for by the State forthe widening of Bedford Street and Marrett Road as they are State highways The construc- tion on Hartwell Avenue could be paid for by a combination of State and Federal funds The report suggested that carpooling and staggered work hours by the business firms in the area could help alleviate the problem until the con- struction (if approved) was begun Mr Hanlon stated that the police de- tails in the area should be retained until construction was completed Mr Hutchinson pointed out that the report had taken into consideration many of the recommendations of previous studies of the area made during the past eight or nine years Mr Morris of Itek was present and protested the removal of the police detail at Maguire Road/Hartwell Avenue necessitated by the constraints im- posed by Proposition 2 1/2 unless the firm wished to pay for the detail Ms Ruth Wales of the Minuteman Vocational School expressed support of the plan, but was concerned that it would take five years to implement IIIThe Chairman requested the cooperation of the business firms in the area as well as the North Lexington Association and any other citizen or groups in furnishing input to the Board relative to the report before a vote is taken regarding its acceptance or rejection She thanked all those in attendance at the meeting for their interest (DS - 2 - MAPC Mrs Frick, Lexington's representative to the Metropolitan Area Planning Mrs Frick Council met with the Board to discuss the_upcoming meeting of January 29 At this meeting, reorganization of the Council will be discussed and she in- formed the Board she will be unable to attend and requested some one to attend in her place She pointed out that of the seven items to be discussed, she felt that the item proposing that the chief elected official be the rep- resentative to the Counsel was important Under the present statute the Town Manager appoints the representative for the town It was her understand- ing the that chief elected official could, also, appoint a designee who could serve on various committees Mrs Battin, the Board's liaison to MAPC, questioned how realistic to require the chief elected official to be the representative to the Council be- cause of time limitations Mrs Frick stated that the only time the representatives vote was at the three full Council meetings, winter, spring and fall The question of whether or not the designee could vote had not been taken up by MAPC Mr Kent felt that the chief elected official was, apparently, going to be substituted for, rather than in addition to, the designated representative He was opposed to this because he felt that the identity of the communities represented to MAPC should be a matter for the Manager and the Board mem- bers to determine He felt that to have it imperative that only the Chairman of the Board be the only one that can vote represents-an unfortunate change and the Board should oppose it Met State The Manager pointed out that MAPC was just a regional planning agency Hosp and changes suggested in these agenda items would only strengthen it He felt that the last thing needed was to strengthen another regional agency He stated that while, the agency had a very good staff, it should accept its role as advisory to elected and appointed officials and not try to be any- thing more Mrs Miley is to attend the meeting and express the views of the Board Mrs Frick brought up the matter of the reuse of the land at the site of the Metropolitan State Hospital It was decided that an ad hoc committee be formed, ,internally, to work on the problem and communicate with the other towns involved regarding the future use of the land and also contact the "Land Use Committee" of the MAPC to this effect The Chairman thanked Mrs Frick for her information and she retired from the meeting Water Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to abate the following Abatements water charges J Copp, 51 Ledgelawn Ave , $45 00 -- Previous est charge not deducted M. Corroon, 29 Ledgelawn Ave. , $40 05 -- Incorrect meter reading Angello Buse, 139 Grant St , $32 85 -- Est charge adjusted to minimum Carl Wang, 175 East St , $11 25 -- Est charge adjusted to minimum N DiFantis, 14 Aerial St , $85 50 -- Incorrect reading - customer E Pike, 10 Churchill Lane, $3 60 -- Adjustment for minimum charge M. Stone, 154 Pleasant St , $10 35 -- Est charge adjusted D Wang, 19 Webster Rd , $67 05 -- Incorrect reading - customer Maguire House, 290 Wood St , $11.25 -- Estimate adjusted to minimum D Frissore, 17 Patterson Rd , $79 20 -- Incorrect reading - customer S Church, 12 Constitution Rd , $53 55 -- Incorrect reading - customer W Barnes, 424 Bedford St , $11 25 -- Estimated charge adjusted T Bryant, 59 Ward St , $45 00 -- Incorrect reading - 3 - - Selectmen's Meeting January 12, 1981 The Board - discussed Article 14 -- Revocation of Police Civil Service Police Statute for Future Employees -- on the Warrant for the Special Town Meet- Civil ing of January 26, 1981 Service It was decided because of the controversial nature of the article that the full Board should be present before making a decision as to its presentation at Town Meeting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the de- cision of the Board as to its recommendation to Town Meeting of Article 14 -- Revocation of Police Civil Service Statute for Future Employees -- until the full Board is present The Board discussed the problem of setting the date for the Annual Town Town Meeting because of the last of financial information from the State Meeting The Manager informed the Board that anything involving the establishment of the tax rate and spending levels of the town and the revenues will have to wait until the cherry sheets have been received and suggested that the date should be March 30 The Manager is to distribute to the Board the list of articles for the warrant and the, Board will determine at its next meeting what the date for Town Meeting will be The Manager proposed to the Board that the award for the annual Annual audit be made to Arthur Andersen (the low bidder) Audit Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to award the con- tract for the annual audit to Arthur Andersen in the amount of $10,900 The Manager and the Board reviewed the budgets for FY '82 Budget The Police Department budget as presented is $188,430 -- 17 5% increase Fy '82 over last year - increase in dollars of $28 005 The Manager explained Review that this was necessitated by the replacement of 7 vehicles, maintenance contract for the new radio system and increases in the cost of fuel Mr Busa asked the Manager if the "down sizing" of the police vehicles has been cost effective Mr Hutchinson stated that mileage wise it has been but it it still too soon to have any comprehensive figures on the new smaller vehicles He will report back to the Board at a later date with more information The parking meter budget has been level funded at $1500 00 The Fire Department budget figure of $112,033.00 increased 13% over last year's budget figures The Manager recommended that this be re- duced by $5200 00 eleminating the expansion of the clothing and uniform program within the Department He stated that the Chief has been dealing with the Union and supports the upgrading of the firefighters' uniforms to include coats to enhance the image of the Department Increases were reflected in the area of supplies for emergency services, fuel for trucks and vehicles and buildings, costs of medical supplies and public .safety supplies as well as an approximate increase of 8% in telephone bills The subject of initial funding of $1500 for the assessment and planning process for regionalization of equipment and manpower in 34 surrounding cities and towns was discussed The Manager and Chief Bergeron were in favor of this funding The Board requested more information be- fore making a decision and it will be furnished by the Chief and Manager - 4 - l (Di Public Works budget was discussed and the Director of Public Works Office Account #5000 showed an increase of $700 00 $600 00 of this was for safety equipment such as shoes The budget for the Engineering Division was increased $200 00 for reproduc- tion services (microfilming) not requested last year, to a total of $1600 00 $600 00 for outside printing services and $1,000 for microfilming Building Maintenance #5250 - $206,600 requested Line Item 37310 Repairs and Maintenance - building structures- $17,000 replacing asphalt roof on mechanics' garage- $1200 for replacing worn canvas auditorium floor at Cary Hall - $2,000 replacing and repairing damaged shingles on P W parking garage - $4,000 five overhead door operators at P W ,parking garage $6,000 - replacing three overhead garage doors Account #5400 -- Highway Maintenance -- requested $89,550 Line Item 37515- Highway resurfacing - $25,000 Mr Tonaszuck informed the Manager and the Board that he will review the complete budget and further reductions, if possible, will be forthcoming Chapter #90 funds will be pursued The Manager informed the Board that there has been an overall energy increase but that the heating cost has gone down due to the insulation devices that have been installed He is to look into telephone service that might replace the present system. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 4-0 by roll call vote Mrs Miley, Mr Busa, Mrs Battin, Mr Kent -- to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing a matter of litigation with no intention of resuming the open session. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at II/11 05 p m. A true record, Attest Executive Clerk rr (F 111