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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1980-06-09-BOS-min SELECTMEN'S MEETING JUNE 9, 1980 1 A regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen was held in the Selectmen's Meeting Room, Town Office Building, on Monday, June 9, 1980, at 7 30 p m. Chairman Miley, Mr Busa, Mrs Battin, Mr Kent and Mr Crain; Mr Hutchinson, Town Manager; Mr Cohen, Town Counsel; Mrs Banks, Assistant to the Town Manager; Mrs McCurdy, Executive Clerk, were present Conduit- Chairman Miley opened the hearing on the petition of the Boston Edison Moreland Company for the installation of 68 feet of conduit in Moreland Avenue Avenue Notices of the hearing were sent to the abutters and filed with the Public Works Department Mr Edward Kelley, representing Boston Edison, said that this work is necessary in order to provide service to three houses in the Wilson Farm Subdivision Chairman Miley read a report from Mr Empey, Acting Director DPW, recommending that permission be granted No one appearing in favor or in opposition, Chairman Miley declared the hearing closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission to the Boston Edison Company for the following location of conduit Moreland Avenue, opposite and southwesterly from Fern Street, a distance of about 68 feet Conduit- Chairman Miley opened the hearing on the petition of the Boston Edison Wood St Company for the installation of 12 feet of conduit in Wood Street Notices of the hearing were sent to the abutters and filed with the Public Works Department Mr Edward Kelley said that this petition is necessary to pro- vide electric service to L H. Hewett Company A report from Mr Empey recommended that permission be granted No one appearing in favor or in opposition, Chairman Miley declared the hearing closed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission to the Boston Edison Company for the following location of conduit Wood Street, southwesterly approximately 10 feet southeast of Wildwood Road, a distance of about 12 feet New Two new Patrolmen, Cleveland Coates and Ronald Wells, met with the Board Patrolmen and were sworn to the faithful performance of their duties by Miss Mary R McDonough, Town Clerk Board members welcomed them and wished them success as members of the Police Department The Board approved the following agenda items Minutes Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the minutes of the Selectmen's meetings of May 5, May 12, and May 19, 1980 License- Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Entertainment Entertain- license for Chadwick's Ice Cream Parlor, 903 Waltham Street, for June 18, ment 19 and 20, 1980 from 7 00 p m to 11 00 p m Sign Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to grant permission Permit to James J Lima, 40 Vaille Avenue, to erect three temporary signs on town property advertising for a garage sale to be held on his property on Sat June 14 and Saturday, June 21 Signs to be erected on the day of the sale and removed immediately thereafter Selectmen's Meeting - 2 - June 9, 1980 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign the Orders Sewer for Construction of Sewers on Edgewood Road, Glen Road South, Lowell Street, Orders North Street, Oakland Street, Saddle Club Road, Maple Street, Meriam Street, and Somerset Road Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to accept with regret Resigna the resignation of Mr Barry Marshall as a member of the Human Services Human Committee Services The Board agreed to meet with the Human Services Committee on June 23, 1980 to discuss the committee's proposals regarding Reed Street Mr Zehner, Town Treasurer, met with the Board regarding the $1,050,000 Treasurer bond issue which was floated on June 4 Twenty-three bids were combined into eleven individual bids, and the bids ranged from 5 10 percent to 5 50 percent Mr Zehner recommended approval of the award to the low bidder, continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Co of Chicago at 5 10 percent Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the recom- mendation of the Treasurer to award the $1,050,000 bond issue to the lowest bidder, Continental Illinois National Bank & Trust Co of Chicago at 5 10 percent Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to amthorize the Treasurer to cause facsimiles of the signatures of the Board to be en- graved or printed on the bonds; to approve the certification by the Clerk of the Board of the vote approving the sale of the bonds; to sign the No Arbitrage Certificate for the bonds, and to approira thecdocument certifying the sale of the bonds and that no litigation is involved The Board approved the following items on the Manager's agenda. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve Mr Hutchin- Acting son's appointment of Mrs Nancy Banks as the Acting Manager during the period Manager of June 16 through June 20, 1980 when Mr Hutchinson is to attend the School on Management Control Systems at M.I T Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Lease- Manager to negotiate the extension of the lease to the Assemblies of Munroe God Christian Center for space in the Munroe School for six months School Mr Hutchinson said that he would come back to the Board with in- formation on the proposed sublessor of the Assemblies of God Christian Center Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the Chamber Manager's recommendation to grant permission to the merchants of the of Com- Chamber of Commerce to use musical groups in the Center on Friday merce evenings Mr Hutchinson said that no problems are anticipated as we had previous experience with the musical groups during "Lexington Discovery Days " Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to sign Contract Contract 80-2-E awarded on May 12, 1980 to Charm Construction Inc for sanitary 80-2-E sewer construction in the amount of $407,312 21 Sewers X Selectmen's Meeting - 3 - June 9, 1980 Comp Mr Hutchinson said that after an extensive review and selection Drainage process, it is recommended that the firm of Camp, Dresser and McKee, Inc Study be selected to perform the comprehensive drainage study in the Tophet Phase III Swamp and Simonds Break-North Lexington Brook Drainage areas We feel that CDM has the necessary technical expertise to perform the study and will be responsive to the needs of the town The appropriation is contained in Article 16 of 1979 and Article 15 of 1980, total of $68,000 Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to award Phase III of the Comprehensive Drainage Study, which includes the Tophet Swamp and Simonds Brook-North Lexington Brook drainage areas , to Camp, Dresser and McKee, Inc , One Center Plaza, Boston, subject to negotiation of a con- tract not to exceed $68,000 Ch 90 Mr Hutchinson recommended approval of Extra Work Order #1 in the amount Hancock of $4,925 for the Hancock Street Chapter 90 project, which would include Street gutter inlets to be added to the new catch basins to provide adequate clearance between the catch basin grates and the underground telephone duct line; also, sod is to be used in lieu of loaming and seeding on Brigham Road as this would eliminate the long-term disruption of the affected properties and would ensure a. match with existing lawns in the area The total contract price was $198,892 25, additional work order of $4,925; total of $203,817 25 The cost of the items included in this extra work order will be reimbursed to the town by the Mass Department of Public Works as part of the contract agreement. Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve Extra Work Order #1 for the Hancock Street Chapter 90 project, in the amount of $4,925 Water Mr Hutchinson requested approval of lowering the water main on Main - Rockville Avenue, which is tied into the street construction of Rockville Rockville The review of the profile for the proposed street construction shows that Avenue the existing water main will lack sufficient cover and a high possibility of freezing could occur; therefore, it is proposed to lower the main by about 2 feet while concurrently installing the sewer This will allow time for the trench to settle before beginning street construction work Great Northern Constructors, Inc is constructing sewers in this area and at our request has submitted an estimated price of $14,000 to lay the 400 feet of water main and the necessary contingencies, and it is recommended that this work be paid for out of Article 18, 1980-Street Construction After discussion, the Board approved the request Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to approve the recom- mendation of the Manager to lower the water main on Rockville Avenue at an ap- prdximatd cost of $14,000 Appropriation contained in Article 18, 1980- Street Construction 7 ‘? Selectmen's Meeting - 4 - June 9, 1980 Mr Hutchinson advised the Board that the Transportation Advisory LEXPRESS Committee recommends variations in Routes 2, 3 and 5 to accommodate summer needs Also, the recommendation to cancel summer Saturday ser- vice, with the understanding that the authority could be held in abeyance until they have had an opportunity to evaluate the experience The con- tract runs until September and the committee has been working very hard to stay within the budget Mr Hutchinson felt they should have some flexibility of initiating a change, and with schools closing and vaca- tions, they should 'have the capacity to move forward very quickly During discussion, Mr Crain pointed out that he had attended meetings of the committee and there is a possibility of a shortfall of $3,000, and when one analyzes what would be the best options and alternatives to explore what would have the least impact on the citizens, Saturday looms as the most logical alternative It is rather the chemistry of those facts Cather than saying Saturday isn' t producing enough income Also, in the May 27 memo from the Transportation Advisory Committee, reference was made to using revenues for F Y 81 in F Y 80, and he felt that careful consideration should be given as to whether we want to mix those kinds of monies The Board agreed Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to authorize the Manager to discontinue LEXPRESS service on Saturdays, subject to an evaluation period and notification of the proposed action to the Board and the public The recommended LEXPRESS route variations were also approved. Mr Hutchinson said that the regulations regarding curbside collec-t Curbside tion have been updated since the last meeting, and he recommended that Regs they be adopted Collection days are on Monday for Precincts 1 and 2; Tuesday-Precincts 3, 4 and 5; Wednesday-Precincts 6 and 7; Thursday- Precincts 8 and 9 The sanitary landfill closes on July 1, 1980 The Belmont Board of Selectmen rejected our proposal for small private businesses be allowed. access to the Belmont facility on Concord Avenue We will continue to work on the transfer station, and we are listing private landfills and private contractors' services that are available for individual businesses that have been using our landfill Regarding the recycling center, we are proposing, and still need guidance, that the landfill be made available on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 12 00 N We are in a position, subject to the Board's authorization to provide the facility, the site, and also to provide some administrative and staff support to that effort These dates are subject to change a little bit In response to questions, Mr Empey agreed to ask the contractor for a definition of how large a container is considered bulk size of spray chemicals Discussion was held on enforcement of the restriction on placing of materials at curbside before 5 a m. on collection day Mr Hutchinson said that we look at appropriate notice provisions and experience factors and we are saying it can be enforced Mr Kent said that there is a re- lationship to the dog leash law and in theory at least if the leash law is obeyed, the dogs don't get into the material Mr Cohen pointed out that there is a by-law which does have a penalty of $50 and in some way that could prevail Mr Busa suggested reviewing that and have a lesser penalty the first go-around. Mr Hutchinson said that we are sending out an information sheet and would say that a penalty and notice provisions are currently under review ) 7t Selectmen's Meeting - 5 - June 9 , 1980 Recycling Chairman Miley discussed Concord's recycling program with a private organization and the proceeds are used for different environmental ands Of the $2,000 profits, they gave the Minuteman Vocational School $500 for a solar greenhouse We may not be able to get something similar to this in place by July 1st but we might be able to work on it for the future; that would more or less take it out of the hands of the town and yet it would satisfy many of us who feel that we should re- cycle to the ultimate We can go ahead with Mr Hutchinson's recom- mendations for now Also, we would like to continue with the help of the former ad hoc committee, and we appreciate all the work they have been doing Mr Hutchinson said that the landfill would open on Tuesday and Thursday with some minimum manning support at that time, the intent being that we would work with these recycling groups so that they mould form a private non-profit corporation to utilize the town's facilities as a whole and they would effectively man it Ideally, we would expand the hours so that we could get into a revenue generating system We are not going to be picking up anybody's recyclables but just going to be checking on how our operation is running and insuring that people aren't abusing the system. There is nothing budgeted for recycling but we do have the money budgeted from the standpoint that we can take existing operating people to check on the facility and we will have a man working on the slopes, etc ensuring that people don't come up and dump all their trash That is why it is necessary to get another vehicle in place to manage this thing By September 1, we should have a non-profit organize- tion in place running effectively the recycling program for the town Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adopt the Rules and Regulations Governing the Combined Curbside Collection of Rubbish, Garbage and Ashes and the recycling component, with the proviso that recycling be reevaluated on September 1, 1980 Stratham Mr Hutchinson discussed the Stratham Road sewer project and recom- Road mended that the Board vote to go back to Solution A, which is the original Sewer sewer program suggested by the Board Apparently, those people who sent letters and petitions for additional consideration of the sewer extension have changed their minds based on information they have We would like to get on with the rest of the program on bidding for the rest of the towns- people as well as this particular area This does not mean that adminis- tratively we do not feel again that sewers will eventually be needed in this area, but would like the record to reflect that these people are against sewers in this area, so that people who do come into the area later on know that it has been discussed and debated We now recommend that we now go forward with our original program and delete the extension of the sewer Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to delete the exten- sion of the Stratham Road sewer and proceed under Solution A which is the original sewer program for Stratham Road 175 Selectmen's Meeting - 6 - June 9, 1980 Mr. and Mrs. Casey and residents of Valley Road met with the Board Valley Mr. Hutchinson said that the residents' concerns regarding erosion had Roal been discussed with the consultant that this be reviewed for a proposal Brook Right now, there is no money within the municipal budget to do any work in this area. Out of the proposal (1) We might take a look at what can be done in this area and other areas (2) There will still have to be a public policy decision on what level of assistance, if any, the town is going to be involved in regarding programa like this Mr Hanlon, Town Engineer, said that one alternative is basically do nothing, which means the property owners involved will have to make any repairs they feel are necessary Realistically, there is an erosion problem there; however, he did not think it is a severe erosion problem at this point and no immediate need for some remedy, whatever that remedy is Access to that area of the brook is very difficult, and he had looked at it from each end of the spectrum. Starting at Valley Road to the the bed of the brook all the way to Bedford Street, the brook should be cleared as it is fairly well overgrown; to clean it out and line it with rip-rap to permanently control the erosion problem. This would require extensive disruption to equipment and would mean that the existing vegetation would be completely removed The resulting rip- rapped channel may be aesthetically unacceptable to the town and the property owners The estimated cost to do this work is between $80,000 and $100 ,000 At this point, he din' t think it is a severe problem and it is best left for the consultants to do a comprehensive drainage study and let us take a good, hard look at it and make some recommendations Then, have a lot of input from the Conservation Commission and the Plan- ning Board and we will find out exactly what is acceptable and what is to be done for the residents Mr. Hutchinson said for the residents ' information, this will be tied into the next budget process for any requests to be made and any public policy decisions that the Board is going to make as well as Town Meeting concerning projects of this nature That ties in with all the fiscal restraints that the Board is going to be addressing next year relating to the normal budget process with or without Proposition 2 1/2 The survey would shake from 6 to 9 months and we can have available for the Board our best efforts and reasonable solution on alternatives Mr. Kent said that if we are going to have a public policy, to are going to have it not directed specifically to this kind of a problem but to problems in which our brook policies and developmental practices impact on citizens with properties that a1tut brooks We will make every effort as the study takes place and as the various town boards get in- volved to keep these neighbors informed tO that they may have an opportunity to listen and be heard Mr. Hutchinson said that we have done so and will do so in the future as this issue comes up Mr Buse said that he sat on a review board with the engineers and they are going to look into into it The Town Engineer might not think it is a serious problem but the neighbors whose land is eroding through II/ each storm have very serious problems as the brook was only 2 feet wide and is now 4 to 6 feet wide He didn't think it would take $80,000 to $100,000 and we could curtail the erosion by taking other means of trying to contain the water in its rapid flow down there He was sure the people are satisfied that we are taking it under consideration and they will be informed Hopefully by next March, we might have something more concrete and some dollars in the budget to at least abate some of the problems there. The residents retired from the meeting. -)- Selectmen's Meeting - 7 - June 9, 1980 CATV Mr Page, Chairman, and members of the Cable Television Advisory Com- mittee met with the Board to discuss an addendum to the CATV draft report Mr Page said that between now and the time of finalizing the options , the committee would like to explore an option of organizational interface, a cable TV council, committee, or however it gets labeled, with functional reporting ties not only to the Board of Selectmen but also to the Cary Library Board of Trustees and the School Committee It could report administratively to the Town Manager There are several parts of the Selectmen's report which will need legal surveillance and advice; the committee would like to add advice from the Comptroller because of the terms of the budget arrangements be- tween cable companies and the town on support of local use The advisory committee should probably provide information on the public hearing on July 17 The date for amendments' submission should appear in the Selectmen's report This report should be made available, by state regulations within seven days after its issuance, to cable companies A date by which amendments are to be submitted from the cable companies is tentatively August 28 One of the things that was not stressed in any of the proposals sub- mitted by cable companies is about the equipment that will be needed by the institutions organizations facilities in towns which will be con- nected under the institutional network How that equipment will be needed has to be more specifically spelled out in our report and we will be working on that People in the Hanscom Field apartment area would like to be connected in, and the committee will be commenting on that in our report June 23 was the date for the Selectmen to issue the report but you do have spare time. The Board agreed it would not be ready for the Selectmen's CATV Report to be completed by June 23 and would take more time. Mr Page said that another issue is the possibility of revenue from advertising, and part of this could go towards support of the local use of CATV It was agreed that arrangements will be made for a meeting to be held with Chairman Miley, Mr Buse, Mr Page and members of the cable committee to discuss the selection process and information for the Selectmen's CATV Report Pest The Pest Control Advisory Committee met with the Board to discuss Control the majority and minority reports on mosquito control Mr Andrews, Advisory Chairman, said that he didn't think the objectives and goals are dif- Committee ferent but there was some disagreement on how to get there and what the priorities should be What we are proposing begins immediately with public education programming with the source reduction techniques for eliminating mosquito breeding sources The way to do it is to re- contour the breeding areas We feel we need more information to do effec- tive larviciding and one of the reasons that we recommend is to define where we want to go that would be advantageous The committee had questions of laviciding that has been done in the past and it is im- portant to begin using the safer materials - non-chemicals; they don't raise questions of trade-offs The minority report seems to give the impression that we were saying that the Lexington program should not be conducted by a mosquito control project on any kind of regional organization That was not our intention; we specifically avoided making a recommendation about ultimately who does the work We do 07 7 7 Selectmen's Meeting - 8 - June 9, 1980 think the important thing is a more effective citizen input in review of what's being done, both the reference to the materials that are used and where they are used We feel that a structure would be needed eventually if we are going to use chemical lavididing or if we are going to a mos- quito control project We are not recommending against the use of a mosquito control project at the time you decide to do that We think we need more information before we make that decision We need to establish a base line deduction in the mosquito population so that when we do apply the techniques, they are applied only where they are needed Mr George Smith said that he and Mr Paul Mazerall disagreed with the majority report and the findings and the methods they propose to use to combat mosquito problems We need a formal on-going program and you would have to write to the State Reclamation Board for approval of your project If you do that tomorrow, it could start in July Mr Hutchinson said that the amount of money we have is $9,000, but that is not available until July 1 Chairman Miley asked if we did go to East Middlesex, would we have any control over anything they would do? Mr Smith said that the town has always had control over the project and you could outline the program. The Board agreed to delegate the Manager to come back with a program on June 23 for discussion and final decision to be made on mosquitoes Mr Hutchinson said that he had received a request from Mr Robert Farm Land Cataldo to lease four acres of land on Marrett Road for agricultural pur- Marrett poses The Conservation Commission has recommended that this be deme : Road and they have drawn up a lease structure for all properties to be farmed Subject to that, Mr Hutchinson recommended that he be authorized through the Conservation Commission to go forward and make a lease It is not Conservation land Chairman Miley said that people in the area should be notified of the intent Mr Hutchinson agreed to notify the residents and bring it back to the Board on June 23 Mr Crain expressed concern about how long the process is taking to Traffic - alle*iate the traffic problem in the Wilson Road area. Mr Hutchinson said Wilson that the center lines have been painted, the striping has been done, hedges Road have been cut and stop signs installed The gate is only thing that hasn't been done and we have to talk to the school system about it 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 into executive session for the purpose of discussing strategy with respect to litigation and collective bargaining After discussion, it was voted to go out of executive session Upon motion duly made and seconded, it was voted to adjourn at 11 30 p m. 111 A true record, Attest G Executive Clerk, Selectmen /�)