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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-11-03-BOS-min A'‘/ 1 D\ V SELECTMEN'S MEETING November 3, 1980 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, November 3, 1980 at 7 30 p m Chairman Miley, Mr Buse, Mrs Battin, Mr Kent, Mr Crain; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager, Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager; and Miss Casey, Executive Clerk, were present Chairman Miley convened the meeting at 7 30 p m. and read a request Sewer from the Town Engineer to sign sewer betterment assessments for Betterments Patricia Terrace Patricia Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the sewer Terrace betterment assessments for Patricia Terrace A request from Donald D Wilson for abatement of sewer betterment Sewer assessment on Parcel "C", Pleasant Street was read by the Chairman Betterment The Manager informed the Board that the request was still being investi- Assessment gated and requested the matter be tabled Donald C Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the re- Wilson quest of Donald C Wilson for abatement of a sewer betterment assessment on Parcel "C", Pleasant Street The Chairman read a request from the manager of Brigham's (1777 Brigham's Mass Avenue store) to open at 6 00 a m instead of 7 00 a m. Hours Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Changed request of the manager of Brigham's (1777 Mass Avenue store) to open at 6 00 a m. instead of 7 00 a m Town Counsel requested the Board to sign deed conveying tax title lot Tax Title to Benjamin H Golini B H Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the deed con- Golini veying tax title lot to Benjamin H Golini The Chairman requested the Board to sign the agreement for LEXPRESS LEXPRESS Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Service Contract Agreement By and Between the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Town of Lexington, Effective September 1, 1979 under Article LV extending the contract through November and December The Chairman read the request of the Lexington Elks for renewal of Elks its Beano license Beano Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the renewal License license for the Lexington Lodge of Elks #2204 The Board discussed the Annual Town Election and Annual Town Meeting Annual Upon motion dulymade and seconded, it was voted to call the Annual Town P Town Election Day on Monday, March 2, 1981 and set the polling hours Election from 7 00 a.m. to 8 00 p m. - 2 - Annual Town The Manager requested the Board to delay a decision on calling the Meeting Annual Town Meeting on March 16, 1981 due to the fact that a vote will be taken on November 4 on Proposition 2 1/2. More_£inanciaL information would be available at that, time, for the, Selectmen's review Town Counsel pointed out that the Town By-Laws states that the first Monday in March shall be the beginning of the annual town meeting which means the election and the business session The General Laws states that if an annual meeting is called more than 35 days after the election, a separate warrant is required Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to delay a decision on calling the Annual Town Meeting on March 16, 1981 Warrant The Chairman requested the Board's vote on the closing date of the 12/29/80 warrant for submission of articles Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to close the Warrant for submission of articles on December 29, 1980 at 4 30 p m in the Selectmen's Office Ambulance The Manager briefed the Board relative to the prior discussion of the Policy ambulance policy as submitted by the Chief and the concern generated by the Board which dealt with commuter traffic conditions Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adopt the ambulance policy with the following additional language at the beginning of para- graph #3 "Except upon request of a physician made upon the basis of an em- ergency", during commuter traffic conditions, et Gypsy Moth a Mr Mazerall breifed the Board relative to the Gypsy moth control He II/ Program showed maps indicating areas where spraying had been done and the control effects by the use of Dipel He said he hoped to get two sprayers out next year - one a hydraulic and two mist sprayers Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted, subject to the availability of funding, an expanded program of Gypsy moth control using Dipel only Birdhill The Manager informed the Board that he and Mr. Busa had reviewed with Sewer the Public Works personnel the overrun of $3,490 00 on the Birdhill sewer Overrun construction Mr Busa informed the Board that after this review he would accept the explanation and recommended approval of this overrun Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the request of the Town Engineer for the expenditure of $3,490 00 to cover the cost of the overrun on the Birdhill Sewer Contract #80-1-E Street The Manager presented the time sequence schedule for FY'82 Street Acceptance Acceptance FY '82 After discussion, it was agreed to accept the schedule as presented Schedule Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept the time sequence schedule for FY '82 street acceptance subject to revision by the Board as necessary X33 - 3 - Selectmen's Meeting November 3, 1980 The Board discussed the regulation of horse back riding on school Horse Back property The Manager recommended that horses be specifically refer- Riding enced and the public be advised that this will be voted on November 24 Schools The Board agreed Mr Crain suggested that Martin Gilman and Wilbur Jaquith be Garrity appointed to the Garrity House Committee House Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to appoint Martin Committee Gilman and Wilbur Jaquith to the Garrity House Committee Mr Busa reported to the Board that the CATV Committee would be CATV meeting on Wednesday and they would like to know if the Board would Committee like to have the number of applicants reduced to less than five They would also like to have an extension of 30 days before the closing of the hearing to compile a questionnaire - The closing date is the 28th of November and if the extension is granted it would be December 28th After discussion, the Board agreed Mr Kent took no part in the discussion Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0, by roll call Executive vote, Mrs Miley, Mr Busa, Mrs Battin, Mr Kent and Mr Crain to go Session into Executive Session, with the intention of resuming the open session, to discuss matters of collective bargaining and the sale of real estate After discussion the open meeting was resumed The Board met with Attorney Francis W K Smith relative to his Illegal letter to the Chairman in which he stated that be has become aware of Housing a number of illegal housing units existing in Lexington He stated that Units these units are serving a worthwile housing need, but were put in with- out building permits and in violation of the zoning by-laws He stated that it was his understanding that the assessors who were doing the re- valuation of the Town had cataloged all of the multiple family dwellings in town If this list were turned over to the building inspector he would be obliged to enforce the zoning by-law and hundreds of these units would have to be closed down and the illegal use abated Mr Smith felt that this would not be in the best interest of the Town and after discuss- ing it with the Planning Director, suggested that some form of a mora- torium or "amnesty" under which the existing units as of a certain date after a hearing with notices to abutters and inspection by the building commissioner and health inspector, could be given a special permit by the Board of Appeals This procedure would enable the owners of such units to legalize the existence of these units. He suggested that the Board appoint a committee to study the problem who could recommend a warrant article for Town Meeting for these units to be legalized There was considerable discussion about the problem and the proposed solution Mr Kent felt that he did not see how a zoning by-law could be adopted giving the Board of Appeals permission to permit uses of this type that already exist but not new ones The Manager informed the Board that information now coming in indi- cates that there may be as many as 100-200 or more now in existence In some cases neighbors do not object but in others they have ..; - Mr Crain stated that he felt it was a very complex problem and the Board must address it He felt that more time was needed for the Board to study the problem and requested that the matter be tabled The Chairman pointed out that a motion had been made and seconded to appoint the committee Mr Kent suggested that the tabling motion take precedence over the original motion He suggested that the reaction of the Planning should be sought before any decision of the Board was made Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to table the appoint- ment of a committee to study the problem of illegal housing units in the Town The Chairman thanked Mr Smith for bringing the matter up and he retired from the meeting Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted 5-0, by roll call vote, Mrs Miley, Mr Busa, Mrs Battin, Mr Kent .and.Mr Crain, to return to Exe- cutive Session for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining, with no intention of resuming the Open Session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 10 05 p m A true record, Attest Executive Clerk III